Latest news with #BillWinters
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
It's not just Gen Z: This baby-boomer bank CEO says his MBA was a waste—and the skills he learned have ‘degraded, degraded, degraded' since college
CEO of the $26 billion bank Standard Chartered, Bill Winters, admits that his MBA was 'a waste of time,' and that the skills he learned at college have 'degraded, degraded, degraded' over the last 40 years. The executive says that soft skills like communication, curiosity, and empathy are more important as AI takes over grunt technical work. A LinkedIn careers exec agrees that human touch is the new in-demand talent capability. Attending college has long been seen as a rite of passage for success, but now student-loan-ridden Gen Z is calling their worth into question. They're not alone. The CEO of $26 billion bank Standard Chartered has just admitted that his time at Wharton Business School wasn't necessary. 'I studied international relations and history. I got an MBA later, but that was a waste of time,' Bill Winters told Bloomberg in a recent interview. 'I learned how to think at university, and for the 40 years since I left university, those skills have been degraded, degraded, degraded.' The banking chief executive may hold degrees from Colgate University and the University of Pennsylvania, but getting an Ivy League degree doesn't equate to being a valuable worker. Winters says that AI has had a major impact on the relevance of skills; now that chatbots can compile documents, create meeting slideshows, and even write code, many hard capabilities like software engineering skills once seen as a career gold mine are now being rendered redundant. Instead, human soft skills like curiosity, communication, and critical thinking are incredibly important in leadership and work, according to the 63-year-old CEO. And those are skills that don't require a college degree to pick up. In discussing the skills of tomorrow and what advice he has for young people, the Standard Chartered CEO says that soft skills are making a 'comeback' thanks to AI—which can already rival professionals with PhDs. 'The technical skills are being provided by the machine, or by very competent people in other parts of the world who have really nailed the technical skills at a relatively low cost,' Winters said. One key soft skill that's missing, Winters suggests, is real human connection—and AI is actually making communication worse, not better. It's become so bad that managers are complaining that Gen Z candidates can't hold a conversation without a chatbot, and begging them not to use them in job applications. 'I really think in the age of AI, that it's critical that you know how to think and communicate,' Winters continued. 'Not communicate better than ChatGPT, but actually, I'm going to go back to curiosity and empathy.' While the banking CEO admits that some degree of hard skills are still needed, they'll only continue to wane in importance as AI takes over more workplace functions. As technology takes over all the heavy lifting, people will have to increasingly engage their human expertise on the job. 'Of course, technical skills are required at some level, but less and less as the machines take out,' Winters said. Fortune reached out to Standard Chartered for comment. While some CEOs like OpenAI's Sam Altman still advise young people to learn up on AI tools, there's growing urgency for soft skills across industries. The number one in-demand skill that companies wanted out of employees last year was good communication, according to a LinkedIn study. And the employment platform's chief economic opportunity officer, Aneesh Raman, echoed that AI has renewed a need for communication, empathy, and critical listening. Plus, it's not just Gen Z grads who will need to practice talking in the mirror to get the job. Emotional intelligence has even become more important when assessing for management hires too. This perhaps explains why staffers across the board want training with these skills; employees ranked teamwork (65%), communication (61%), and leadership (56%) as the most valuable when it comes to training workplace skills, according to a 2024 study from Deloitte. Technical skills like coding or data analysis were ranked lower, at 54%. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Bill Winters Sees ‘Enormous, Untapped' Chance in Carbon Credits
Standard Chartered Plc Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters said financial markets are underestimating the business case for carbon credits, given the growing need among companies to offset their CO2 footprints. 'The enormous, untapped opportunity is the corporations of the world,' Winters said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Francine Lacqua on Tuesday.
