Graduates increasingly work with AI: new roles, but also career risks

The key facts

Companies are creating dedicated 'AI roles' for graduates: managing agents, automation, monitoring clients' presence in answers from ChatGPT and other models
According to PwC, AI-affected entry-level roles are 7 times more likely to require senior skills and have grown by 35% since 2019, while others have declined by 10%
Some employers and experts believe that an excessive tilt toward AI without mastering the core profession limits a graduate's long-term growth

A job where AI matters more than the profession itself

Recent graduate Lotte Underwood works as a PR specialist at the London agency Fight or Flight, but, as BBC News reports,, she spends most of her time not on PR but on AI. She took a new position as an 'AI associate' in a specially created team that has built around 30 AI agents: they handle industry research, client reporting, preparation for media interviews, and image generation. Underwood's task is to manage the agents, check their output, and track how the agency's clients appear in answers from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other tools.

Demand for 'AI disruptors'

Similar roles are appearing at other companies too. Dillan Patel, a graduate of a business management programme, joined the software engineering company Stride as an intern and developed an internal chatbot that preserves the knowledge of a retiring experienced employee; he is now an AI automation analyst. At ArvatoConnect, an outsourced contact-centre company, the usual graduate intake has been paused this year, but CEO Debra Maxwell plans to resume it next year with a focus on AI: she is looking for 'AI disruptors' — people who will make the organisation think more broadly about applying AI, rather than filling administrative positions.

PwC data: growth of 'augmented' junior roles

PwC's research for the AI Jobs Barometer 2026 report covered 2.4 million entry-level positions in the US. The finding: entry-level roles most affected by AI are seven times more likely to require traditionally senior skills — motivational leadership, strategic decision-making, and team building. Moreover, these 'augmented' positions have grown by 35% since 2019, while other entry-level roles have declined by 10%. AI is cited as one of the main factors behind the reduction in graduate jobs, yet at the same time companies are creating new AI-specialised roles for graduates.

A fast career — or none at all

Cian Clinton at the consulting company Valliance uses about ten AI agents daily and says he takes on responsibilities he would normally only reach after four to five years, and that his career will accelerate. But this model has its critics. Simon Pratt of Portman Finance Group insists that the company's two-year programme is entirely devoted to 'learning the craft': rotation across four areas, working alongside senior managers, and mastering financial products. Claire Reid, Director of Technology and Innovation at PwC UK, believes AI skills alone will not secure a career: they need to be combined with knowledge of the industry and of what the client wants. The people featured in the story have different views: Underwood still plans to learn classic PR skills such as pitching directly to the media, while Patel is confident he wants to keep developing specifically in the AI field.