Howdy, readers.
At the time of this article’s publication, it’s nearly the evening of Monday, February 10.
Y’all know what that means — Generative AI Expo 2025 kicks off tomorrow morning, bright and early!
For any unaware, this event is part of the overall #TECHSUPERSHOW experience, which also features ITEXPO, IoT Evolution Expo, the Industrial IoT Conference, MSP Expo, Enterprise Cybersecurity Expo and more. It’s all happening under one roof, too; namely, at the Broward County Convention Center from February 11-13.
Generative AI Expo, in particular, will be covering a whole swath of topics and subtopics related to the rise of advanced artificial intelligence and the near-infinite capabilities therein. GenAI is transforming entire industries at a rapid pace; it's a transformative tool, especially for younger generations that are already super tech-savvy.
However, two things can be true at the same time — technological savviness is a great asset, but it shouldn’t necessarily replace crucial life skills, either.
Specifically, soft skills.
Soft skills, as we know, are defined as personal attributes and varied interpersonal skills that characterize one’s ability to interact effectively (and harmoniously) with others and healthy support the pursuit of their goals. In the workplace, soft skills are often considered complementary to hard skills, i.e. referring to a person’s knowledge base, occupational expertise, etc. Additionally, soft skills are sometimes linked with one’s emotional intelligence quotient (EQ), and in a competitive labor market it’s clear when individuals are able to demonstrate that they have an even-keeled combo both soft and hard skills; there’s certainly high demand for folks that can adeptly strike that balance.
But what about when there’s a lack of such soft skills? Hard skills are acquirable through, well, hard work, education and the like, but what about that extra touch of human connection via practiced interpersonality? What of meaningful eye contact and appropriate tones? Of deep recognition of social cues?
In the context of this article, we’re not endeavoring to draw a direct tie between such nuances and the proliferation of generative AI. However, many business roles (e.g. sales, marketing, HR and/or IT) require individuals with comprehensive verbal skills, proof of accountability, autonomy and leadership-in-action know-how, and emotional intelligence that resonates well with one’s team(s). That way, said teams can be built and maintained and meaningful connections can be established with partners.
But see, some would say that Gen Z (just as an example; there are others) largely lacks reliable soft skills. (Especially in today’s increasingly tech-driven world, wherein the “human touch” may lag behind.) In that vein, tools like GenAI can be utilized, but perhaps not wholly relied upon.
Yet in another sense (please humor this wiffle-waffle, devil’s advocacy-wise), GenAI can actually help reinforce soft skills, when applied smartly. It has already been harnessed to upskill much-needed soft skills by offering personalized and interactive learning experiences for those already hugely reliant on technology-always-in-hand approaches. For instance, what if someone used an AI-powered platform to generate real-time feedback on communication skills, thus enabling users to refine their verbal and written expression? What if AI capably simulated a smattering of emotionally charged scenarios to help people practice empathy and viably back up their respective EQs?
It’s a charged (and jam-packed) topic, to be sure. There’s a lot of meat and potatoes to break down here, so to speak.
That’s why we strongly encourage readers to consider attending Generative AI Expo 2025. On Wednesday, February 12 at 1:30 PM, AWS Senior Cloud Architect Santhosh Srinivasan will be delivering his keynote presentation on these topic points, precisely. From Srinivasan’s session, attendees can expect to walk away with various ideas and actionable strategies involving the use of powerful AI models to help improve soft skills. (And how such tools can help design other tools that may enhance one’s teamwork mindsets/collaborative capabilities while facilitating wiser decision-making, to boot.)
For those interested, registration is still open. Click here for more details.
We hope to see you there.
Edited by
Alex Passett
