Why Replacing Entry-Level Talent With AI Is a Costly Mistake

If you ask a group of business leaders where AI should fit within their teams, many will give the same reply: It can take over the kind of work we used to assign to interns. This view is easy to understand. AI is good at research, summaries and first drafts, so the entry-level role starts to look optional. However, I believe that’s a mistake — and an expensive one. 

Cutting junior roles may save money this year. It also removes two things AI can’t replace: those people who see your business with fresh eyes, and the pipeline that produces your future managers.

The savings are real, but they don’t last

The most obvious objection is that an AI tool costs less than a salary and doesn’t require onboarding. And yes, if you only look at this year’s budget, replacing junior roles can look like a smart call.

The problem is what that decision costs later. Every senior person on your team started their career somewhere. As Lucy Beaumont, global SVP of product at SHL, told CNBC, entry-level roles are where people make their first mistakes and learn how a business really runs.

If nobody is trained today, who will be leading in 10 years? Cut that training ground, and you’re left with two options: Pay a premium to poach experienced people from competitors, or promote people who never learned the basics.

Meanwhile, graduates get stuck in a loop: Roles ask for experience, and experience requires someone to take a chance and hire them. ZipRecruiter’s 2026 graduate report found that 81.6% of grads who worked during college are now employed, compared with 40.7% of those who didn’t. So someone has to break the loop, and the companies that do get first pick of loyal, motivated talent other employers overlook. 

New people see what you no longer can

Experienced teams run on routine, and that’s a big part of what makes them efficient. The trade-off is that familiar processes rarely get a second look, even when there’s a better way to do them.

New employees have the benefit of fresh eyes and a fresh perspective. They notice onboarding steps with unnecessary friction or features customers will never use. They then ask, “Why do we do it that way?” and sometimes this leads to new and improved processes.

Of course, I have a bias; I joined AnswerConnect in 2006 as a temp-to-hire with little experience. Early on, the founder asked how things were going and really listened when I shared feedback on pain points I had experienced. I saw almost immediate changes, and the idea that I could make a difference as a brand-new employee changed everything for me. I chose to stay, and I’ve grown throughout the organization and helped influence change along the way. This is baked into our company culture and makes us stronger.

What to do instead

None of this means avoiding AI. It means using it to improve junior roles, not eliminate them.

Leave the role in place and redesign it instead. Make a list of the actual activities entry-level employees carry out each week. Pass repetitive tasks to AI, and return the time gained to the kinds of work where people develop fastest, such as talking to customers, solving problems and making judgment calls.

Teach new employees to use AI critically. Teach them to check AI output, recognize when it is incorrect and know when a person should stay involved. These skills will only become more valuable, and they’re easier to develop early on than to correct later.

Don’t leave new hires to work it out alone. Build learning into the job from day one: working sessions with experienced colleagues, shared projects and paid time for training. Your senior people benefit, too. You often realize how you do something could be better when you explain it.

Encourage curiosity and feedback. Make it easy for new hires to tell you what they see:

• Invite them to submit feedback from day one, especially on anything that feels confusing or slow.
• Ask what they think in one-on-ones, and give them other easy ways to speak up too.
• Encourage them to raise a flag whenever something could be better, and show them what changed because they did.

The real choice

Every business will use AI. What matters is what you do with the time and money it frees up: bank the savings and shrink the team, or invest in the people who’ll be running your company in 10 years.

People who are trained and trusted care more, and customers can tell. So which company will you be: the one that stopped developing talent, or the one that built it?

If you ask a group of business leaders where AI should fit within their teams, many will give the same reply: It can take over the kind of work we used to assign to interns. This view is easy to understand. AI is good at research, summaries and first drafts, so the entry-level role starts to look optional. However, I believe that’s a mistake — and an expensive one. 

Cutting junior roles may save money this year. It also removes two things AI can’t replace: those people who see your business with fresh eyes, and the pipeline that produces your future managers.

The savings are real, but they don’t last

The most obvious objection is that an AI tool costs less than a salary and doesn’t require onboarding. And yes, if you only look at this year’s budget, replacing junior roles can look like a smart call.