The use of artificial intelligence has already become an everyday practice for most students and employees; however, in the labor market over the coming years, the key competitive advantage will remain not technical but human skills — communication, leadership, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and the ability to work with people. This was the conclusion reached by participants in the press conference on the topic “Higher education and MBA education in the era of artificial intelligence. Which professions and skills will remain with humans?”, which took place at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Wednesday.
As Director of the Center for Business Education and Advanced Training of the Institute of Psychology and Entrepreneurship Maria Furman reported, the study, conducted on the basis of cooperation between students and business, covered more than 250 respondents from the fields of law, HR, IT, consulting, marketing, management, foreign economic activity, education, sales, and finance.
“Currently, more than 97% of respondents already use artificial intelligence in work or everyday life, and more than 50% turn to it at least once a day. The most widespread tools turned out to be ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, and Copilot, while the main usage scenarios were explaining complex information, writing and editing texts, generating ideas, translation, data analysis, and preparation of summaries,” she noted during the presentation of the study “The Use of AI in Work and Everyday Life.”
At the same time, according to Furman, the spread of AI does not mean an automatic increase in trust in its answers. She drew attention to the fact that about 30% of daily functions are already being replaced by such tools; however, the largest share of respondents assessed the level of trust in AI answers as moderate — information can be trusted only on condition of verification. More than 50% of respondents always verify generated answers, another 33% do so if the information looks suspicious, and 13% do so when it concerns especially important work. In addition, more than 30% of respondents very often encountered distortion of information, while another 53.6% reported that such cases had happened to them several times.
“According to estimates by the World Economic Forum, by 2030 more than 40% of skills in the world will change, and this means a need for rapid retraining of both current employees and students. She emphasized that higher education must not simply familiarize young people with digital tools, but rebuild approaches to learning in such a way as to prepare specialists capable of working together with AI, rather than mechanically relying on it,” the expert stressed.
According to her, artificial intelligence has already become part of education and business, but its effect lies not in the complete replacement of humans, but in the transformation of their functions.
“That is precisely why analytical thinking, communication, adaptability, people management, emotional intelligence, and creativity are of particular value today,” Furman stressed.
She added that AI will not be able to displace managers, psychologists, HR specialists, communications managers, teachers, mentors, as well as those responsible for strategy and team development, since in these professions human trust, leadership, empathy, and the ability to work with context remain decisive.
For her part, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Vice-Rector for Scientific-Pedagogical and Educational Work of the Institute of Psychology and Entrepreneurship Iraida Zaitseva emphasized that even the most powerful algorithms cannot replace a leader, since they are devoid of consciousness, creativity, and moral reflection. She recalled that a machine can advise cutting staff for the sake of higher profit, but is not capable of assessing the social, ethical, and even geopolitical consequences of such a decision.
“Artificial intelligence is a powerful engine, but only a human should be the pilot who knows where and why they are flying. We teach students not simply to use the tool, but to validate decisions, critically treat the algorithm’s ‘black box,’ and bear personal responsibility for the result. At the institute, AI is allowed to be used as an auxiliary means for structuring material or searching for ideas; however, the student is obliged to indicate the fact of its use, verify sources, and be responsible for the content of the work, otherwise this may be regarded as academic dishonesty,” Zaitseva noted.
CEO of Capolavoro Group (Brazil), lecturer at the Brazilian AMF institute, and investor in technology startups Wesley Lacerda focused attention on the risks of the improper use of artificial intelligence in business. In his assessment, the main danger lies not only in the technology as such, but in the gradual cognitive weakening of a person, when the user becomes accustomed to transferring their own memory, analytical abilities, speech, and even elementary ability to make independent decisions to the machine. In his presentation, he separately named cognitive deterioration, decline of intelligence, weakening of the ability for reflection, and loss of social skills as the main risks of the broad implementation of AI.
“Artificial intelligence should be used as a tool for data analytics, not as a replacement for human thinking. When a person ceases to understand what stands behind the machine’s answer, they lose their own cognitive abilities, and together with them, the ability to make independent decisions,” Lacerda noted during his presentation.
He also drew attention to the fact that the new wave of automation is generating demand first of all for AI analysts, AI engineers, specialists in AI Ops, and algorithmic audit, and not only and not so much simply for IT specialists. However, even in these roles, what remains decisive is the human understanding of what is being done and for what purpose, and not only the ability to write the correct prompt for the machine.
For her part, 3S Agency recruiter Sofia Vorushko emphasized that in the hiring sphere, artificial intelligence creates an illusion of objectivity, but still cannot replace a live recruiter. According to her, candidates are increasingly better prepared for interviews with the help of AI, use correct wording and socially desirable answers; however, the algorithm is not capable of fully reading non-verbal signals, understanding a person’s motivation, their real experience, and their fit with the culture of a specific company. She gave the example of two seemingly identical executive assistant vacancies, for which in practice completely different candidates were needed due to the different management styles of the managers.
“Today the market is evaluating an employee less and less only by hard skills and more and more by soft skills. Communication, resilience, flexibility, adaptability, leadership, and the ability to build relationships are becoming critically important, because they are the hardest to automate,” Vorushko added.
