At OpenAI’s recent Town Hall, Sam Altman addressed a question that cuts to the heart of professional development in the AI era: what skills matter most when artificial intelligence can handle an expanding range of tasks?
His answer surprised many. Rather than pointing to technical capabilities or specific programming languages, Altman emphasized qualities that sound almost old-fashioned in our technology-obsessed age.
“Skills like become high agency, get good at generating ideas, be very resilient, be very adaptable to a rapidly changing world,” Altman said. “I think these are going to matter more than any specific [technical skill] and I think these are all learnable.”
The shift represents a fundamental change in career advice. For years, the standard guidance was clear: learn to code. Programming represented a guaranteed path to employment and financial security. Now, even the CEO of one of the world’s most influential AI companies acknowledges that equation has changed.
“Go like learn to program was so obviously the right thing you know over recent period of time and now it’s not,” Altman stated plainly.
This creates an unusual challenge for people planning their careers. Without a clear technical skill to master, the path forward becomes less defined. Yet Altman insists these softer capabilities can be systematically developed.
During the conversation, Altman also shared what he thinks about technology’s role in everyday life, particularly when it comes to personalization, privacy, and how much access we’re willing to give AI systems. He spoke candidly about his own changing comfort level with AI knowing more about him.
Altman revealed that he’s now comfortable letting AI systems deeply understand his digital life. He said he’s ready for AI to “look at my whole computer and my whole internet and just know everything,” adding that the value is now so high that he no longer feels the discomfort he once did. However, he drew a clear line when it comes to constant physical surveillance.
“I don’t yet feel ready to like wear the glasses recording everything,” Altman admitted. “I think that’s still uncomfortable for a bunch of reasons.”
While users may accept deep digital personalization for the sake of utility and convenience, there are still human boundaries. This is especially when technology moves from screens into constant, embodied observation.
Altman stressed that this growing intimacy with AI only works if companies take privacy and security seriously. He expressed hope that both AI developers and society at large rise to that challenge, arguing that the benefits are too significant to ignore.
