AI is disrupting many industries, and it could also end up one that enables many of them — education.
Fei-Fei Li, the renowned AI pioneer and co-founder of World Labs, recently shared a striking perspective on how artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping what employers value in candidates. The Stanford professor, known for creating ImageNet and advancing computer vision research, revealed that at her startup, traditional credentials like college degrees have taken a backseat to something more crucial: the ability to harness AI tools and continuously learn.
“I think the ability to learn is even more important because when there were fewer tools to learn, it was easier to just follow tracks,” Li explained. “You go through elementary school, middle school, high school, college and then get some training vocationally, and that’s kind of a path. And with that is a set of structured credentials from degrees and all that, but AI has really changed it.”
The shift is already visible in her own hiring practices. “For example, my startup, when we interview a software engineer, honestly, how much I personally feel the degree they have matters less to us now. It’s more about: What have you learned? What tools do you use? How quickly can you superpower yourself in using these tools? And a lot of these are AI tools. What’s your mindset towards using these tools? That matters more to me at this point in 2025, hiring at World Labs.”
Li went further, drawing a clear line in the sand for prospective hires. “I would not hire any software engineer who does not embrace AI collaborative software tools. It’s not because I believe AI software tools are perfect. It’s because I believe that shows, first of all, the ability of the person to grow with the fast-growing toolkits, the open-mindedness, and also the end result is if you’re able to use these tools, you are able to learn, you can superpower yourself better.”
Li’s comments reflect a broader transformation in the tech industry and beyond. Venture Capitalist Vinod Khosla has also echoed similar sentiments, saying that instead of specialization, ability to learn will matter in the AI era. Andrej Karpathy too suggests getting hands dirty with AI tools. In an era where AI tools can bridge knowledge gaps and accelerate learning, adaptability and a growth mindset have become the most valuable credentials of all. Traditional education pathways still provide value, but they’re no longer the sole gateway to opportunity in a world where the ability to leverage emerging tools can matter more than a diploma on the wall.