She referred to global estimates according to which 63% of employers call the shortage of soft skills a barrier to business development, 67% of companies are looking for flexibility and adaptability, 61% — leadership and social influence, while demand for social and emotional skills will grow by another 24% by 2030. According to the recruiter, currently 75% of an employee’s long-term success depends specifically on soft skills, while hard skills account for only about 20%.
At the same time, Director of LLC “Formatsiya” Mykola Hoi noted that for a business built on communication with clients, partners, dealers, manufacturers, and suppliers, the direct transfer of decisions to AI is extremely limited. According to him, in his company, which operates in the field of solar energy, about 95% of working time is precisely work with people, and therefore template algorithms are not capable of fully replacing live contact either in sales, in team selection, or in the development of marketing solutions.
“In business, artificial intelligence can be used, but only if its limits are understood very clearly. Founding a business, selecting a team, marketing, sales, work with the client, and rapid decision-making in a changing environment remain the zone of human responsibility, because here what is needed is not templates, but knowledge, experience, and understanding of another person,” Hoi stressed.
He added that the use of AI in HR processes can lead to mistakes if a company tries to assess candidates only by formal features, without giving a person the opportunity to reveal their potential in live communication.
Separately, the participants noted that the Institute of Psychology and Entrepreneurship is focusing on specialties that, in the opinion of the organizers, are least susceptible to automation: personnel management, communicative management, and psychology. The institution reported that the cost of bachelor’s studies is UAH 42 thousand per year, and at the college — UAH 28 thousand per year; cooperation was also announced with partners in the Baltic countries, as well as in Poland, the UAE, and Brazil, where students can undergo internships. Thanks to the ontological approach, which helps develop the personality, and the combination of psychology with up-to-date knowledge from business practitioners, the institute’s students comprehensively develop personal and professional skills. This helps them become high-level managers and not be dependent on technologies. This level of training allows students, starting from the second year, to work in business projects in their professional specialty.
Summing up the discussion, the experts agreed that Ukrainian higher education and MBA programs can no longer ignore artificial intelligence, but also should not make it an end in itself. It is not about a struggle between human and machine, but about a new distribution of roles, in which AI takes over routine, analytical, and technical functions, while strategy, ethics, creativity, empathy, team management, and responsibility for decisions remain with humans. It is precisely these qualities, in the opinion of the event participants, that will determine a specialist’s competitiveness in the next 5–10 years.
AI, EDUCATION, Formatsiya, HR, INSTITUTE OF PSYCHOLOGY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, IRAIDA ZÁITSEVA; CAPOLAVORO GROUP, LEARNING, MARIA FURMAN, MYKOLA HOI, RECRUITING, SOFÍA VORUSHKO, WESLEY LACERDA; 3S AGENCY
The updated Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA5) showed $13.9 billion in losses and $33.5 billion needed to restore education and science in Ukraine, according to the Ministry of Education and Science.
“The education and science sectors have also suffered significant losses. Total losses are estimated at $13.9 billion and cover the infrastructure and assets of all subsectors, from preschool education to scientific institutions,” the ministry said in a statement.
It is noted that the most damage was recorded in scientific infrastructure, higher education institutions, and schools, particularly in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions, as well as in the city of Kyiv.
“For the complete restoration and reconstruction of the education and science sector for 2026-2035, the total need is estimated at $33.5 billion,” the ministry added.
The priority areas for support are: reconstruction of educational institutions; restoration of face-to-face learning through the construction and modernization of shelters and the introduction of temporary solutions to ensure access to face-to-face learning; comprehensive overcoming of learning losses (improved teaching practices, flexible catch-up programs, and psychosocial support are needed to compensate for lost learning time and overcome psychological trauma).
“When we talk about the damage caused by Russia to the Ukrainian education and science system, we are not just talking about destroyed buildings. It is limited access to education, lost opportunities, and educational gaps that affect children’s future earnings and the country’s economic potential — and these consequences are exacerbated as long as the war continues,” the press service quotes Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi as saying.
The RDNA5 report was prepared jointly with the World Bank, the European Commission, and the UN. It covers the period from February 24, 2022, to December 31, 2025. The total cost of recovery in Ukraine as of December 31, 2025, is $588 billion (over EUR500 billion) over the next decade, which is almost three times Ukraine’s projected nominal GDP for 2025.
The 2026 state budget provides for UAH 298.8 billion in funding for the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
“The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has approved the state budget for 2026. The document provides for a significant expansion of investment in human capital: UAH 298.8 billion is allocated for education and science, which is UAH 85.4 billion more than in 2025,” the Ministry of Education said in a statement.
Key areas of funding include: education — UAH 278.7 billion (+UAH 79.8 billion by 2025); educational infrastructure and investment projects — UAH 17 billion, including UAH 6.2 billion for shelters in schools and kindergartens; free school meals — UAH 14.4 billion to provide meals for 3.5 million students in grades 1–11; textbooks — UAH 2.1 billion is allocated for the purchase of textbooks for grades 4 and 9; scholarships for students — UAH 6.6 billion.