Entrepreneur
2 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Standard Chartered CEO: Wharton MBA Was a 'Waste of Time'
Bill Winters, the CEO of 160-year-old bank Standard Chartered, says that the MBA he earned from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business was a "waste of time" — but the humanities undergraduate degree he received from Colgate University was more worth it. In an interview that aired earlier this week, Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua asked Winters, 63, what he would recommend for young people to study. Winters responded by saying that he studied international relations and history as an undergraduate, graduating in 1983. He recommended those fields, stating that majoring in those areas taught him "how to think." But his MBA from Wharton in 1988 was unnecessary, he said. "I got an MBA later, but that was a waste of time," Winters told Bloomberg. "I learned how to think at university. For the 40 years since I left university, those skills have been degraded, degraded, degraded." Related: Goldman Sachs CIO Says Coders Should Take Philosophy Classes — Here's Why Winters explained that critical thinking skills are "coming back" and becoming more important in the workforce now because AI is taking over tasks on the technical side. "I really think in the age of AI that it's critical that you know how to think and communicate," Winters said. He clarified that communication doesn't mean to act like ChatGPT and churn out answers, but to know an audience and anticipate their needs with curiosity and empathy. Technical skills are being needed "less and less," Winters said. Bill Winters. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images Winters started his career at JPMorgan in 1983, rising over nearly three decades to become the co-CEO of JPMorgan's investment bank. He was considered a potential successor to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, but was ousted by Dimon in October 2009. He started his own fund management business, Renshaw Bay, in 2011 and joined Standard Chartered as CEO in 2015. Related: Using ChatGPT? AI Could Damage Your Critical Thinking Skills, According to a Microsoft Study Winters isn't the only executive encouraging the study of the humanities. Goldman Sachs' Chief Information Officer, Marco Argenti, wrote in a post in the Harvard Business Review last year that engineers should take philosophy classes in addition to standard engineering courses. That's the advice he gave his college-age daughter who was thinking about what to study. Meanwhile, big tech companies are rapidly adopting AI in their operations as the technology sweeps over technical skills. AI generates about 30% of new code at Google and Microsoft, and up to half of software development within the next year at Meta. "Vibe coding," or having AI code entire apps and projects based on prompts, is also on the rise. Even Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated earlier this month that he had used AI coding assistants to "vibe code" a webpage in his spare time.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
One Of Wharton's Most Successful MBA Alums Says His Degree Was ‘A Waste Of Time'
Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered, believes his Wharton MBA was 'a waste of time' By almost any account, Bill Winters has had a very successful career. After earning his MBA from Wharton in 1988, during the peak of MBA popularity when the degree's ROI was at its highest, Winters returned to JPMorgan to continue his role in the firm's graduate trainee program. He climbed the ranks over the next 26 years, ultimately becoming co-CEO of JP Morgan's investment bank. For the past decade, Winters has been CEO of Standard Chartered Bank in the United Kingdom, receiving a total compensation package of $14.7 million last year. His net worth has been estimated as high as $336 million. Did his MBA training at Wharton helped to put him on this high-flying trajectory? Not, according to Winters. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Winters claims his MBA degree had little to no value. It was, in his own words, 'a waste of time.' Far more helpful, he suggested, was his 1983 undergraduate degree in international relations from Colgate University, a degree that opened the door to JPMorgan in the first place. 'I studied international relations and history,' he told Bloomberg. 'I got an MBA later, but that was a waste of time,' It is a stunning admission from one of Wharton's most successful alums. When Winters graduated from the school in 1988, the MBA program was ranked fourth best in Businessweek's first MBA ranking. The annual tuition was just $15,440, and the typical Wharton MBA started with average pay of $55,183. Today, tuition and fees are $92,820 a year, six times more, while the median salary is $175,000, little more than three times higher. Because Winters returned to JPMorgan after getting his MBA, it's highly likely he didn't even have to pay for it. JPMorgan would have picked up the tab. It's not clear why Winters is so down on his MBA degree. The Bloomberg interviewer did not follow up to explore why he thinks so little of his MBA education. Despite having a successful career, however, Wharton has never publicly acknowledged Winters with any honor or award–not a Distinguished Service Award or the Dean's Medal. And then there was the temporary setback in his career caused when JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon ousted Winters from his job as co-head of investment banking in 2009. Dimon, one of Harvard Business School's most successful MBA graduates, removed Winters abruptly by phone. Winters did say that the soft skills he learned from majoring in the humanities are more relevant now. 