What the data shows

Not everything in the findings is a concern. Gen Z and Millennials scored 14% above average in Communication, ranking 8th out of 40 measured competencies. That’s a genuine strength and a well-timed one. As AI handles more content generation and information retrieval, human communication shifts toward higher-value work like aligning stakeholders, translating AI outputs into decisions and managing the coordination that AI augmentation actually increases. The incoming workforce is well-positioned for that shift.

Strategic thinking landed just under average, 1% below baseline, ranking 24th out of 40. For most roles, that’s sufficient. But there are two scenarios where it isn’t. For senior positions where setting direction is the primary responsibility, it warrants direct assessment rather than assumption. Secondly, as analytical tasks are increasingly outsourced to AI, the human role in strategy shifts from information gathering to high-level decision-making. While AI excels at identifying patterns and processing data at scale, it can’t weigh competing priorities, set a clear direction, or grasp contextual meaning. As that analytical work is outsourced to AI, an “average” level of strategic thinking is the minimum.

The skills that matter most for work quality and accuracy are further down the list.