The Rundown AI: Finance execs find AI skills more valuable than an MBA

Posted on August 4, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
🎓️ Finance execs find AI skills more valuable than an MBA
Image source: PwC
The Rundown: PwC surveyed more than 1,000 director-level-and-above executives at U.S. financial services firms and found 86% say AI skills training beats an MBA for many new hires, with 91% saying they’re raising pay for employees with AI skills.
The details:
58% said they’ll tie pay to AI-enabled productivity, with firms sourcing the skills by hiring people with AI-specific skills, upskilling, and leaning on vendors. Due to AI disruption, eight in 10 execs expect their workforce to shrink at least 20% over five years, with entry- and middle-level roles being most vulnerable. The payoff remains unproven, as 77% say most of their AI investments aren’t showing measurable ROI, even as leaders report productivity gains. Many top universities, including MIT and Harvard, have already started offering executive AI courses as demand for AI talent grows, Bloomberg reports.
Why it matters: The survey reinforces what the job market has already been feeling: AI skills are becoming the new non-negotiable at work. How firms measure the AI payoff will keep shifting — from counting raw tokens to looking at real usable value — but they are already rushing to prioritize people who can wield those tools.
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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