AWS CEO: AI should aid, not replace junior workers; hire grads

Amazon Web Services Chief Executive Matt Garman has urged business leaders not to replace junior workers with artificial intelligence, calling the idea “the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” In a discussion about AI-enabled coding and the company’s broader strategy, Garman argued that entry-level staff are the most cost-effective and the most likely to engage with AI tools, and that a decade from now a workforce that has not nurtured learning and problem-solving skills would be at a severe disadvantage. He urged sustained hiring of new graduates and emphasized teaching foundational software development, problem-solving methods, and industry best practices to futureproof workers in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Garman framed junior employees as an essential part of the long-term talent pipeline. He said companies should continue bringing in graduates and “teaching them the right ways to go build software and decompose problems and think about it,” adding that skills in an AI-driven market are not tied to any single college degree. He warned that a strategy built on displacing junior staff with AI would likely erode an organization’s ability to learn and adapt over time, noting...