Rahim Hirji — Super Skills: The 7 Human Skills for the Age of AI

"Decision-making is what you do with information. Judgment is what you do with your values when the information runs out." Rahim Hirji has spent 20 years inside learning technology — at HarperCollins, running one of the UK's first online tutoring businesses, co-founding EtonX out of Eton College, and leading Quizlet's growth across 60 countries. His new book, Super Skills: The Seven Human Skills for the Age of AI (Kogan Page, out 3 July 2026), was the most requested title at this year's London Book Fair and is endorsed by Harvard's Karim Lakhani. Most AI books start with the technology. This one starts with a boat. In this conversation, Rahim reveals: Why most people are "sleepwalking" into an AI-shaped life without realising it The boat that carried his family from India to East Africa — and why it frames the whole age of AI How five generations of skills stack up: survival, street, specialist, soft, and now super The difference between algorithmic drift and intentional design — and which one you're living in Why a manager started receiving 12-page AI documents nobody had actually read "Human at the start" (HATS) — the centaur/Iron Man approach that beats "human in the loop" The one super skill Rahim believes AI will never have Why losing busy work is good news, not a threat The seven super skills: curiosity, change readiness, big picture thinking, principled innovation, empathy, global adaptability, and the augmented mindset. Chapters: 00:00 Podcast Intro and Guest 01:16 Boat Story and Skills Ladder 04:27 AI Change Hope and Risks 07:53 Drift Versus Design 11:02 Augmented Mindset HATS 13:59 Judgment When Data Ends 15:27 Seven Super Skills Overview 17:54 Who the Book Is For 22:09 Website Extras and Wrap Up 23:08 Closing Credits   About the guest: Rahim Hirji is an edtech leader and author. His book Super Skills: The Seven Human Skills for the Age of AI (Kogan Page) publishes on 3 July 2026. Find the diagnostic, bonus chapters and extras at https://superskillsbook.com. About Inside Learning: Inside Learning dives into learning science and the future of work, featuring learning experts from around the world each month — covering AI, neurodiversity, creativity, unlearning, leadership, ethics, VR, blended learning, performance, skills and more. Designed to make you think, question and learn. Produced by Learnovate, the future-of-work and learning research centre at Trinity College Dublin, funded by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. About the host: Aidan McCullen is the 2025 Thinkers50 Innovation Award recipient, a keynote speaker on AI, disruption, innovation and change, host of The Innovation Show, and author of Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention (Wiley). Learn more about Aidan at https://theinnovationshow.io/about-aidan-mccullen  Listen and follow: Website: https://learnovatecentre.org Podcast: https://learnovatecentre.org/insights/podcasts/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/learnovate-centre YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@learnovatecentre