AI should change how we train young talent, not whether we hire it

AI should change how we train young talent, not whether we hire it.

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As South Africa marks Youth Day on 16 June, the country continues to face one of its biggest economic challenges – helping young people find meaningful work.

According to Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, 4.7 million South Africans aged 15-34 were unemployed in the first quarter of 2026. And while young people make up almost half of the country’s working-age population, unemployment among those aged 15-24 remains above 60%.

At the same time, AI is changing how businesses hire, train and develop talent. These days, software development firms use AI tools to generate code, write tests, produce documentation and complete many of the tasks typically expected of junior developers.

For Ayesha Bagus, HR Director and Head of People at KRS, a Cape Town-based AI-accelerated software development company, those two realities should not be viewed separately.

“South Africa already has a youth unemployment problem. If organisations stop investing in junior talent because AI can handle entry-level tasks, we create a bigger problem for the future. The seniors we’ll need in 10 or 20 years are the ones entering the workforce today,” she warns.

“The real question is how we can redesign career pathways so people can learn to work with AI. Companies should create opportunities to help prepare young professionals for a different kind of work.”

Youth Day highlights a challenge that many young South Africans continue to face: finding opportunities to gain experience, build confidence and enter the workforce.

Bagus continues: "What many young people struggle to find is that first opportunity to gain experience, build confidence and start a career. AI shouldn't become another barrier to entry. It should help people develop skills and contribute sooner."

For years, junior developers learned through repetition by fixing bugs, writing simple features and gradually building the experience needed for more complex work. But AI has changed that model, leading some organisations to question whether they still need entry-level developers at all.

Bagus believes this is a mistake.

"The companies that stop hiring juniors because AI can generate code are focusing on the wrong thing. The goal was never to hire people because they could type quickly. The goal was always to develop future engineers who can understand complex systems, solve problems and create value. AI changes how we do the work. It doesn't remove the need for capable professionals.

"Young people entering the industry now bring fresh thinking, already operating in a world where AI is already part of the way they work. That's an advantage if we give them a place to use it."

KRS recently completed its first AI-first internship programme, where 10 interns were trained on AI-accelerated software development from day one. Five have since been hired into permanent junior developer roles.

Interns learned software engineering fundamentals alongside AI prompting, code review, test-driven development, business analysis, collaboration and problem-solving.

The company believes developers entering the industry today have a potential advantage over previous generations.

"They're learning software development and AI-accelerated development at the same time," says Bagus. "They don't have years of habits to unlearn. AI is simply part of how they work."

The five interns who joined KRS as junior developers now work within delivery teams using the same review processes, testing standards and engineering practices as KRS’s senior developers. AI is now part of their workflow, but responsibility remains with the developer.

"We're not teaching them to accept AI output blindly," says Bagus. "We're teaching them to challenge assumptions, understand context, evaluate outcomes and take responsibility for decisions. AI can assist with execution, and we're teaching them to question it, test it, review it and understand it. In that way, accountability stays human."

As AI becomes more capable, KRS believes the skills required from junior developers are changing. The company has previously argued that prompting, reviewing AI-generated code, critical thinking and understanding business requirements are becoming important skills for early-career developers.

"The risk with AI isn't bad code. It's generating plausible code that solves the wrong problem. Being able to tell the difference takes someone who understands the business, not just the syntax. That's the skill we're hiring for."

For KRS, the discussion is bigger than software development, as South Africa faces a shortage of experienced technology professionals in several specialised fields.

Many industries are exploring how AI can improve productivity, but businesses should also consider how AI affects talent development. The challenge for business leaders is ensuring those productivity gains don't come at the expense of future skills pipelines.

Bagus adds: "Every senior developer started as a junior developer. If every company decides to stop hiring juniors, the entire industry stops producing future seniors. While that's not one firm's problem to solve, it will be the problem we all have to live with."

KRS has incorporated AI-accelerated development practices across its software delivery teams while maintaining human review, testing disciplines and engineering oversight.

The company is now helping organisations introduce AI-accelerated development practices and training approaches that allow teams to use the technology effectively without sacrificing quality.

"The organisations that benefit most from AI are those that treat it as a partner in a broader socio-technical system," Bagus concludes. "As the technology evolves, organisations will need people who can understand problems, apply judgment and take ownership of outcomes. Creating opportunities for young professionals to develop those skills is now more important than ever."