Silicon Valley Girl: AI, Tech and Career Growth - LinkedIn CEO: How to Stay Employed When AI Replaces Your Job | Ryan Roslansky

Episode Date: February 21, 2026

In this episode of Silicon Valley Girl, Marina Mogilko sits down with Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn and Executive Vice President at Microsoft. Ryan has access to the world's definitive labor market data—and what it shows about AI and jobs isn't what you're hearing in the headlines.Topics covered:​Why 50% of college graduates are unemployed/underemployed (and what's actually broken)​The 1.3 million new AI jobs most people don't know exist​The 3 hottest jobs for the next 5 years: Data Annotator, Data Center roles, Forward Deployed Engineer​The 5 C's framework: Curiosity, Courage, Creativity, Compassion, Communication​Why skills will change 70% by 2030 and what to do about it now📌 Follow newsletter and grab FREE 300+ post ideas to stand out on Linkedin https://siliconvalleygirl.beehiiv.com/300-post-ideas-for-linkedinMore from the Silicon Valley Girl: Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/siliconvalleygirl/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SiliconValleyGirl⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/marinamogilko⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. At least in the US, 50% of college graduates this year will graduate either unemployed or underemployed and credit card debt is being outpaced by student loan debt for the first time in history. This is Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn. He took LinkedIn from $7 billion to $17 billion in revenue and crossed a billion members by betting big on AI, smarter hiring tools, skills-based matching, and a massive push into video. LinkedIn is that the definitive labor market platform of the world, we have amazing insights into actually

what is happening across the world. His data doesn't predict the job market. It is the job market. What about entry-level jobs? Entry-level jobs across the world right now, the hiring rate that we see are down roughly 12 percent. While we see that hiring is sluggish across most markets, the reason that it's sluggish doesn't have anything to do with AI. Do you think college is just kind of fading away? When I talk to people about what they should do with their career, it's less about where do you want to be in five years and it's more about over the next few months like what new skills do you want to learn so what are the top skills people should be adding to their lincoln right now is this you know this huge

demand by ryan thank you so much and welcome to silicon valley girl great to be here i am so happy to have you so you're the ceo of lincoln and also executive vice president of microsoft co-pilot and microsoft office and we're at davos today yes so what is everyone talking about i think there's a lot of the things that I'm seeing, but I think one of the things that's probably most interesting to you potentially is, I think if we were here maybe like three years ago, a lot of the conversations we would be having would be with traditional media. And this year, it's amazing to see kind of the creator influence, like up and down the promenade and kind of the role that creators are playing in this new economy. And, you know, we see it on LinkedIn. There's four million members now that

their official job title is creator. And it's just amazing to watch this kind of new industry explode where it is today. You'd be recognized. That is amazing, and I'm happy to be part of it. It's amazing to see starting 12 years ago and being a creator now is just a huge, huge difference. What do people say about AI? Do you think people here are more positive or negative? It's interesting.

I think people are all over the place because their kind of opinions are based on what they heard from the last conversation. What I love about LinkedIn is that as the definitive labor market platform of the world, we have amazing insights into actually what is happening across the world. And it's interesting. While we see that hiring is sluggish, you know, across most markets, the reason that it's sluggish doesn't have anything to do with AI, in our opinion. It's actually more due to macro conditions, interest rates, not AI. As relates to AI, we see something totally different. There's actually been almost, you know, 1.3 million brand new net jobs on LinkedIn for AI, roles like data annotator.

Over 600,000 new data center jobs exist on LinkedIn. You know, forward-deployed engineers that companies need to understand AI. So at least in terms of what we're seeing in the LinkedIn data right now, AI is a net positive addition to the job market, not something that's detracting jobs. That's great. But what about entry-level jobs? So entry-level jobs across the world right now, the hiring rate that we see are down roughly 12%. but they are not disproportionate to any other jobs.

They're down just as much as all the other jobs in the world. I think kind of what I was saying before, a lot of that contraction is due, you know, large part to macroeconomic kind of climate and interest rates and, you know, companies investing less in general. So then the question becomes, what do, you know, any professional, you know, even after that professionals do?

And, you know, we're seeing kind of two trends emerge. one, the one that I said, which is that, you know, micro entrepreneurship, you know, arise in creators, which is that, hey, if the traditional path doesn't exist, I need to take my career into my own hands. And number two, a real affinity now towards trade roles. And I think if you go back a couple of years ago, you know, people weren't as into these trade rules as they are right now, but especially kind of Gen Z seizes a much safer option. What do you mean? It's more like first-line jobs, you know, typical like trade roles, not office jobs.

