By Jasmine Escalera, PhD, Career Expert at Zety
If you’re just starting your career and wondering whether AI could eventually replace the job you’re preparing for, you’re definitely not alone.
Gen Z isn’t just worried about AI. They’re already making career decisions because of it. Zety research found that 43% of Gen Z workers have changed or adjusted their career plans because of AI, while 53% are seriously considering blue-collar or skilled trade roles, which many view as more AI-proof.
That reaction makes sense. If you’re choosing a career you could spend decades building, of course you want to know whether that career will still exist. But finding a job that AI can’t touch may be the wrong goal.
Zety’s 2026 Job Security Index found that many of the workers who feel most secure are in careers where technology is already deeply embedded in the work. Data engineers and database architects, business intelligence and data analysts, data scientists, software developers, and financial and investment analysts all appear among the ten occupations with the highest employee-reported job security scores. What’s interesting about these careers is how much technology is already part of the work. They also tend to require problem-solving, analyzing information, specialized knowledge, and the ability to keep learning as the work changes.
So instead of asking, “What career is safe from AI?” the more useful question to ask is “What will I need to be good at as AI changes the career I want?”
And you don’t have to figure this out alone. Le’ts talk about the number one strategy to help you get AI-ready starting today.
Networking can tell you what a job description can’t
Most people think about networking as something you do when you need a job. You start reaching out to people and hoping one of those conversations leads somewhere. Early in your career, one of the best reasons to network is getting access to people who can tell you what’s really happening in the career you’re considering.
You can read every job description, but they won’t necessarily tell you how someone’s work has changed because of AI or what they’re learning now that they never needed three years ago. But someone doing the job can tell you what’s actually changing and what they would prioritize if they were starting their career today. And it’s best you learn that now so you are fully prepared.
The questions worth asking
You don’t need to start an informational interview by asking someone whether they think AI will take their job. You’ll probably learn a lot more by getting specific about what’s changing in their day-to-day work.
Here are some questions worth asking:
- How has AI changed the way you do your job?
- What parts of your job are becoming more automated?
- What skills have become more valuable because of AI?
- If you were entering this field today, what would you learn first?
- When you look at people getting hired into entry-level roles now, what are they expected to know that wasn’t expected when you started?
- What parts of your work still require the most judgment or problem-solving?
- Is there anything you spent years learning that you wouldn’t prioritize if you were starting today?
That last question could save you a lot of time.
College courses and training programs can’t always evolve at the same speed as the workplace. Talking to people who are actually doing the job gives you another source of information about what employers need now and where the work may be heading.
Look for patterns, not one person’s prediction
One person’s experience isn’t an industry trend, so don’t talk to one person and call it research. Try to speak with people at different stages of their careers. Someone who’s two or three years ahead of you can tell you what’s changing at the entry level. A more experienced professional has watched the field evolve over time. A manager can tell you what they’re paying attention to when they hire.
After a few conversations, you’ll probably start hearing some of the same things. Maybe three people mention the same technology. A hiring manager tells you a skill that used to matter isn’t nearly as important anymore. Someone else tells you their company now expects new hires to know how to use AI and evaluate what it produces. Those patterns are what you’re looking for.
You’re essentially doing your own career market research by gathering real information about where the work is going and using it to make better decisions about where you invest your time.
Now decide what you need to learn
The Zety’s Job Security Index offers another clue about where to focus.
The careers with the highest employee-reported security scores have several characteristics that show up repeatedly, including critical thinking, analyzing information, evaluating solutions, specialized knowledge, technology use, and continuous learning.
That doesn’t automatically mean going back to school. It means building expertise in the areas that matter to the work you want to do.
Once you know where your gaps are, figure out the best way to close them. That might mean taking a course or earning a certification, but don’t assume everything requires formal training. You may be better off volunteering for a project, finding an internship, experimenting with a new technology, or building something yourself.
Take that knowledge into your job search
What you’ve learned can make you a much stronger job candidate. Start paying closer attention to job descriptions. If employers keep asking for the same skills you’ve heard about in your conversations, look at your resume and make sure you’re showing evidence that you have those skills or are actively developing them.
Bring that knowledge into interviews, too. Instead of only asking what a typical day looks like, ask how AI is changing the team’s work. Ask what skills the hiring manager thinks will become more important in the role over the next few years and how the company is helping early-career employees learn new technology and develop as the work changes.
Remember that you’re gathering information during the interview, too. If the work is changing quickly, you want to know whether this is an organization where you’ll have opportunities to learn and keep up.
You don’t have to predict the future
None of us knows exactly what work will look like 10 years from now. You don’t need to have that answer before choosing a career. What you do need is a way to keep learning where your profession is going and what will be expected of you as it changes.
Trying to predict which careers AI will never touch could send you searching for something that doesn’t exist. It will serve you better to build the skills and the network that allow you to keep evolving right along with your career.