Council Post: Why Your Next Great AI Hire Probably Won't Have A Computer Science Degree

A Council Post argues that the next wave of AI hires may come from non–computer science paths, pointing to shifting student interest and changing project work. The piece cites enrollment data showing undergraduate computer and information science programs fell 8.1% year over year, while workforce platform Revelio Labs says the class of 2026 is the peak. The article says the shortage is less about technical aptitude and more about students no longer listing “computer” on transcripts. An analysis of roughly 50,000 pre-college research applications found computer science interest peaked at about 1 in 8 in 2023 and slid to about 1 in 11. Meanwhile, AI mentions rose to 1 in 8, and many AI projects paired students and mentors from non-CS backgrounds—often with notes where coding wasn’t mentioned.