Thriving in the AI Era: Skills for Today’s Job Market

Adam Wright is the Director of the Center for Economic and Financial Education and an Associate Professor of Economics at Western Washington University. His research primarily focuses on labor and the economics of education. His work has been published in Economics of Education Review, Economic Inquiry, and American Educational Research Journal and featured in The Washington Post, American Public Media Reports, and Mother Jones among others.

Christy Johnson is an entrepreneur, educator and board member. She is currently building her fourth start-up, Artemis Connection and coaching entrepreneurs at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She also is adjunct faculty at the University of Washington where she teaches entrepreneurship and strategy courses. She has seven years of experience working in corporate strategy, including 3 ½ years at McKinsey & Co. Before this, Christy was an award-winning economics and mathematics teacher. In 2005, Junior Achievement recognized Christy as its National Teacher of the Year. The UW Evening MBA program selected Christy has the elective professor of the year in 2023.

Christy holds an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School. She also has a Master’s in Education from Stanford’s School of Education. Her undergraduate degree is in Economics from Western Washington University. Christy resides in Mukilteo, Washington with her husband, Kyle Johnson, her daughter and her twin boys.

Dana Rozier is the founder of Nova Consulting AI, where she helps non-technical professionals and small businesses turn tools like ChatGPT and Claude into everyday productivity partners. A WWU alum with over 25 years in teaching, entrepreneurship, and curriculum design, she’s passionate about making AI clear, practical, and useful for real-world work.

Seth Bergeson is a management consultant at PwC focused on AI strategy, Generative AI, and AI governance. Throughout his career, Seth has worked across tech, education, and policy in the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

At PwC, Seth leads AI strategy and Responsible AI projects for clients in technology, financial services, healthcare, and operations. He has helped clients build Responsible AI teams from the ground up, developing risk management frameworks, operating models, standards, and product policies. Seth has also developed Generative AI strategies for Fortune 100 companies and assessed the ROI of Generative AI tools.

He recently served as a Fellow at the World Economic Forum (WEF), where he led WEF’s Generation AI project, which aims to leverage AI to educate and empower children while protecting them from potential risks posed by the technology. Seth also served as a member of UNICEF’s Expert Advisory Group on AI for Children. Earlier in his career, he worked in global development, consulted for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, worked in the U.S. House of Representatives, and conducted research as a Fulbright and Watson Fellow.

Seth holds a BA from Whitman College and an MBA and MPA from the University of Washington.

Justin Gruba is an accountant working as a Managing Director, State and Local Tax at KPMG in Seattle. He earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting at WWU (’07), where he also volunteered as mascot Victor E. Viking. As a first-generation college graduate, Justin is dedicated to enabling opportunity—he established the Spirit Scholarship at WWU to support students broadly and serves on the Accounting Department Advisory Board.