Palo Alto CEO says AI fluency will decide careers
Nikesh Arora says most workers at large companies lack AI skills, and Palo Alto Networks is using hackathons to reshape its workforce.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora says workers who fail to build AI skills could lose ground as employers remake teams around the technology. Speaking on the 20VC podcast, Arora said about 90% of employees at large companies are not yet fluent in AI, a gap he argued may affect their careers.
Arora said the shift has created a “Darwinian moment” for workers, with employees expected to teach themselves how to use AI tools because formal training paths remain limited. He said companies cannot send staff to universities for a ready-made course and must rely on workers’ ability to learn on their own.
His comments add to a broader warning from executives who say AI is changing hiring, promotion and job security. Fortune reported that AI is already being used to automate routine work and alter job descriptions across companies.
Palo Alto is hiring through hackathons
Arora said Palo Alto Networks is changing how it brings in talent. He told 20VC that the company is recruiting “only through” hackathons as it looks for people who can show practical AI ability.
The company has about 21,000 employees, according to Fortune. Arora said roughly 2% of workers leave each month through normal attrition, giving the company a way to replace departing employees with people who have stronger AI skills.
Arora said that, over 12 months, he expects to change 20% to 25% of his team through that process. Over three years, he said he hopes Palo Alto will have enough AI-skilled workers across the company.
He also pointed to other technology companies that have cut headcount as part of AI-related reorganizations. Fortune reported that Coinbase, Block and Cloudflare have made broad layoffs tied to AI, and Arora cited Brian Armstrong and Jack Dorsey as executives who have discussed shrinking organizations and rebuilding with different talent.
An Orgvue study from 2025 found that 39% of business leaders said they had already made employees redundant because of AI use, according to Fortune. Arora said some companies are concluding that they cannot retrain enough of their existing staff and are instead seeking new workers with stronger technical ability.
Other CEOs are issuing similar warnings
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has also said AI will affect many kinds of work. In a 2025 interview with the BBC, Pichai said people will need to adapt and that society should discuss areas where AI will affect jobs, while also saying the technology will create new opportunities.
Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman told Fortune that AI is changing and automating roles up to the executive level. Kaufman said leaders should use the technology themselves rather than only promote it inside their companies.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang offered a related view in an interview at Stanford Graduate School of Business, according to Fortune. Huang said most people are more likely to lose work to someone who uses AI than to AI itself, and said companies need to make sure workers learn how to use the tools.
Arora’s message was blunt: workers who can apply AI in their jobs will have an advantage. He said the strongest performers in professions such as teaching and medicine will be those who learn to make the technology part of their work.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.