And they see those as more resilient in an AI world. These are the types of jobs that AI probably won't take. So we're seeing more affinity towards that as well. Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank. When you need to build up your team to handle the growing chaos at work, use Indeed sponsored jobs. It gives your job post the boost it needs to be seen and helps reach people

with the right skills, certifications, and more. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Listeners of this shell will get a $75-sponsored job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Have you seen like a huge uptick in creator, like when people put creator as job title? Right now, there are 75 million people on LinkedIn that somewhere in their profile say they're a creator. And there's 4 million people that say their complete 100% full-time job is creator. So it's fantastic.

And look at what you started. How do career paths change? Because you also track people through their career inside the company. You start as, I don't know, assistant and then go up and up. But because I think I heard you at one of the conference talking that a lot of people are hiring generalists now. So you don't necessarily climb up the letter. You expand horizontally acquiring new skills. Do you see that trend as well?

So I think first and foremost, the really important thing, like since the beginning of LinkedIn, the feature that is requested most from members is show me what a typical career path is supposed to look like. LinkedIn, you have all this data. So if I want to become a CFO or a CEO or an accountant or whatever, what is the path that people take? And the reality is in the data, there is no such thing as a linear career path. Like, it's all over the place. So the more that people first and foremost recognize that you have to take your career into your own hands, there's no natural path that exists that you just get on, I think is really, really important.

Right now it's more important than ever, though, because, you know, skills are changing. the types of skills are necessary for a specific role on LinkedIn have changed north of 25% over the last couple of years alone, we expect they'll change by 70% by 2030, largely influenced by AI and new tools and new ways of doing these professions. So I often, when I talk to people about what they should do with their career, it's less about where do you want to be in five years, and it's more about over the next few months, like what new skills do you want to learn? Because, to your point, these rules are flattening, generalists are more and more where people are going these days. So what are the top skills people should be adding to their LinkedIn right now?

It's funny, there's this, you know, this huge demand kind of on both sides of the spectrum. Obviously, like, AI literacy is important. And I think no matter what your role, your profession, you know, familiarizing yourself with these tools is a really, really smart investment in your own career. You don't have to love them. You don't have to use them all the time, but just familiarizing yourself, put yourself in the mindset that I'm going to figure out how I can be better at my job through AI is one thing. So a set of AI skills. But just as important on the other side are human skills, curiosity, creativity, courage, communication, compassion, the ability to work with other people, the ability to sit down with someone and actually have a conversation.

You can't just be mired in using technology in a bubble and be successful in a lot of work setting, just be able to disagree and commit with someone, to be able to communicate with someone, to help galvanize people to get something done. So I think the key right now is that combination of, you know, learn those AI skills and then figure out a way to be strong on those, you know, more human skills. They're typically called soft skills. I think that's a misnomer. They don't, you know, soft kind of feels like it's less important. I think they're more important than ever. When you talk about soft skills, as someone who hires on LinkedIn, I don't really sort people by like, oh, creative, whatever, but I read their posts.

So what I found really helpful in hiring is that now we hire based on content that they post because it shows their personality. It shows how deep they are in the subject. We just hired a YouTube strategist who's amazing. And we hired him purely based on what he was posting about building a YouTube channel. I love that. So we always thought that the extension of your LinkedIn profile isn't just, where you went to school, where you've worked, what skills you have, but the ability to demonstrate the actual knowledge that you have in your head

by posting on LinkedIn. And it's awesome to hear that you use that is a way to understand someone's identity better. Yeah, you don't have to jump on a call. You don't have to do anything. You just read the posts. Yeah, it saves a lot of time. So people post more on LinkedIn. That's what?

Also, like, as someone who started posting actively on LinkedIn last year, and we made something that's equal to like a full-time salary, just on LinkedIn. We grew from like 10,000 to 50,000, almost 50,000 in a year. Wow, congratulations. So LinkedIn is definitely the social network right now. Thank you for that. By the way, any tips to grow on LinkedIn?

You know, LinkedIn is unique because our platform exists to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. Our feed exists as a mechanism to showcase your identity exactly the story that you just told. so that if I'm trying to get hired or I want to make a name for myself in a specific field, the content that I share is a way to do that. Other platforms tend to stem from, you know, their vision is around, you know, entertainment or, you know, large engagement. Our largest business is in recruiting.

