Every fresher in India has heard some version of "do the grunt work first, learn the trade." Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran just said the uncomfortable part out loud: AI is quietly eliminating those entry-level jobs — and the training ground they provided — for an entire generation. Speaking at the 16th Indian Management Conclave (IMC 2026) in Noida, he called it a fundamental challenge for management education over the next two to three decades.
01.The bottom rungs are being sawn off
Here's the line that stuck with me: "The trouble is AI now precisely does this junior work. The bottom rungs of the ladder are being sawn off. The routine tasks that once taught the young their trade are the first to be automated."
Think about what a first job actually teaches you — building the monthly report, doing market research, drafting the first version of a client email, reconciling spreadsheets. None of it is glamorous, and that's the point. You learned judgement by doing controlled, low-stakes work under supervision. AI is eating exactly that layer first, because routine and codified tasks are what it does best.
Nageswaran put it bluntly: "For a century, we learn judgement on the job, slowly through apprenticeship… and if AI removes the apprenticeship, where will the next generation of judgement be?"
02.Not a small problem — possibly the whole problem
The CEA didn't treat this as one item on a long list. "This is not a small problem for management education, it could be the whole problem," he said. His reasoning: "The parts of management that AI cannot do are exactly the parts that were always the hardest to teach in a classroom."
He also pointed at something even more basic — attention. "The manager's core tool is a clear and patient mind. That tool is under attack before the students even reach the campuses." Social media, he said, is fragmenting the attention of the younger generation, straining mental and physical health, and weakening the ability to sit with a long, difficult problem.
03.Teach judgement, not just technique
So what's the fix? Nageswaran's answer for B-schools was crisp: "First, teach judgement, not just technique. If AI now does the analysis, the scarce skill is knowing which question to ask and whether to trust the answer that comes back. This is judgement. It is taught through cases."
And no, bolting a course onto the syllabus won't do. "Adding one AI elective will not be enough," he said — institutions need to reimagine how they teach, not just what they teach. For a country with thousands of MBA colleges churning out graduates every year, that's a bigger deal than it sounds.
04.Globalisation as we knew it has ended
The CEA also made a broader economic point that's worth sitting with. "Globalisation, at least the version we have known for 30 years, has ended," he said — not meaning trade stops, but that the era of frictionless efficiency and single-source global supply chains is over and "will not return for a generation at least."
Put the two together and you get the real picture: the old formula of English + degree + services boom that carried millions of Indian careers is being rewritten on both ends at once.
05.Context: this is his second warning this week
This isn't coming from an alarmist — it's the government's own chief economic adviser, and he's been consistent. We covered his bigger warning on India's AI-economy inflection point just days ago, where he argued AI should complement workers rather than replace them. With the government simultaneously pushing massive AI skilling programmes, the message between the lines is clear: the state sees the disruption coming and is racing to prepare for it.
Personally, what I find most interesting is how differently this lands depending on where you sit. If you're mid-career, AI eating junior work can feel like leverage — your team gets more done. If you're a student, it's genuinely scary: how do you get on the ladder when the bottom rungs are gone? The honest answer is that the entry gate is moving — from executing routine work to directing the systems that now do it. That's a skill you can start building on your own, today, and our GPT-6 Astra — Zero to Hero Guide is built for exactly that — prompting, agents, cost optimization, and business ideas, all from zero.
Related reads: if this story clicked for you, Bill Gates Is Putting $1 Billion Into AI — Right After Warning It Threatens Jobs and Sovereign AI Won't Create Jobs: Nitin Seth's Warning for India.
Key Takeaways
- CEA Nageswaran: routine entry-level work is the first to be automated, cutting off the apprenticeship path
- "This is not a small problem for management education, it could be the whole problem"
- B-schools must teach judgement through cases — a single AI elective won't be enough
- Attention spans and the end of frictionless globalisation compound the challenge
- The practical response for students: learn to direct AI systems, not compete with them
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the CEA say about AI and entry-level jobs?
Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said AI is eliminating the routine entry-level tasks that once taught young workers their trade. Speaking at the 16th Indian Management Conclave (IMC 2026) in Noida, he said the bottom rungs of the ladder are being sawn off because AI now precisely does that junior work — the reports, research, first drafts and spreadsheet reconciliations that formed a first job.
Why does losing entry-level work matter so much?
Because those low-stakes, supervised tasks are how judgement has traditionally been learned on the job. Nageswaran asked that if AI removes the apprenticeship layer, where the next generation's judgement will come from. He called it potentially the whole problem for management education, not just one item on a long list, and warned that social media is already fragmenting the attention a manager needs.
What did he suggest B-schools should do?
Teach judgement, not just technique. Since AI now does much of the analysis, the scarce skill is knowing which question to ask and whether to trust the answer that comes back — which he says is taught through cases. He also argued that simply adding one AI elective will not be enough; institutions need to reimagine how they teach, not just what they teach.
What This Means for You
If you're a student or a fresher, this speech is really a map. The jobs that survived are the ones where you decide what questions to ask and whether to trust the answer — exactly what Nageswaran calls judgement. You don't build that by avoiding AI; you build it by using these tools seriously and often. Start with the GPT-6 Astra — Zero to Hero Guide — it takes you from your first prompt to building working AI agents, so the day your employer expects you to direct one, it's already muscle memory. Then, when placement season gets close, our AI Job Hunt Kit (₹99) takes over — 60 copy-paste prompts for your resume, LinkedIn, cover letters, interviews and salary negotiation. And if you are sitting for campus placements this year, our Campus Placement Crash Kit 2026-27 decodes the TCS NQT, Infosys, Wipro and Accenture hiring rounds with ready interview playbooks. And once that first salary lands, our New Income Tax Act Survival Guide (₹149) maps the 2026-27 rules for salaried staff — the old-to-new section map, regime math and the forms that changed — so your payslip finally adds up.