John Woods on why AI makes durable human skills more valuable

What this conversation is about

For several years John Woods and Glenn Llopis have talked through the University of Phoenix Career Optimism Index, a large annual survey of workers and, since its second year, of employers. Woods is the university’s chief academic officer and founding director of its Career Institute, and he frames the study around one theme: the balance of power between workers and employers keeps shifting, and the two sides often see the same moment very differently.

This year the subject was AI. Glenn wrote three Forbes pieces from the conversation: The AI Revolution And Career Optimism, 4 Ways To Maintain Your Authentic Identity In The Age Of AI and 5 Strategies Protect Human Dignity During Organizational AI Adoption.

Job hugging, and learning AI on the side

What surprised Woods most is a quiet split. With the economy uncertain, many people are staying put, a pattern now called job hugging. Underneath, they are teaching themselves AI, often on their own time, because their employer has not yet worked out how to use it strategically. That line at the top of this page is the whole finding in one sentence.

The confidence people build that way makes them think more strategically about their careers, and many are already working on their next move. Glenn put it plainly: people may be hugging a paycheck until they have reinvented themselves enough to take control of their careers. For employers, Woods says, that is a retention problem waiting downstream.

AI has mastered the standard version

The university’s approach is to weave AI into what people are already learning rather than teach it in a vacuum, and to teach ethical, responsible use rather than police it. For Woods, fluency means choosing the right tool for the situation, knowing how to use it and applying judgment to what comes back, including catching when it is wrong.

Glenn turned the conversation to identity. Ask most people to define themselves and they describe their job; ask how they think and they describe the protocols they were taught. That is a problem now:

"And so part of what I've seen is that AI has mastered standardization." — Glenn Llopis · 00:17:50

Woods’ answer is that well-supported AI use builds confidence rather than erasing identity, because people check and push back on its output. And it changes which skills matter:

"Human decision-making doesn't go away. And really what this does is it actually shines a light on the other durable skills that we want people to be fluent in, judgment, self-reflection, communication, collaboration..." — John Woods · 00:19:38

Durable, not soft

The university deliberately avoids the phrase soft skills, which Woods says trivializes them:

"The technical skills are only really well applied if you have the durable skills to apply them." — John Woods · 00:22:21

Knowing how to do something is less valuable than knowing when to do it, how to navigate it and who to do it with. The university maps both technical and durable skills across its curriculum and issues skills badges, and can show a student how closely their skills match a real job posting, which often surprises them into applying sooner.

Glenn connected it to his own career. Early on, a business decision eliminated his own role, and rather than wait for the right job to appear he asked himself what skill gap he had, then went to close it. He has looked for his skill gaps ever since. What he hears in Woods’ model is permission to stop following a prescribed route:

"I don't have to follow a linear path anymore. I need to follow the path that's in my best interest based upon what matters to what I want to do, not with the path has told me I should do." — Glenn Llopis · 00:29:04

"And people are not victims in all this. Skill development, it's lifelong." — John Woods · 00:31:29

Where dignity comes in

Asked how organizations can make AI adoption enhance dignity rather than diminish it, Woods offers a practical answer. AI can infer the skills a group of employees is already demonstrating, identify the gaps to the next role and make development far more targeted, which tells people something important:

"And I think there's a lot of humanity and dignity in that. It's saying, "We want you to stay."" — John Woods · 00:33:40

Across the years of the index, he says, loyalty follows the same things: career conversations, a clear path, training and mentoring. The university had to do this internally too, coaching thousands of faculty to guide students’ ethical use of AI.

Glenn saw something larger in it. People who spent years in workplaces where they could not say what they really thought now have a tool that builds their confidence:

"What this tool's now doing, in a sense, it's almost helping them unleash what they've always wanted to say because they didn't have the conviction to say it." — Glenn Llopis · 00:37:57

Woods’ closing warning is that skills can now be built in a weekend. Organizations that do not invest in career pathing, mentoring and a real strategy for AI will watch confident people take those skills elsewhere.