So we don't come at it from a perspective of, you know, we're trying to help you get, you know, a gazillion likes or, you know, 10 billion views or something like that. We're trying to help you create authentic content that only you can do based on the skills that you have, what you have in your head, get that on the platform to the right people who may be able to learn from that

or do something with it or hire you because of it. And that's where we find success. So I think that that's just a different mindset that we always tell people about using LinkedIn. You may not get the views you get on so many other platforms. but the people you reach, the quality of the audience, the opportunities that come are what we're really trying to do. You get the right views. Also, what I notice as a creator telling your personal stories, especially if they're tied to some events, really, really helps grow.

I think it's interesting. I mean, I think especially, you know, more in the younger generation, it always kind of felt taboo to talk about anything that felt, you know, not buttoned up and professional on LinkedIn. but more and more, I think the next generation, not only are they okay with it, but it actually tells a lot more about who they are, their personality, what they know, how they think. It's really kind of refreshing to see that happen on LinkedIn. Absolutely.

Let's go back to our LinkedIn profiles. There's a huge section education, right? And a lot of people would take, like, top university, small courses, just to have that name, right? Because it meant a lot. Do you think college means as much these days? Or because we can acquire any skill online, is just kind of fading away.

So two things. One, I dropped out of college very early on and was really focused on the skills that I needed to start a company and be an entrepreneur. So I had kind of a mixed view on that. I do know right now, at least in the U.S., 50% of college graduates this year will graduate either unemployed or underemployed.

And credit card debt is being outpaced by student loan debt for the first time in history. So there's something that's not really working in the current system. I am nowhere close to going so far as to say, college isn't worth it, the social experience, the learning to, you know, the soft skills and you being able to be around people and communicate,

I think are critical. And if you can, you know, if you're fortunate enough to be in a college environment to have that experience, I think it's really, really worth it. But I think that it's really more about a lot of those soft skills for most professions than the typical hard skills that we always thought about from college in the past. And more importantly, more and more now when recruiters or anyone looking to hire on LinkedIn or starting their process, they aren't looking at what school did you go to. They're looking at what skills do you have or what did your last post look like so I know more about you. So it's mattering less than it has in the past, what school you went to.

Are you still betting on college for your daughters? Because I have three daughters, right? Absolutely. And I think, again, I think a lot of the social components of that are critical. It's a great place to learn how to grow up, to learn how to interact with other people, you know, to form a network, to make mistakes. And so, you know, while I never mandate anything that any of my children do, you know, so far at least my oldest one, like that's the career path that she's taken and she's having a wonderful time. Have you ever regretted dropping up? I think I missed a lot of really fun years by leaving college early, that's for sure. All right. That's, yeah, still a big question.

So you are releasing a book, Open to Work. Can you talk about how someone can use this book to navigate their future? I feel like you're the best person to write this book, by the way, because you have all the data. You're seeing what's happening on the market. And yeah, I'm looking forward to reading it. Thank you. So it's been actually kind of unique because I've spent 25 years building, you know, internet

products where you can build a product and test it out with people and see what happens and then change it really quickly. When you write a book, you write it and it's kind of final and you hope and pray that it goes out there and people find value out of it. So we're excited to release it soon. But it's a book that was written to help people really understand and bring some clarity to what career paths look like in an AI first world. There's a lot of uncertainty and people are scared. They don't know where to start. They don't know where to turn. This book acts as a guide to help you understand how to think through it, what AI can do, what AI can't do, the importance of the human skills that we just talked about,

and how you can kind of pull those two things together and figure out what you want to do with your career and make the best career path for yourself. You know, it's not a crystal ball, but, you know, we try and leverage a lot of the things that we know and see on LinkedIn to help people make right career decisions because it's so difficult, especially when you're starting out, to know what to do or how to think.

And right now, there's just so much unique craziness in the world of, you know, what does AI mean for jobs and roles and skills. So at the end of the day, if we can help more people make smarter career decisions, like, that's what we're aiming to do. And we do that every day through LinkedIn, but we wanted to try something different approach as well for people who maybe aren't on LinkedIn or just, you know, want to kind of see it in the book form. Is there a principle from that book that you can share that people can use to guide their careers?

