Amid layoffs, Sam Altman has an advise for MBA grauates that can keep them employable for a longer period

As several tech companies including Microsoft and Amazon announcing layoffs and buyouts, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman believes that business school graduates entering the job market today should look beyond established career paths and explore opportunities emerging from artificial intelligence. His advice comes at a time when companies are reassessing their workforce needs, with AI increasingly capable of handling tasks that once required human workers.

Altman has argued that while AI could perform many existing tasks faster, cheaper and more efficiently, the technology will also create opportunities for people willing to experiment with new ideas. For young professionals worried about job security, his message is clear: following yesterday's successful career choices may not be the safest route to a promising future.

Speaking in an interview with Stanford Graduate School of Business, as reported by Fortune, Altman said the transformation of the job market would be significant, although the transition would take time. "It's totally true that huge numbers of tasks that people do today will be done better, cheaper, and faster by AI - and completely differently," he said.

Sam Altman's advice to MBA graduates: Stop following old trends

Altman expressed particular disappointment with MBA students who choose careers based on what was popular several years ago rather than identifying emerging opportunities. "My chronic disappointment with MBA students is that they always want to go do the thing that was cool five years ago rather than try something new," he said.

"I think this is a great time to go do the new thing."

The OpenAI chief's remarks offer a different way of looking at the uncertainty surrounding AI and employment. Instead of treating technological disruption only as a threat, he believes aspiring professionals should consider how it could open doors to careers and businesses that did not previously exist. For MBA graduates, this could mean looking beyond conventional corporate roles and established industries. It could also involve identifying problems that businesses have struggled to solve and exploring how AI can help address them.

The underlying message is not that traditional careers have lost their value. Rather, graduates may need to rethink how they choose opportunities as technology changes the way organisations operate.

Why AI could create new opportunities despite layoffs

The growing use of AI has raised concerns about the future of jobs across several sectors, including software development, customer service, finance, healthcare and education. As companies adopt AI tools, some tasks may require fewer employees, while others could be completed with greater speed and efficiency. This shift has fuelled uncertainty among workers and fresh questions about which skills will remain valuable.

Altman, however, sees another side to the transition. He believes the technology could allow entrepreneurs to build companies that would have been difficult or prohibitively expensive to establish in the past. "There are many companies that can be built on top of the technology OpenAI has put out into the world that will be much bigger and, I hope, more important than OpenAI," he said.

That possibility could be particularly relevant for young professionals entering the workforce. AI tools can help small teams perform work that previously required larger workforces, potentially lowering the barriers to starting a business. For someone with a strong understanding of finance, marketing, operations or consumer behaviour, the opportunity may lie in combining that expertise with AI rather than competing with the technology on tasks it can already perform well.

However, the emergence of new businesses does not guarantee that every displaced worker will find a suitable alternative job. The benefits of technological change are also likely to vary across industries and professions.

Why starting a career during technological change can be an advantage

Altman believes periods of rapid technological change can be particularly favourable for people beginning their careers. "If you're heading into the world right now to work on something, I think you want to start your career at a time of the greatest change, when the playing field is most open," he said.

His argument is that major shifts can weaken the advantages enjoyed by established businesses and experienced professionals who rely heavily on older methods. New entrants, meanwhile, may have more freedom to question existing practices and experiment with unfamiliar approaches.

For MBA graduates, this could mean exploring AI-led business models, developing specialised services or finding ways to improve existing industries using new technology. It may also mean being willing to enter less-established fields instead of choosing a role simply because it has traditionally offered prestige, high salaries or a predictable career path.

The challenge is to identify genuine opportunities rather than chase every new trend. Not every AI startup will succeed, and not every emerging technology will produce a sustainable business. Understanding customers, managing costs and building a viable product will remain important.