Future-Proof Your Career with Systems Thinking
AI is changing what skills are needed for the future of work. The 'analyst' role that once was allocated to early-career professionals is being automated.
For many early-career professionals the question is now: what 'thinking' skills are going to be most useful in the future?
In this Season 2 conversation, Vishal George sits down with Ashwathej Purushothaman, Strategy, Innovation & Learning consultant, to explore why the ability to see the bigger picture, ask better questions, and understand how things connect is becoming one of the most valuable career capabilities in an AI-driven world.
First Half — Deep into the System
Using the iceberg model from systems thinking, our conversation will go beneath the surface of work and career development to explore the structures shaping what professionals are prepared for — and what they're not.
✔️ Events and Patterns — The visible signs: roles changing faster than skills, graduates and experienced professionals alike struggling to navigate complexity and uncertainty.
✔️ Underlying Structures — How education systems, hiring pipelines, and organisational design have long prioritised task execution over whole-system understanding — and how AI is now exposing that gap.
✔️ Mental Models and Leverage Points — Why the ability to hold complexity, reason across disciplines, and ask the right questions may be the most durable career advantage left. And what it takes to build it.
Second Half — Live Audience Q&A
Bring your questions and reflections.
About Ashwathej Purushothaman
Ashwathej is a Strategy, Innovation & Learning consultant with 6+ years of experience across diverse industries, working at the intersection of business, data, design, and human behaviour. He is currently building a new-age learning and consulting venture focused on helping individuals and organisations navigate an AI-driven future through strategic foresight, creativity, and interdisciplinary thinking.
About the Interview Series
People Who Think in SYSTEMS is a live interview series hosted by Vishal George, Founding Member of the School of Systems Thinking NZ. Each conversation shares stories from change-makers tackling some of the most complex challenges of our time.
👉🏾 Read the previous interviews here: https://schoolofsystemsthinking.co.nz