The 'Godmother of AI' says your college diploma is losing power - here's what she looks for instead

"Don't count on a college degree to land your dream job in Silicon Valley. Increasingly, founders and tech companies are judging talent by how quickly someone can learn, adapt, and build - not on how long they spent in a lecture hall - reshaping traditional pathways into the workforce. Fei-Fei Li, the Stanford computer science professor widely known as the "Godmother of AI," is one example of this."

""When we interview a software engineer, I personally feel the degree they have matters less to us now," Li said. "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," she said. "What's your mindset toward using these tools matter more to me.""

""At this point in 2025 - hiring at World Labs - I would not hire any software engineer who does not embrace AI collaborative software tools," Li said. It's not about automating humans out of the equation, she added - it's about identifying people who can grow as fast as the technology around them. "If you're able to use these tools, you're able to learn. You can superpower yourself better," she said."

Formal college degrees have declined in importance for hiring in Silicon Valley as AI expertise, tool fluency, adaptability, and rapid learning become primary hiring criteria. Fei-Fei Li emphasizes evaluating engineers by what they have learned, what tools they use, and their mindset toward AI collaboration. World Labs refuses to hire software engineers who resist AI collaborative software tools. The shift prioritizes growth potential and the ability to augment one's capabilities with AI rather than replacing humans. Founders and major tech firms increasingly question the traditional value of higher education amid this skills-first approach.

Read at Business Insider