Palantir CEO Alex Karp believes that in an age of AI, job seekers with a background in the humanities will have little marketable value. In his typically provocative style, this is what he told BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in a public conversation on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos. When Fink asked him if AI would create or destroy jobs he replied bluntly, “It will destroy humanities jobs,” and then, “hopefully you have some other skill.”
Photo credit: Ministério da Indústria, Comércio Exterior e Serviços from Brasília, Brasil, CC BY-SA 2.0
While much of their dialogue was about Palantir’s extensive military contracts, Karp’s comments on the future of work have sparked outrage and consternation. His belief that factory and vocational careers are the only way forward seems to be what’s stirring up most of the controversy. It certainly flies in the face of a more widespread view that human skills will be critical in a future business landscape dominated by AI agents and bots.
But what everyone missed was a slightly later exchange between the two CEOs. Fink and Karp noted that they both went to elite liberal arts schools. Karp acknowledged his philosophy degree and then said, “If you can get a job, you might keep it. That’s what I always thought. If I finally get a job, I’ll probably keep it and do well. But I’m not sure who’s going to give me my first job.”
This is the key challenge for humanities graduates going forward and Karp, perhaps inadvertently, put his finger on it.
Do those with training in history, literature, philosophy, art or music have the language or skills to market themselves in the world of business—to land that first job? And do recruiters or hiring managers know how to look at someone’s unconventional resume and see promise instead of difference?
If we can’t answer “yes” to both of those questions, then Karp’s evaluation of his early prospects—and those facing a similar situation—is accurate.
Fortunately, some in higher education understand the problem and are doing something about it. Programs like Purdue’s Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts and Brandeis University’s Center for Careers and Applied Liberal Arts are preparing undergraduates to internalize and articulate just the kind of marketable value that Karp prizes.
Photo credit: Pexels, Yan Krukau
But what about those on the corporate side? This may be a bigger challenge because of the financial pressure to streamline and standardize recruiting practices. But some business schools and institutions are recognizing the value of giving their students an appreciation for how the humanities can influence an organization’s success or failure. For example:
• A collaboration between Seton Hall’s Stillman School of Business and its College of Arts and Sciences has produced one of the first of its kind, a Minor in Business Humanities. As described on the school’s website, this program “combines the critical and creative thinking and ethical reasoning of the humanities with practical business knowledge.”
• The IE Brown Executive MBA is a joint degree program between Brown University and the IE Business School in Madrid, with a curriculum that specifically connects business fundamentals to insights from the social sciences and humanities.
• The Aspen Institute’s Business & Society Program was founded in 1998 with a mission to help “align business decisions and investments with the long-term health of society and the planet.” In 2012 the Business & Society Program launched the Aspen Undergraduate Consortium to help faculty design effective interdisciplinary liberal arts and business curriculums. The program ran for almost ten years and produced research like, Charting a New Course for Next-Generation Business Leaders: A Toolkit for Blending the Humanities and Business in Undergraduate Education.
Towards the end of Karp and Fink’s dialogue at Davos, the conversation turned to how AI adoption will stress-test every part of society. “The revolution that’s coming is going to expose the actual market value of what you’re doing,” said Karp. “Whether we want it or not.”
He is right about that. But instead of giving up or ignoring what’s ahead, those of us who love and value the arts and humanities should take that as a challenge—and prove him wrong.
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Published here on Forbes.com
January 23, 2026
