#AI talent

#AI talent

The question many enterprises are asking themselves in 2026 is whether they are transforming their businesses fast enough to see the benefits of new technologies, most notably AI. The answer, according to PwC's 29th Global CEO Survey: Not really - at least, not yet. In fact, the majority of enterprises aren't seeing any real revenue increase or cost reduction as the result of AI deployments; only about one-third have seen any tangible benefits from AI in the last 12 months.

Delaying, dropping out of, or skipping college altogether have long been popular in Silicon Valley. Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Larry Ellison have all done some version of it. As artificial intelligence hype draws young founders to San Francisco, programs at companies like Palantir Technologies are rolling out anti-college initiatives for high school graduates. Meanwhile, startup entrepreneurship programs like Y Combinator skew increasingly younger, as taking a gap year has become less contrarian and more mainstream for aspiring technocrats.

They're not called the AI talent wars for nothing. With Big Tech firms scrambling to attract top talent, executives and artificial intelligence researchers have done a lot of job-hopping this year, and Apple employees were no exception. The company has lost over a dozen employees who worked on its AI projects, from executives to scientists to engineers, and even its AI chief, John Giannandrea, who announced this week he was stepping down from the role.

The push towards return to office and, ultimately, 996 is simultaneously intense.

Thinking Machines Lab has raised a historic $2 billion seed round, valuing the firm at $12 billion and underscoring intense competition for AI talent and technology.

Microsoft's substantial investment in AI includes billions spent on its flagship Copilot tool and it remains the largest investor in OpenAI, despite some relationship issues.