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The largest skills gaps aren't technical – they remain human
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1 September 2026
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The largest skills gaps aren't technical – they remain human
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the workplace at remarkable speed, prompting universities to reconsider how they prepare students for the careers ahead. While much of the discussion centres on technical expertise and digital literacy, employers are highlighting a different concern: the growing shortage of human skills.
Across conversations at the QS Higher Ed Summit: Europe 2026 on AI, business education, creativity and the future of work, speakers returned to the same capabilities that technology struggles to replicate: critical thinking, judgement, creativity, collaboration, resilience and the ability to ask better questions.
Employer research suggests those qualities are becoming more, not less, important. Drawing on findings from the QS World Future Skills Index 2027, Senior Vice President at QS, Ben Sowter, offered a data-driven perspective on the challenge facing graduates and institutions alike.
"The largest skills gaps aren't technical but remain human."
Ben Sowter, Senior Vice President, QS
What skills will graduates need in an AI economy?
AI is already changing the tasks people perform at work, but automation is only part of the story.
During his opening presentation, Sowter highlighted that while some jobs are at risk of automation, many more will be augmented by AI. Significant investment in reskilling and upskilling is therefore expected as organisations adapt.
Furthermore, the QS World Future Skills Index 2027 adds another dimension to this challenge. The Index examines how effectively economies are positioned to meet changing workforce needs, and its findings indicate that some of the most significant skills gaps identified by employers are not necessarily in technical capability, but in the human skills required to apply knowledge effectively.
At the Summit, Sowter emphasised that the skills challenge is “not about technical skills”, but about what people can do alongside and with other people.
This raises an important question for universities: if access to knowledge and technology becomes easier, what will differentiate graduates?
Critical thinking becomes more important when answers are instant
Chess has already experienced a version of the technological disruption now affecting many professions. Search engines and increasingly sophisticated chess engines have transformed how players access information and analyse decisions.
For Judit Polgar, Hungarian Chess Grandmaster, one of the greatest risks is allowing technology to remove the thinking that takes place between encountering a problem and finding an answer. In Learning Through Play: The Human Intelligence Checkmate, she argued that critical thinking is “one of the key things these days that we are easily forgetting about and losing”, particularly as people become overloaded with information from phones and computers.
The advantage is not using AI – it is judging its output
In conversations on responsible AI, Dr Michelle Sisto, Associate Dean at EDHEC AI Center, argued that higher-order capabilities, such as judgement, reflection, evaluation and intentionality, need to sit alongside practical AI skills.
Sisto argued that employers need people who can pair AI capabilities with critical thinking and genuine expertise. As these tools become more commonplace, the differentiator is no longer access to the technology itself, but the ability to interpret its outputs, exercise judgement and turn insights into effective action. In other words, AI proficiency without judgement has limited value.
Creativity is not being replaced, but redefined
Exchanges on creative education offered another perspective on the evolving relationship between human capability and AI. Rather than trying to prevent students from using generative AI, panellists described a more pragmatic approach: encouraging experimentation while helping students think critically about how these tools influence their work.
Contributions from panellists acknowledged that AI is already embedded in many students' creative processes. The challenge for educators is therefore not whether students use these tools, but how they use them. Rather than discouraging AI adoption, institutions are focusing on transparency, ethical considerations and critical reflection.
This includes encouraging students to be open about where AI has contributed to their work, engage with questions of attribution and intellectual property, and exercise judgement throughout the creative process. Prof Penny Macbeth, Director, Principal & CEO at The Glasgow School of Art, described this shift as learning to “see AI as a collaborative partner”.
Human skills are becoming the differentiator
These perspectives suggest that AI is changing the context in which skills are used, rather than replacing the need for them.
For universities, the challenge is not to choose between technical and human skills, but to develop both. Graduates will need to understand emerging technologies while also bringing the judgement, creativity and critical thinking that technology alone cannot provide.
Explore the QS World Future Skills Index 2027 to understand where employer demand and graduate skills are becoming misaligned – and what it means for the future of higher education.
