By Marcus Coetzee, March 2026.
Last night over dinner, some young friends expressed a concern about their careers. They wondered who would mentor them if their managers all used AIs.
I’ve heard similar sentiments expressed from other sources over the past month. It’s like people are waking up to this unexpected impact of AIs. Even the news has articles about young people with good qualifications struggling to get a foothold in the marketplace.
I’ve been wondering the same, having used my professional version of Claude AI as a research assistant and personal assistant with great success, often performing similar roles to how I would have treated such people. I’m even polite and give the same type of instructions and thanks. AI has just slotted into this role that people used to occupy. This is partly because remote associate work is an isolating experience, and I’ve been doing a lot of it while searching for a suitable job. Sadly, I’ve had minimal opportunities to manage and mentor younger professionals as I have for most of my career. This is a loss for both of us.
Last night’s conversation got me thinking about how I’ve been incredibly blessed to have several great mentors over the course of my life – mentors who have invested considerable time, effort and patience to impart skills and wisdom and keep me from destructive paths. There have even been several occasions where I’ve been reprimanded and lectured by my mentors for my poor mindset, conduct, etiquette or dress code. While I didn’t enjoy the experience at the time, I’m now grateful that they cared enough to do so.
Here are some longstanding mentors who are foremost in my mind, arranged roughly chronologically:
- My Scout Master when I was a patrol leader in Scouts.
- A friend’s father, who took us on fishing trips and included me in their family holidays.
- A university student who ran my fencing club when I was at school.
- A doctor, when I was a paramedic in the army.
- A retired and traditional post-war German engineer, with whom I enjoyed weekly dinners for several years as part of a mastermind group.
- An executive in a large IT company who emigrated to New Zealand and was also part of this same mastermind group.
- My Alexander Technique teacher for over two decades.
- The CEO of the first charity I worked for. He had an intelligence background, specialised in conflict resolution, and had acute perception.
- A senior strategy and governance consultant and university lecturer at the first consulting company I joined.
- A senior leadership and people-development expert at this same company.
- The CEO of a social research company, for whom I worked for almost two decades.
- The CEO of an international economic development consultancy, whom I have worked under for over a decade, and who still mentors me.
Similarly, I’ve been blessed to have mentored younger people in my career, including:
- A range of development economists, researchers and management consultants, approximately 20 in total, who have worked under me for multiple years on projects. I’ve gained so much deep joy in seeing them grow in confidence and skill, taking on more responsibility, getting promoted, gaining recognition, and even leaving to get better jobs with other organisations. Several of them have more prestigious jobs and much higher incomes than I do, and I’m genuinely happy for them.
- A few young guys at various strength-training gyms where I worked out regularly.
- Several of my fencing students, as I ran two school fencing clubs while I was at university and in my first year of work. We used to have insightful conversations after the classes.
I have received the blessing of mentorship and have been grateful to have had the opportunity to mentor others. Some of the most valuable mentorship I received came from people who weren’t even aware they were mentoring me. I was simply watching how they thought and acted, and occasionally they would take the time to explain a concept or share their reasoning. That quiet and informal sharing of wisdom will be a hard thing to replicate.
The mentorship I gave and received in a work context was centred around proposals, methodology documents, reports, presentations, emails, client meetings, problem-solving and crisis management. I was either giving or receiving instructions, feedback, advice or descriptions of context and rationale for our approach. The vast majority of it took place face-to-face at our workplace, clients’ premises, at cafes, while travelling together and having dinner during business trips.
The consulting model in which I have worked for almost my entire career is predicated on the idea that young people do the work that their seniors don’t want to do, and gradually gain experience, skills and insights through a two-way exchange. The same principle applies across most knowledge-based and administrative professions, as tradespeople, nurses and others who work with their hands or bodies are less exposed to this disruption. This entire model breaks down if a significant part of the work gets delegated to AIs. At the very least, it means that a far smaller pool of younger people will get the opportunity to benefit from mentorship in a professional environment. I can’t see this being good for society or the economy.
I don’t have any answers to this problem, at least not at this point. What I do know for sure is that I gained immense satisfaction from mentoring younger people and seeing them flourish, and giving instructions to an AI is a distant echo of this experience. I also benefited considerably from the mentorship of my seniors, and wouldn’t be here today without their support. I wish others have the same experience.