Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters: MBA 'Waste of Time', Soft Skills Crucial in AI Era

It's not just Gen Z: This baby boomer bank CEO says his MBA was a waste -- and the skills he learned have 'degraded, degraded, degraded' since college

"I studied international relations and history. I got an MBA later, but that was a waste of time," Bill Winters told Bloomberg in a recent interview. "I learned how to think at university, and for the 40 years since I left university, those skills have been degraded, degraded, degraded." The banking chief executive may hold degrees from Colgate University and the University of Pennsylvania, but getting an Ivy League degree doesn't equate to being a valuable worker. Winters says that AI has had a major impact on the relevance of skills; now that chatbots can compile documents, create meeting slideshows, and even write code, many hard capabilities like software engineering once seen as a career goldmine are now being rendered redundant. Instead, human soft skills like curiosity, communication, and critical thinking are incredibly important in leadership and work, according to the 63-year-old CEO. Skills that don't require a college degree to pick up. In discussing the skills of tomorrow and what advice he has for young people, the Standard Chartered CEO says that soft skills are making a "comeback" thanks to AI -- which can already rival professionals with PhDs. "The technical skills are being provided by the machine, or by very competent people in other parts of the world who have really nailed the technical skills at a relatively low cost," Winters said. One key soft skill that's missing, Winters suggests, is real human connection -- and AI is actually making communication worse, not better. It's become so bad that managers are complaining that Gen Z candidates can't hold a conversation without a chatbot, and begging them not to use them in job applications. "I really think in the age of AI, that it's critical that you know how to think and communicate," Winters continued. "Not communicate better than ChatGPT, but actually, I'm going to go back to curiosity and empathy." While the banking CEO admits that some degree of hard skills are still needed, they'll only continue to wane in importance as AI takes over more workplace functions. As technology takes over all the heavy lifting, people will have to increasingly engage their human expertise on the job. "Of course, technical skills are required at some level, but less and less as the machines take out," Winters said. Fortune reached out to Standard Chartered for comment. While some CEOs like OpenAI's Sam Altman still advise young people to learn up on AI tools, there's growing urgency for soft skills across industries. The number one in-demand skill that companies wanted out of employees last year was good communication, according to a LinkedIn study. And the employment platform's chief economic opportunity officer, Aneesh Raman, echoed that AI has renewed a need for communication, empathy, and critical listening. Plus, it's not just Gen Z grads who will need to practice talking in the mirror to get the job. Emotional intelligence has even become more important when assessing for management hires, too. It perhaps explains why staffers across the board want training with these skills, too; employees ranked teamwork (65%), communication (61%), and leadership (56%) as the most valuable when it comes to training workplace skills, according to a 2024 study from Deloitte. Technical skills like coding or data analysis was ranked lower, at 54%.

Getting a Wharton MBA Was 'a Waste of Time,' According to a Global Bank CEO. Here's the Degree He Recommends Instead.

Winters said that critical thinking skills are making a comeback as AI takes over technical skills. Bill Winters, the CEO of 160-year-old bank Standard Chartered, says that the MBA he earned from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business was a "waste of time" -- but the humanities undergraduate degree he received from Colgate University was more worth it. In an interview that aired earlier this week, Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua asked Winters, 63, what he would recommend for young people to study. Winters responded by saying that he studied international relations and history as an undergraduate, graduating in 1983. He recommended those fields, stating that majoring in those areas taught him "how to think." But his MBA from Wharton in 1988 was unnecessary, he said. "I got an MBA later, but that was a waste of time," Winters told Bloomberg. "I learned how to think at university. For the 40 years since I left university, those skills have been degraded, degraded, degraded." Related: Goldman Sachs CIO Says Coders Should Take Philosophy Classes -- Here's Why Winters explained that critical thinking skills are "coming back" and becoming more important in the workforce now because AI is taking over tasks on the technical side. "I really think in the age of AI that it's critical that you know how to think and communicate," Winters said. He clarified that communication doesn't mean to act like ChatGPT and churn out answers, but to know an audience and anticipate their needs with curiosity and empathy. Technical skills are being needed "less and less," Winters said. Winters started his career at JPMorgan in 1983, rising over nearly three decades to become the co-CEO of JPMorgan's investment bank. He was considered a potential successor to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, but was ousted by Dimon in October 2009. He started his own fund management business, Renshaw Bay, in 2011 and joined Standard Chartered as CEO in 2015. Related: Using ChatGPT? AI Could Damage Your Critical Thinking Skills, According to a Microsoft Study Winters isn't the only executive encouraging the study of the humanities. Goldman Sachs' Chief Information Officer, Marco Argenti, wrote in a post in the Harvard Business Review last year that engineers should take philosophy classes in addition to standard engineering courses. That's the advice he gave his college-age daughter who was thinking about what to study. Meanwhile, big tech companies are rapidly adopting AI in their operations as the technology sweeps over technical skills. AI generates about 30% of new code at Google and Microsoft, and up to half of software development within the next year at Meta. "Vibe coding," or having AI code entire apps and projects based on prompts, is also on the rise. Even Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated earlier this month that he had used AI coding assistants to "vibe code" a webpage in his spare time.

Ivy League MBA Was A 'Waste Of Time,' Says Veteran Banker, Lists Two Key Traits Far More Relevant In The AI Age

Enter your email to get Benzinga's ultimate morning update: The PreMarket Activity Newsletter Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters says his Ivy League MBA was "a waste of time," and the real edge in today's AI-driven economy comes from the curiosity and empathy he developed as a humanities major. What Happened: Winters, 63, told Bloomberg last week that his 1988 Wharton degree added little value, even though the New Jersey native parlayed it into a 26-year run at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and a decade at the helm of the £26 billion emerging-markets lender. "I studied international relations and history. I got an MBA later, but that was a waste of time," he said. The veteran banker credits those undergraduate classes at Colgate University, not finance lectures in Philadelphia, for teaching him "how to think." "For the 40 years since I left university, those skills have been degraded, degraded, degraded. They're coming back now," he added, arguing that algorithmic tools handle most technical work while leaders must excel at "curiosity and empathy." See also: He's 67, Still Working, And Just Sold His House -- His Bank Advisor Says Claiming Social Security Now Or Lose Money Later. Is That True? Why It Matters: Winters' critique lands as MBA costs soar. Tuition at Wharton has climbed to roughly $93,000 a year, almost six times the 1988 sticker price, while median starting pay has only tripled. He urged teenagers to skip business school unless it delivers clear, job-ready skills. Winters insists that humanities graduates are better positioned for boardrooms reshaped by generative AI. "The technical skills are being provided by the machine, or by very competent people in other parts of the world who have nailed the technical skills at a relatively low cost," he said. Shark Tank star and investor Kevin O'Leary echoes Winters' thoughts. O'Leary once remarked that real-world experience, rather than business school, shaped his instincts. Ken Griffin, founder of hedge‑fund giant Citadel LLC, also lectured Stanford students that he strongly believes that the key goal for everyone enrolled in an Ivy League MBA program should be to surround themselves with sharper minds. Photo Courtesy: fongbeerredhot on Shutterstock.com Read next: 'So Wild To See Her Reaction' -- Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder Of Reddit, Uses AI To Turn Childhood Doodles Into Space Adventures With His Kid Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs