Companies that cut entry-level hiring in favour of AI risk breaking the pipeline through which they grow responsible, innovative leaders, and eroding the culture that takes many years to build, warn contributors to a major new global report from CEMS, the Global Alliance in Management Education. The University of Cologne is a founding member of CEMS, the global alliance currently comprising 33 of the world’s leading business schools and more than 70 corporate partners
Overall, report contributors argue that this moment provides a rare opportunity for graduates and employers alike. AI-fluent Graduates can be advocates for new technology and evidence-based problem-solvers who can help drive change across companies, at a time when in-house experience is still scarce.
“When I think about the next five years, my feeling is mainly excitement, with a few worries thrown in along the way.”, sums up Friedrich von Bechtolsheim, a CEMS MIM student from the University of Cologne. ”AI is not going away, so the work is to keep learning, on your own shoulders, and to stay curious about where it goes next.“
The Missing Rung? AI and the Future of Entry-Level Work [link], draws on interviews and research with students in more than 20 countries, alongside contributions from senior corporate partners (global multinational companies) and expert academics across the CEMS alliance.
Nicole de Fontaines, Executive Director of CEMS, said: “Entry-level roles are far more than a way of getting work done. They are where young people learn judgement, responsibility and how to lead across cultures, and where a company’s values are passed from one generation to the next.
“Companies that continue to hire and develop graduates are not simply filling vacancies. They are investing in the people, and the culture, on which their long-term success depends. Responsible, innovative, globally minded future leaders are not hired ready-made. They are grown, through the real-world experience that entry-level roles provide.
The bottom rung of the ladder is changing, not disappearing
Despite widespread global fears around graduate roles being replaced by AI, contributors to the report argue that in most cases the bottom rung of the career ladder is not missing, it is changing shape. Routine drafting, data pulls and first-pass analysis are being absorbed into AI-managed workflows, but new roles are forming around them.
This supports data from CEMS’s corporate partners which contradict some of the more doom-laden predictions about AI and graduate jobs. Gartner data shows fewer than 1 percent of the 1.4 million layoffs recorded in 2025 were attributable to AI productivity gains, while Bain & Company found AI-related job postings have grown 21 percent a year since 2019.
Other key findings:
- AI is a golden window for graduates, not a lost opportunity: nobody has a decade of experience with today’s AI tools, so motivated graduates can become a team’s go-to expert within months rather than years.
- Graduates must put in the work: doing the minimum is not enough to secure a graduate role, as using AI is now the baseline. Graduates who stand out will be able to prove they are a “Builder” who can stitch AI tools into something that works end-to-end, a working demo, a personal project or a mock start-up.
- Identity and judgement will be differentiators: a strong sense of self, built through real-world experiences with genuine stakes such as sport, travel or volunteering, is what will enable graduates to use AI ethically, develop resilience, and stand out in a job market saturated with AI-generated sameness.
- Business schools and universities must embrace AI: rather than restricting AI, educators should embed it firmly into teaching and assessment, whilst redesigning coursework so that each student’s own reasoning and judgement remain visible. Partnerships with industry will be vital to stay ahead of the latest technological developments, as the business world moves faster than the academic calendar.
Nicole de Fontaines added: “The tough graduate job market is not a myth, and we do not pretend otherwise. It is genuinely challenging for students moving into the workplace right now, with some roles likely to disappear as AI reshapes work against a difficult economic and geopolitical backdrop. Yet the fuller picture is far from the one in which every junior role vanishes.
“The bottom rung, our contributors told us, is not missing in many cases so much as changing shape. That is a real opportunity for ambitious graduates to contribute more meaningfully, and earlier in their careers, than ever before - something we know from our previous research that they have craved for many years.”
“If anything, this unqiue moment in history underlines the value of alliances like CEMS. Graduates will increasingly be expected to arrive ready to contribute from day one, rather than spending their first years acquiring the groundwork that AI can now absorb. Preparing them, through close collaboration between leading universities and the world's major employers, is exactly what our alliance was built to do.”
- To the CEMS - AI Insight Report “The Missing Rung – Ai and the Future of Entry-Level Work“
- Master International Management (CEMS MIM) at the Wiso Faculty of the University of Cologne
CEMS is a global alliance of 33 of the world’s top business schools, more than 70 corporate partners (multinational companies) and 8 social partners (NGOs), dedicated to educating and preparing future generations of international business leaders through the CEMS Master in International Management (MIM).
The CEMS MIM emphasises personal and social responsibility in business decision-making, leadership and citizenship, informed by ethical reasoning, personal integrity and respect for social diversity. The programme helps students understand and navigate the international business environment, while equipping them with the knowledge, skills and network to manage people across borders and within multinational teams, tackling real business issues across a range of fields.