What the future of work means for today’s students | Investec

Is higher education keeping up with AI? For decades, the university degree has been treated as a reliable bridge between learning and work. AI is testing that bargain. As technology changes what employers need, higher education faces a sharper test - not whether it can produce graduates, but whether it can prepare people to think, adapt and contribute to an economy being reshaped in real time. On No Ordinary Wednesday, our host Jeremy Maggs, Jerome September, Dean of Student Affairs at Wits University and Lesley-Anne Gatter, Global Head of People & Organisation, examine what future readiness means for universities, employers and South Africa’s growth prospects. Key moments 00:00 Introduction 01:30 – How universities are rethinking readiness for work 02:32 – Why education access is a growth constraint 03:43 – What the future of work means for today’s students 05:26 – What employers value when AI changes the work 07:16 – How universities are adapting to the AI age 09:39 – The talent test in an AI economy 11:25 – Why education investment is economic investment 12:26 – How universities balance skills, knowledge and purpose 14:01 – Are we defining future skills too narrowly? 15:34 – Why future readiness starts before work 16:56 – Which sectors face the sharpest skills test? 17:42 – What universities need from policy 19:12 – The risk of universities falling behind 20:03 – The economic cost of a future-skills gap