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At the 2025 ASU+GSV Summit, leaders from Harvard, Handshake, Achieve Partners, and Virtual Internships came together to tackle one of the most urgent questions facing education and the workforce:
How is AI reshaping the landscape for entry-level jobs—and what must we do in response?
On a powerful panel moderated by Ryan Craig (Achieve Partners), and featuring Daniel Nivern (Virtual Internships), Valerie Capers Workman (Handshake), and Nathalie Gazzaneo (Harvard Project on Workforce) explored the shifting expectations of employers, the barriers students face when launching their careers, and the critical role of scalable, accessible work-based learning.
We spent some time analysing the key conversation points and common themes of the discussion, arriving at the key insights below.
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The conversation opened with a stark reality: today’s learners are more motivated than ever to gain professional experience, but the supply of internships isn’t keeping up. According to the Business-Higher Education Forum, over 8 million undergraduates sought internships last year, but only 3.6 million landed them—and just 2.5 million met the threshold of “quality.” That leaves millions behind.
Daniel Nivern emphasized that this experience gap has real-world consequences. Without internships, learners lack the skills, confidence, and professional signals employers now expect. For marginalized groups, the consequences are amplified, deepening inequities that already exist in the transition from education to employment.
Working with universities around the globe to provide scalable, for-credit internship experiences, even in fields and regions where traditional internships are scarce, is exactly what Virtual Internships was founded to do. University of Cincinnati implemented this program one year ago and have seen staggering gains in student satisfaction, engagement, and career-readiness as a result.
As artificial intelligence reshapes nearly every industry, employer expectations are changing. The days of new hires being trained slowly over their first few months are fading. Instead, companies want early-career professionals who can contribute immediately—and that often includes knowing how to work with AI tools.
This trend is accelerating faster than many realize. Job postings mentioning AI have increased by a third year over year. Yet the adoption of AI within companies remains uneven. Valerie Capers Workman pointed out the paradox: businesses may not yet be fully using AI, but they're already demanding AI fluency from incoming talent.
For students and institutions, this shift means that work-based experiences must include exposure to real-world tools—whether through internships, co-ops, or project-based learning–in order to prepare learners to efficiently use AI in their everyday jobs. Virtual Internships’ programs often incorporate AI-augmented tasks, giving learners both technical and durable skills employers are increasingly prioritizing.
The panel underscored a crucial truth: entry-level jobs are being redefined. Once considered stepping stones for those with little to no experience, many now demand months—or even years—of relevant training, whether explicitly stated or embedded through coded language in job descriptions.
Daniel Nivern highlighted that 52% of U.S. college graduates are underemployed, and the longer they remain so, the harder it is to escape that cycle. This reality is pushing learners to find new ways to demonstrate their readiness—not just through resumes, but through portfolios, GitHub profiles, and Substack posts.
Skills-based hiring is gaining momentum, but without real-world experience, learners struggle to meet even revised expectations. That’s why Virtual Internships not only places learners in remote internships, but also supports them in articulating their skills through coaching, reflective exercises, and mentor feedback.
With the bloom fading from Big Tech and federal roles, learners are increasingly turning to SMEs as launching pads. These businesses offer close-knit environments, direct access to leadership, and room to grow—if only they had the infrastructure to onboard interns.
Daniel shared that while many SMEs express willingness to host interns, they often cite a lack of time, training, and management capacity. That’s where intermediaries like Virtual Internships step in—reducing friction and providing pre-screened talent, project management templates, and ongoing support to make hosting interns easier than ever.
At scale, this model doesn’t just help learners—it boosts local economies and strengthens industries often overlooked in national workforce strategies.
We dived into this interesting solution in depth in our recent report: More Internships, Please: Empowering SME and University Collaboration
Universities are uniquely positioned to help learners build durable skills and navigate a fast-changing career landscape—but they can’t do it without partnerships. The panel urged institutions to rethink the traditional four-year model and embed work-based learning into every learner’s journey.
Nathalie Gazzaneo highlighted a need for “additional pathways,” including micro-credentials, shorter courses, and stackable programs that evolve with the job market. Valerie added that higher ed should never concede its role in teaching critical thinking—an essential skill in an age of generative AI.
The future of entry-level work is uncertain—but it’s also full of potential. This panel at ASU+GSV 2025 made it clear that while AI and shifting employer demands present real challenges, they also offer a chance to redesign career pathways to be more inclusive, innovative, and impactful.
Virtual Internships is proud to be part of this movement—supporting learners, institutions, and employers with the tools to adapt, scale, and succeed. Find out more about partnering with us to bring this scalable, customisable program into your institution and help your learners succeed in the workforce.