Scott Bessent delivers stark message to US workers amid massive economic shift. Here's the skill he says they need in 2026 (and beyond)
The job market is changing faster than most of us realize, and artificial intelligence is driving that transformation. Recent warnings from top economic officials and tech leaders paint a stark picture: adapt to AI, or risk being left behind.
The Writing on the Wall
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently shared some sobering advice during a Fox Business interview. When asked what he'd do as a young graduate in today's market, his answer was immediate: "I would be trained up in AI… What I would do is become an AI native."
This isn't just career advice—it's a wake-up call. And the numbers back it up.
The Reality Check: Jobs Are Already Disappearing
By late 2024, nearly 55,000 job cuts were directly attributed to AI, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Recent college graduates are feeling the squeeze particularly hard, with unemployment rates hitting close to 6% by the third quarter of 2024.
But it gets worse. Democratic Senator Mark Warner predicts that number could balloon to 25% within five years if current trends continue. Meanwhile, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei estimates that nearly half of all entry-level white-collar positions could become obsolete within the same timeframe.
Even Goldman Sachs is sounding the alarm, projecting that up to 14% of global jobs—roughly 1 in 7 workers—could face disruption from AI under certain adoption scenarios.
If you think your age or experience will protect you, think again. This wave is starting with entry-level positions, but it won't stop there.
The Good News: You Can Still Get Ahead of This
Here's the silver lining: the AI revolution is moving so fast that nobody has a decades-long head start. New tools and capabilities launch constantly, creating opportunities for anyone willing to learn. Master even one major AI tool, and you could leapfrog colleagues who've been coasting on traditional skills.
Your Action Plan: How to Become AI Native
Start with the basics. Sign up for one of the major AI platforms and actually use it regularly. As of mid-2024, ChatGPT dominated with roughly 80% market share, but Perplexity, Microsoft's CoPilot, and Google's Gemini are also solid choices.
Daily usage matters more than you think. Recent data shows that only 19% of U.S. adults interact with AI tools on a daily basis. Simply making AI part of your daily routine puts you in an elite minority.
Level up with free training. Once you're comfortable with basic usage, dive into specialized courses:
- Google's AI Essentials offers beginner-friendly content
- Microsoft Learn provides introductions to AI-assisted coding
- OpenAI Academy and Anthropic Academy teach advanced skills like prompt engineering
The learning curve isn't as steep as you might fear—but it gets steeper the longer you wait.
Why This Matters for Everyone
AI isn't just another tech trend. It's becoming a general-purpose technology on par with electricity or the internet. In other words, it's infrastructure.
AI-native professionals can work faster, make better decisions, and automate repetitive tasks that used to eat up hours. Those who resist will find themselves producing slower output and becoming less relevant—regardless of their industry, age, or years of experience.
The divide won't be between young and old, or tech workers and everyone else. It will be between AI-native workers and those who aren't.
Your career insurance policy in 2025 and beyond isn't another degree or certification—it's AI fluency. The technology is here, the disruption is happening now, and waiting for things to "settle down" is a losing strategy.
The question isn't whether you should become AI native. It's whether you'll do it before or after your job depends on it.