By Steve Lindo, Part-time Lecturer, Enterprise Risk Management
In 2024, I marked two milestones: 10 years as a part-time SPS lecturer and 30 years as a practicing risk manager in Brazil, Spain, the UK, and the USA. This multi-dimensional career has afforded me invaluable lessons learned from multiple market crises and a pandemic, which I share with students in the Company Failures course I teach in the SPS ERM program. It has also provided the foundation for the two books I co-published with former senior CIA intelligence officer Dr. Jay Grusin.
In my SPS course and other writings, I focus on identifying and diagnosing fault lines in companies, industries, and society. The latest one to gain my attention is the disruptive impact of AI on entry-level jobs. For many years, industry job demand in such sectors as finance, computer science, and cybersecurity has prompted higher education to focus on developing technical skills.
Now, the advent of AI is rapidly shrinking the number of task-oriented, repetitive technical jobs and calling for the kind of critical thinking skills that SPS instills in its graduates, in order to produce objective, data-based analysis of large and complex problems, and then communicate clear and concise recommendations to non-technical decision-makers. Dr. Jay Grusin and I highlighted this skills gap in our recent article “Closing the Cybersecurity Skills Gap with Techniques Based on US Intelligence Service Methods,” which includes a case scenario lifted from our 2024 book Make Every Word Count: A Structured Approach to Build and Deliver High Impact Analysis, illustrating the need for, and risk management value of, such methodical analysis and concise communication.
A long and varied career in risk management has enabled me to recognize and adapt to changing workforce requirements, which are now undergoing a seismic shift with the advent of AI. The critical thinking and communication skills emphasized in my SPS course and published writings, far from becoming redundant, are more necessary than ever in order to achieve career success.
Views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Columbia School of Professional Studies or Columbia University.
About the Program
The Master of Science in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program at Columbia University prepares graduates to inform better risk-reward decisions by providing a complete, robust, and integrated picture of both upside and downside volatility across an entire enterprise. For both the full-time and part-time options, students may take all their courses on Columbia’s New York City campus or choose the synchronous online class experience.
Learn more about the M.S. in ERM program here.
