The Rising Tide:
Skills-Based Hiring
"AI in its current form" should not be in elementary school classes, ETS CEO Amit Sevak tells me in a new episode of the Macro Talk podcast.
But “it becomes increasingly critical” to define the appropriate uses for older students — particularly in high school — because they’ll be better prepared for jobs, he argues.
“There are risks, but the benefits, I think, outweigh the risks in terms of readiness of kids for the future,” says Sevak.
Why his perspective matters
ETS — known for its TOEFL English Language Test and the GRE — is the largest nonprofit education testing organization in the world.
As CEO, Sevak is charged with adapting the $800 million business to an increasingly fragmented world of learning and work, amid a continuing decline in standardized testing participation.
How he interprets change helps shape how ETS responds — from the products it builds to the policies it influences — with consequences for the educational and professional lives of tens of millions of people every year.
This summer, two years after losing its contract to administer the SAT, ETS acquired standardized test provider ACT.
“We bought the ACT not just to have another test in the ETS portfolio,” says Sevak. “We bought it because we think there's an amazing opportunity right now to significantly modernize the whole portfolio of ACT assessments.”
ACT runs WorkKeys for example. It’s skills-focused testing platform used by thousands of U.S. employers, Inside Higher Ed notes.
And Sevak tells me he already has plans to offer a new product from ACT centered on
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