Employers have made no secret of wanting workers who know how to use AI. A new survey suggests that isn't actually what decides who gets hired.

High Point University's Research Center asked more than 500 C-suite executives how much skills like emotional intelligence, work ethic, coachability and problem solving still matter in an AI-saturated hiring market. The response was decisive.

Ninety percent said life skills still matter for hiring, and 75% said they would choose a candidate strong in those skills over one who only brought AI technical ability. Only a small minority wanted either skill set on its own: 7% said the ideal leader in their organization is built entirely on life skills, and another 7% said the same of AI skills. The remaining 87% wanted both.

Nido Qubein, president of High Point University, said the finding that stuck with him hardest wasn't the preference itself. It was the size of the mismatch between what employers say they want and what they think graduates actually arrive with.

"Our survey shows that 44% of C-suite executives and 46% of HR professionals believe recent college graduates are more strongly prepared with AI and technical skills, while only 17 to 18% think they're prepared with life skills," Qubein said. "That's scary. That's very scary."

He argued the consequences of that mismatch show up quickly once someone is actually on the job. The National Association of Colleges and Employers' Job Outlook 2026 survey found a similar pattern nationally, with more than half of employers saying new graduates' skills are only partially aligned with what they actually need.

"If a college student goes to college for four years, five years, six years, whatever it is, and then graduates, and they have all the technology learning that they need, but they're not really versed, they're not really adept, they're not really equipped to deal with people, to communicate effectively, to strategically connect and build bridges of understanding with others, to lead when the heat is on, then they're not going to succeed as well as those who really have life skills," Qubein said.

Roberto Rigobon, professor of applied economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management, traced the mismatch back to what schools are teaching in the first place.

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