'I learned how to think at university, and for the 40 years since I left university, those skills have been degraded, degraded, degraded. They're coming back now,' Winters said. The CEO said that with the rise of AI, learning how to think and communicate effectively matters more than ever. 'The technical skills are being provided by the machine, or by very competent people in other parts of the world who have really nailed the technical skills at a relatively low cost.' 'I'm going to go back to curiosity and empathy. Really, really understand the audience that you're dealing with and anticipate those needs beforehand,' he added. DON'T MISS: or The post One Of Wharton's Most Successful MBA Alums Says His Degree Was 'A Waste Of Time' appeared first on Poets&Quants.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Why StanChart CEO Bill Winters believes his Wharton MBA was a 'waste of time' and what it means for US business education
Why Bill Winters believes his Wharton MBA was 'a waste of time' and what it means for US business education Bill Winters, the Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered, has openly expressed his belief that his prestigious MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School was "a waste of time. " In an interview with Bloomberg , Winters discussed his thoughts on the evolving landscape of business education and what skills truly matter in today's fast-changing business world. His candid remarks have sparked significant conversation around the value of traditional US business schools and whether their offerings remain relevant, particularly in an age dominated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Winters, who graduated from Colgate University in 1983 before earning his MBA from Wharton in 1988, made his remarks in an interview with Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua. Reflecting on his educational journey, Winters questioned the necessity of business degrees, particularly MBAs, in a world where critical thinking, communication, and adaptability are paramount. As the banking titan acknowledged, the traditional business curriculum may not provide the competitive edge it once did, especially as AI continues to transform the way industries function. Changing views on US business education Winters' comment about his Wharton MBA being a "waste of time" was not a blanket dismissal of education but rather an acknowledgment that the business world has evolved. As Winters explained, the core value of his education came not from the MBA itself, but from the ability to think critically and communicate effectively. According to Winters, "I studied international relations and history. I got an MBA later, but that was a waste of time. " His stance reflects a broader skepticism about the traditional value of MBAs in an age where technology is playing an ever-increasing role in business operations. Instead, Winters emphasized that the future of business success hinges on skills like problem-solving, communication, and critical thinking. He warned that such capabilities, which once were a natural byproduct of a business education, have been "degraded" over the last 40 years. In the era of AI, where machines and algorithms provide technical expertise, "knowing how to think and communicate" is what sets professionals apart, he added. Winters underscored the importance of curiosity and empathy, advising that future leaders focus on understanding their audience and anticipating needs rather than relying on degrees alone. A shift in business education: Adapting to AI and the global landscape Winters' perspective points to a critical shift needed within US business education. As industries become more reliant on AI and automation, business schools must pivot their curriculums to place a stronger emphasis on adaptability and soft skills. Winters explained that the most valuable skills today are not about technical proficiency but the ability to navigate complex situations with insight, creativity, and emotional intelligence. The veteran banker also reflected on his own career trajectory and how failure, rather than formal education, proved to be a defining factor. He recalled a moment early in his career when he faced a major trading loss at JPMorgan Chase & Co. The experience, he shared, was "life-forming." Despite fearing termination, a senior executive at JPMorgan instead increased his trading limit, citing his response to the crisis as evidence of his potential. Winters credits this formative experience as more influential than anything learned in a classroom. In conclusion, Winters' views suggest that US business education, particularly the MBA, may need to reassess its relevance in the modern world. With the advent of AI and a rapidly changing global business environment, future leaders might find more value in developing critical thinking, empathy, and adaptability—skills that transcend traditional business school teachings. As Winters aptly put it, "technical skills are being provided by the machine," and it's the "thinking and communication" that remain crucial in this new era of business. Is your child ready for the careers of tomorrow? Enroll now and take advantage of our early bird offer! Spaces are limited.