It is also planned to allocate UAH 19.9 billion to science, in particular, almost UAH 3 billion for basic funding of universities and scientific institutions based on the results of state certification; UAH 998 million for research centers of advanced experience; UAH 100 million for a new competition for applied developments in partnership with business; UAH 300 million for competitive research.
“Education and science remain among the key priorities of the state in 2026. The increase in funding demonstrates that Ukraine is consistently investing in human potential, technological strength, and future sustainability — the foundation of our victory and development,” the ministry emphasized.
As reported, the 2024 state budget allocated UAH 171.2 billion to finance education, while the 2025 state budget allocates UAH 197.3 billion to finance education.
Deputy Head of the Department for Financial Technologies, Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence of the Presidential Administration of Uzbekistan Hikmatilla Ubaidullaev said that the first working meeting with OpenAI representatives was held. Valerie Fokke, Dips Patel, Shaig Ali, and Carlotta Serrano, Heads of Education and Partnerships, participated in the meeting.
The main topic of the talks was the introduction of ChatGPT EDU platform for teachers and students. This tool will allow using powerful OpenAI language models in a secure environment, creating personalized learning materials and own AI assistants.
The parties paid special attention to personalized learning, where artificial intelligence helps to adapt the educational process to the individual characteristics of each student, such as their pace, level of knowledge, and interests. Such a system will allow teachers to quickly identify gaps, create individualized assignments, automate work checking, and reduce bureaucratic procedures.
It was agreed that OpenAI will not create a separate program but will join the national initiative 1 Million AI Leaders, supplementing it with its own courses and expertise. This will allow Uzbek schoolchildren, students, and teachers to master artificial intelligence technologies at the level of world standards.
A separate area of discussion was the support of local startups. OpenAI expressed its readiness to consider providing preferential access to APIs and loans, as well as participation in hackathons and acceleration programs in Uzbekistan. This will create additional opportunities for young teams developing their own AI products in education and business.
The Uzbek side also presented plans to create a GPU cluster and an Uzbek-language data corpus for localization and adaptation of AI models. OpenAI representatives noted that their systems already demonstrate a high level of understanding of the Uzbek language and expressed interest in further cooperation in this area.
Following the meeting, the parties agreed to prepare a roadmap for cooperation in three key areas:
1) implementation of ChatGPT EDU at universities;
2) development of mass AI education;
3) support for startups and hackathons.
KAN Development invested $120 million in education and the construction of educational institutions during the war, according to company founder Igor Nikonov.
“At KAN Development, we believe in the future and are building it today. We are creating self-sufficient ecosystems with everything you need: work, education, sports, medicine, security. During the war, we invested $120 million in education for children and are building schools of a new level,” Nikonov said on his Facebook page following his participation in the Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF).
As reported, KAN Development is investing $80 million in the construction of a school in the Respublika residential complex and a school on McCain Street in Kyiv. In total, the educational institutions are designed for 2,000 students.
In September 2024, the A+ architectural and engineering college also opened in the Faina Town residential district in the capital. It became the 15th educational institution in the A+ network.
KAN Development was founded in 2001. The company’s portfolio includes Ocean Plaza, Respublika Park, Tetris Hall, Central Park, Comfort Town, Faina Town, Respublika, IQ Business Center, and 101 Tower. In more than 20 years of operation, KAN Development has created over 3 million square meters of residential, retail, and commercial real estate. The company is also actively developing its own network of A+ educational institutions.
The current education system in Ukraine is hindering investment and business development and needs to be changed, according to Konstantin Efimenko, president of the pharmaceutical company Biofarma Plasma.
“In order for us to implement changes and invest $500 million over seven years, the education system needs to be fundamentally changed,” he said at the Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF) on Thursday.
Yefimenko noted the negative consequences for primary schools of online learning, which has been practiced in Ukraine for the past six years.
“That’s why we’ve completely lost the school system. Today, we’re getting kids with absolutely zero knowledge, and we need to understand that in order to understand where we are,” he said.
Yefimenko stressed the need to invest in education and review curricula.
“We need to change the education system, we need to remove all these lessons on happiness, some psychological lessons, and bring mathematics, chemistry, and biology back to school,” said the businessman and former Minister of Transport and Communications.
In addition, Yefimenko stressed the need to upgrade university teaching laboratories.
“I visited almost all the universities in Kyiv where chemistry and biology are taught. And I will say this: all their laboratories became obsolete 34 years ago. Everything there related to chemistry, biology, and physics should be collected and thrown away. The entire university base is worse than a single Biofarma laboratory, in which we invested $25 million. But let’s think about it: a peripheral company from Bila Tserkva has a better laboratory base than all universities, including national ones. How can this be acceptable?” he said.
Yefimenko noted the high demand for qualified personnel: “We need people, but we can’t train them at the trolleybus stop. We need to buy chromatographs, we need to buy cytometers, we need to find equipment and connect it. And we don’t have that.”
“We have created two schools because we understand that there is no school education. We have created our own department at Shevchenko University. There are now 15 children studying there. I find the teachers myself and pay them myself, which costs more than $1 million a year. We are now publishing textbooks. The only thing more important than this is what is happening on the front line,” he said.
