Recent graduates are stepping into a changing job market where managing artificial intelligence has become a core competency. For many, roles once defined by administrative tasks are being transformed by the integration of AI agents, sparking a debate about whether these tech-heavy positions offer the breadth of experience needed for professional development. I don’t think I’d want to explore different positions within the business.
Lotte Underwood, 25, exemplifies this shift.
After completing a degree and a master’s in marketing, she joined the London-based PR agency Fight or Flight in November last year as an “AI associate.
Operating within a dedicated AI team, she oversees approximately 30 AI agents that assist with industry research, media interview preparation, and client reporting. A major component of her role involves managing these agents, reviewing their output, and determining how best to deploy them during client meetings. She also monitors how her clients are represented by various AI tools, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Dedicated AI team that has built around 30 AI agents, she’s part of a recently established.
“A huge part is being in client meetings and calls to work out what is actually going to be most helpful from these agents,” Underwood notes. While she is eager to gain traditional PR experience, such as direct media pitching, she remains confident that her specialized role within the firm’s growing AI division offers a clear path forward. Like directly pitching to the media, there’s certain things that I haven’t had the chance to do yet.
Similarly, 24-year-old Dillan Patel, a business management graduate, has navigated a rapid transition at the engineering software company Stride. Joining as an intern 18 months ago, he was initially tasked with capturing the institutional knowledge of a retiring senior employee through a chatbot. Now serving as an AI automation analyst, his responsibilities include building internal agents and identifying manual processes that can be streamlined through technology. “My role focuses on finding practical ways to use technology, automation, data and AI to improve how we operate,” says Patel, who is based in Coventry.
Companies are also beginning to view AI as a tool for elevating entry-level contributions. Debra Maxwell, CEO of ArvatoConnect, plans to resume graduate recruitment next year with a focus on “AI disruptors.” She argues that these roles allow junior hires to provide significant value beyond basic administration. One recent graduate at her company, for example, utilizes AI to conduct deep market analysis to assist in contract bidding, effectively taking on a more rounded role earlier in his career. One of our recent graduates is using AI to do deep dives on specific markets, and provide more information for when we’re bidding [for new contracts], maxwell adds: “For example. If AI can make a graduate job bigger and more integral to the organisation, Maxwell argues that companies can create a more loyal, engaged workforce that is able to contribute more meaningfully, much earlier.
Data from the 2026 PwC AI Jobs Barometer, which analyzed 2.4 million US entry-level positions, supports the trend of expanding junior responsibilities. The research indicates that entry-level roles influenced by AI are seven times more likely to demand senior-level skills, such as strategic decision-making and leadership. Since 2019, these high-expectation entry-level roles have increased by 35%, while other traditional entry-level positions have seen a 10% decline.
For some, this shift accelerates professional maturity. Cian Clinton, 23, a consultancy professional at Valliance, uses roughly 10 AI agents daily. “Your ideas and your creativity are a lot more valued because you actually get to implement those firsthand, and the responsibility you take on is a lot greater because of that,” he says. Clinton believes the traditional hierarchy is being dismantled, as progression is increasingly determined by critical thinking rather than tenure. According to cian Clinton, who joined consultancy Valliance last September after graduating from a Bachelor of Science in 2024,, The incorporation of AI into his role makes him feel less like a graduate, and more like an equal team member.
However, industry experts caution that a narrow focus on AI could have drawbacks. Simon Pratt, chief operating officer at Portman Finance Group, maintains that his company’s two-year graduate programme remains strictly focused on “learning the trade” through rotations. He emphasizes the necessity of mastering financial products and building client relationships, which he fears might be overlooked in AI-centric roles.
Claire Reed, chief technology and innovation officer at PwC UK, echoes these concerns. While she acknowledges that AI literacy is now a baseline requirement for all graduate jobs, she warns against over-reliance on the technology. “AI skills on their own are not going to help you in your career. You’ve got to couple that with that sector knowledge of what that client actually wants,” says the Glasgow-based executive. AI is killing the ‘pyramid’ approachâ¦progression is no longer based on your knowledge bank. They’ll progress to running transactions from start to finish.
Ultimately, while graduates like Patel feel that working on AI-related projects is the most effective way to gain internal business knowledge and experience, the industry remains divided on whether these specialized roles provide the comprehensive training required for sustainable, long-term career advancement. Working directly alongside senior relationship managers to learn their trade,” Northampton-based Pratt explains, our graduates rotate across four areas at six-month intervals.
