Handshake

People are working way beyond their job descriptions. That’s a message we heard repeatedly from employers at last week’s 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 event. ChatGPT for Education analyzed thousands of professional chats with AI. After removing routine tasks like email and calendaring, a little over 40% of what remained was people asking questions and doing work outside their role. It's becoming a habit, too. The number of people who stretch beyond their role almost every week has doubled in the past few months. AI is opening doors that used to sit behind job titles, and it's one of the reasons we built AI Skills Studio, a place on Handshake where a marketer can build an interactive data visualization, a teacher can use AI to build a website, and so much more. Thank you to Dr. Brian Johnsrud, Global Head of Education Engagement at OpenAI for sharing these insights with us.

Really excited to share that I’ve been invited to London by Handshake to showcase a project I created through their AI Skills Studio programme. As a recent Software Engineering graduate, I’ve been looking for opportunities to take what I’ve learned through university and apply it to real-world projects, exploring how AI can support the development process. For this project, I built Forest Frenzy, a web-based game that I developed using AI Skills Studio. 🌐 Live project: https://lnkd.in/e83-2J5W I’ll be joining the Handshake AI team on 7 October in London, where I’ll be talking through what I built, how I approached the project, and how I used AI throughout the development process. A big thank you to Peter O'Rourke and the Handshake AI team for the opportunity and for giving graduates the chance to work on projects like this. I’m also looking forward to discussing how I used OpenAI tools during the project and what I learned from combining AI with my existing software engineering skills. Looking forward to 7 October! See you there!

One week in and thousands of people have already completed missions on AI Skills Studio. They're building games, portfolios, study guides, websites, and more. 👏 Each mission takes less than an hour, and you finish with something you can actually use. Think class project, startup prototype, or a portfolio piece for your next application. Or build something just for fun—our team has been playing the games people are making all week, and we're hooked. To celebrate, here are a few of our favorite things people have built so far: 🎮 Nathalie Frias built Paws & Chaos with the OpenAI Create a Multiplayer Game mission. Nathalie says, "Seeing my idea become a playable game showed me how much technology has evolved—and what's possible without a formal coding background." 💡 Siddhant C. completed multiple Clay missions and combined them into one execution sprint: 25 accounts sourced, eight researched, and five prioritized. A real go-to-market (GTM) use case, built with missions from AI Skills Studio. 📖 Renilson Rodrigues Junior completed a Replit mission and built a Python study notebook for reviewing the fundamentals before a live coding interview. Interview prep, made a little easier (and a lot more engaging). Ready to join them? 🚀 https://lnkd.in/esAZ8Asr

“There will always be a human element to what we do. These deals aren’t just about numbers, they’re about people.” We sat down with Douglas Melsheimer, Co-Head of Emerging Tech Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan, to ask how he thinks about AI’s role in banking today, and how he’s coaching his team in a rapidly changing environment. His takeaway: while AI tools are invaluable for research and preparation, the human element of banking will always exist.

From coffee and bandanas to conversations about the future of hiring, here are a few of our favorite moments from RecFest USA last week ⬇️ The Handshake team spent the week connecting with leaders who are shaping how their organizations find, hire, and invest in great teams—and hearing firsthand what’s top of mind for their organizations. A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth! And thank you to Aleta Howell for sitting down with Randy Tarnowski and sharing her perspective on where hiring is headed.

A biochemist. A lawyer. An education researcher. A broadcast journalist. Four Handshake AI Fellows, four completely different career trajectories, and the same discovery: helping build AI opened up doors they didn't know existed. Their stories, in their own words ⬇️ Lee Izhaki-Tavor, Brett A. Brosseit, JD, PhD, Lindsay Lamb, Heather Maxwell

Well… I went to WGU to earn a degree in Health Information Management, and somehow I ended up making a multiplayer dog game. Meet Paws & Chaos: my first-ever game, built from scratch with AI, a ridiculous amount of testing, and probably more opinions about fictional dogs than any adult should have. Six dogs. One house. Three minutes. One Top Dog. And now… Paws & Chaos is officially live on the WGU Handshake AI Showcase! I had never made a game before. Now I have a playable one sitting on the internet. Apparently, this is what happens when you give me technology and refuse to tell me I can’t. Be the dog. Steal the snacks. Blame the other dog. Enjoy my game is free!! https://lnkd.in/gN_AnVKM #PawsAndChaos #WGU #AIShowcase #GameDevelopment #FirstGame #handshakechallenge

Three leaders join Handshake: Nishant Ranka as Founder and President of Handshake Labs, Wes Field as Chief Commercial Officer of Handshake AI, and Stephen Rocco Rodi as Chief Communications Officer. Meet them: https://lnkd.in/gB7MbaU6

The sun came out in San Francisco yesterday as we gathered at the Exploratorium for 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲—a conversation with leaders across business, education, and frontier AI labs. The conversation came as we launched 𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼, a new destination on Handshake where people can build practical AI skills through free, hands-on missions. As the pace of change accelerates, none of us have all the answers. But one theme kept coming up: learning to work with AI is about more than the tools themselves. It’s also about curiosity and being willing to learn, share, and ask for help along the way. A few takeaways we’re still thinking about: → For job seekers, curiosity and storytelling matter. Speakers talked about the importance of showing what you built, what you learned, where you challenged an AI result, and how you approached the problem. → For employers, we talked about the need to be clear about the skills that lead to success in your culture—and create room for learning, experimentation, and fresh perspectives. It’s not only about AI adoption; it’s about how AI changes the way people work. The room was full of people committed to helping the workforce prepare for what’s next. We all want to give more people a way into AI: the skills to start, the confidence to try, and a community to learn with along the way. Thank you to everyone who attended and to our speakers Aaron Levie, Alex Laurs, Brian Johnsrud, Jeff Jarvis, Jennifer Lee, Jenny D., Katy Shields, Meredith Brown, Terra Terwilliger, and Yash Tekriwal.

Building with AI is the fastest way to get ready for the AI economy. Not watching a course about it actually building. That's why Replit is a founding partner of Handshake's AI Skills Studio, a new destination where anyone can build career-relevant AI skills and put them directly in front of employers. Together we designed missions that take you from a blank page to a working app. Each is free, takes under an hour, and ends with a real project that lands on your Handshake profile. No installs. No setup. Open a browser and ship something. Start here: https://lnkd.in/eqDBkhu6