Michael Fassnacht: How Young Professionals Can Thrive in the Age of AI

November 3, 2025 — Over the last few months, nearly every conversation I’ve had with a young professional — whether they’re looking for their first job after college (a tougher task than at any point in the past decade) or trying to advance early in their career — has revolved around one topic: artificial intelligence.

They usually ask two questions: “How will AI change my industry?” and “What can I do to stay relevant and successful in a world reshaped by it?”

I offer four recommendations to any young professional, regardless of field or discipline.

Understand how AI is changing your industry: I’m still surprised by how many college seniors and recent graduates have not yet formed a clear thesis on how AI will transform their chosen field, whether that’s medicine, architecture, finance or consulting. You don’t need to know everything. But you do need a well-informed perspective on the three to five most significant changes AI will bring to your industry. Only those who can articulate such a view will be prepared for long-term success.

Become an AI super-user: If you’re not spending at least a few hours a day experimenting with a chatbot, studying the latest developments in LLM (large language models), exploring AI integrations into everyday tools or learning prompt-engineering techniques, you’re neglecting your most important career investment: yourself. No young professional can thrive — or even get hired — in this new era without becoming fluent in AI. That doesn’t mean blind enthusiasm. Be critical, understand the risks and ethical dilemmas, but also develop hands-on mastery of this groundbreaking technology. Otherwise, you risk professional obsolescence before your career has even begun.

Beware of “brain rot”: An increasing number of young professionals admit they’ve become overly dependent on chatbots for every single task — from writing to presentations — without first forming their own ideas. There’s a world of difference between using AI to refine your thinking and outsourcing your thinking to AI. Start with your own analysis. Then turn to AI for critique, editing or research support. Going straight to a chatbot at the beginning of every assignment may feel efficient but it erodes your intellectual muscles and creativity. That’s the real meaning behind the term “brain rot.”

Invest in real human connections: The greatest risk of AI is not a robot uprising; it’s the gradual replacement of human relationships with synthetic ones. Chatbots are endlessly patients, supportive and agreeable. They flatter us with affirmation and make every interaction frictionless. But as this year’s Pulitzer Prize-winning author Percival Everett warns, this convenience feeds a “culture of laziness.” Building real relationships is harder. Human connections are messy, emotional, sometimes conflict-filled – but they’re also the foundation of personal growth, fulfillment and happiness. No young professional will build a meaningful career, or a meaningful life, by living primarily in a synthetic world.

AI will reshape more of our world than we can currently imagine — especially as it merges with robotics and automation in the physical world. But we must remember: Humans are social beings. Our creativity, empathy and shared purpose will always be what drives real progress, in business and in life.

Michael Fassnacht is the Chief Growth Officer and President, Chicagoland, at Clayco.