I think most importantly, a lot of what I see on LinkedIn are people just, absolutely hyper-focused on the hard skills, the AI skills, the technical skills, and they're completely dismissing the human skills. So we talk about it in five Cs that we think are critical for you to learn and to master that will make you stand out in the future. Curiosity, courage, creativity, compassion, and communication, like learning and understanding the importance, of those five skills are where I would invest the majority of my time right now as a profession. It's interesting because we have a lot of tools on how to develop our hard skills. But when it comes to curiosity, how do you even acquire that?

So it's hard. I mean, some people are fortunate enough to be born with it. But, you know, we do a lot through LinkedIn learning to also help, you know, through the data that we have to, you know, teach techniques and how to think about a lot of these soft skills. People think they can't be learned, but they actually really can be learned. They need to be practiced like any other skill. But again, I think it's kind of that misnomer that soft means it wasn't as important

than just kind of bringing that to the forefronts. I think it's the most important thing right now. You guys know how much work goes into this podcast. Thank you so much for your support. I started in a newsletter to share more my business mistakes with this and another company that I'm running, AI tools that I'm testing and using actively, and behind the scenes of building my team. It's free and lends in your inbox every week.

Link is in the description. Let's keep learning together in this new AI era. I've heard someone say in the next five to ten years, you either become an entrepreneur, maybe with a new niche, or you die. What would you say? Like, die as a professional. I absolutely expect that AI is going to democratize access to opportunity in a way that so many people, that have always wanted to create something or start something, build a business, being an entrepreneur, will have the tools to do it. I don't think it's going to be the only path. But I do think we will see many, many more entrepreneurs. And I think that's a really, really good thing. Yeah, yeah, me too. Can you give me, you think, top three jobs for the next three years, three to five years?

Top three as defined how? Most in demand. So right now, there's a role called Data Anitator. You know what this is? No. It's fascinating. So anytime you use a large language model, at the end of the day, the way that those models keep getting better and better are there are many human beings that are being paid to evaluate the output of those models based on their expertise. So, you know, maybe you're a, I don't know, a cardiologist is your full-time job.

in like, you know, the real world and the real life. But, you know, a large language model company is trying to make their model better for people who are asking questions around heart health. They will take the response that the model is giving, actually hand it to, you know, the cardiologist and pay them to say, mark this up. You know, is this right or wrong? What do you think? And then take that and put it back into the model.

Huge companies. Huge companies in that sourcing those people to. Exactly. And so that role is, I mean, if you think about it, like, Every topic, every niche topic, every language, like, has to be covered through these models. And there's so much knowledge in people's heads that I think that's going to be a really, really, you know, hot job moving forward. I also think anything that has to do with building out data centers, and these are all types of jobs. These are, you know, trade jobs. These are hyper-technical jobs.

These are, you know, maintenance jobs. but building the infrastructure of data centers moving forward, I think is going to be critical because in order for anything that's AI related to actually flourish, there's a foundation that needs to be put in place. And then the last one I'm paying a lot of attention to is actually something which is called a forward-deployed engineer. And that sounds like a really kind of odd term. But basically what it means is when a company decides that they want to pull AI into their

company, they want to better use AI. it's really a tricky thing to figure out. And historically, that was kind of up to the IT department to figure out. But this new role, you know, a forward-deployed engineer is someone that will sit in the actual business in the marketing department, in the product department, who is really skilled at both business needs and understanding how AI works to kind of make that connection inside of a company. So companies are frequently hiring these people right now to help, you know, not just make AI a cool thing we put in our company, but actually help. it return real value to the business. I love that. And Creator.

That's my fourth really important job. Sorry. Thank you so much. Thank you. I feel like we're on the rise. That's awesome. And do you think there are any jobs, maybe like three jobs that you think are disappearing?

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and then you kind of think about the ability for each task to be, automatable by AI. You can quickly see that if your job is just a set of tasks that can be automated, you need to start finding a new job. So AI right now is really good at things like summarizing or rewriting or translating. So, you know, those types of jobs where AI is good at those skills are the types of jobs where, you know, we both try and through our data help LinkedIn members who have those jobs realize, hey, here's some more skills you should be adding, you know, to kind of future-proof yourself. But that's kind of the framework to think through

maybe where jobs will be more impacted. I love that. Thank you so much, Ryan. That was so insightful. And I hope everybody who just watched, you go and start posting on LinkedIn. I've been telling this to everyone around me, my husband started posting.

He got a few thousand subscribers right away. So the algorithm is really working. Thank you so much. Thanks again for being here. Thank you. Relax and let Ralph's delivery handle your grocery shopping this week. We start with only the freshest items. Then review your list and carefully choose each one.

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