The human skills recruiters rank above AI skills today

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. Its prominence in the workplace, where 88% of organizations are using AI in at least one function today, has changed the way employees approach their work, and employers find and hire talent.

Still, recruiters aren’t putting AI above everything else when looking for new hires—in fact, evidence shows that human skills remain a top priority. According to our 2026 Corporate Recruiters Survey—a study of more than 600 leading global employers—communication, problem-solving and adaptability rank among the most important capabilities for recruiters today.

The survey, conducted with recruiters across 39 countries, found that communication was the most valuable attribute for employers, with 64% identifying it as their most in-demand skill among business school graduates. Problem-solving followed at 62%, while adaptability ranked third at 60%.

By comparison, using AI tools ranked 14th among the most in-demand skills, highlighted by 50% of recruiters. That’s not to say AI skills aren’t important—in fact, more than half of recruiters said AI skills would be the area they valued most in five years.

Still, the research shows that graduates who can combine AI knowledge with the human-oriented skills required to lead and make decisions are best placed for success in today’s workplaces.

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Communication remains a top priority

Communication has consistently been valued highly by companies in the past. A distinctly human skill, it’s vital when it comes to understanding an audience, interacting across teams, and making ideas resonate.

As Moshe Cohen, master lecturer in management and organizations at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, explains: “While AI can help people draft emails, summarize information, and prepare presentations, employees still need to identify people’s concerns, connect with others on an interpersonal level, and deliver presentations in a compelling manner.”

For business school graduates who often enter cross-functional roles, this may involve translating complicated information into something that can be understood and used in decision-making.

AI can gather information and generate outputs, but employees still need to communicate their ideas, connect with others, make decisions, and solve problems.

Similarly, as AI supports professionals in producing increasingly polished presentations, interpersonal skills can become an important differentiator.

Two employees can start with the same AI-generated presentation, Moshe points out, but one might close the sale while the other fails to engage the client, all dependent on how they deliver it.

Communication therefore doesn’t simply remain relevant in an AI-enabled workplace; it is vital to turning AI-assisted work into useful output for the people and businesses that rely on it.

Human perspective is essential to problem-solving

Ranked closely behind communication by employers, problem-solving remains an area where AI can provide support, but human judgment is paramount.

AI can help employees sift through information, identify patterns, and generate potential solutions. However, it remains the responsibility of leaders within a business to dictate strategy and decide what problems the organization needs to solve.

Moshe says that, to do this, employees “have to answer some fundamental questions: Who are the relevant stakeholders, what are their needs, how do they relate to each other, what are the issues that need resolution, how might people use these solutions, and what might get in the way?”

Answering such questions requires a whole host of additional human skills, as leaders must communicate and leverage relationships with others across functions to understand their challenges and priorities.

“To be viable and effective, solutions need to work for the people who will be using them, and getting there involves interactions that are not mediated by AI,” Moshe explains.

It’s little surprise that employers seek these abilities in business school students, who often arrive in the workplace well prepared for such conversations, having spent time working alongside others during group projects and practical business simulations. These experiences often require students to work with incomplete information and consider competing perspectives.

As AI becomes more capable of generating potential solutions, the ability to strategize, identify the right problems, and apply good judgment in implementing solutions becomes increasingly important.

Adaptability matters in a changing workplace

There is also adaptability. The workplace is constantly changing; understanding how to do your job today doesn't necessarily mean the job will remain the same a year from now, particularly given the pace of change in AI.

According to Rhoda Yap, executive director of the Career Development Center at INSEAD: “Adaptability means recognizing how the skills and experience you already have can help a new employer, client, customer or team, and learning enough about their context to contribute quickly.

“As AI changes the tasks people do, the ability to understand whose problem you are solving and apply what you know in a new setting becomes even more valuable,” Rhoda adds.

Adaptability can therefore mean being comfortable with unfamiliar situations, taking on new responsibilities, or learning a technology that didn't exist in the past. Equally important is taking a lifelong learning approach: being willing to reconsider when circumstances change rather than relying on what worked years or months before.

AI skills are coming—but human skills aren't disappearing

As the workplace continues to evolve, employers expect AI skills to become increasingly important over the next five years. Still, the human element endures. Moving forward, graduates will need to combine AI fluency with the ability to think critically, communicate clearly, and adapt as technology changes.

According to Abby Scott, assistant dean of MBA Career Management and Corporate Partnerships at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business: “Human skills are more important than ever; judgment, critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and so on. Those remain valuable to companies as we navigate AI and need a discerning eye to prompt well, evaluate outputs, [and] assess decisions,” she says.

The technologies business school graduates use may look very different five years from now, but the ability to communicate an idea, work through a problem, and continue to adapt to change remains essential regardless of which tools are at their disposal.