Is AI making technical skills less important?

Or is it actually making experience, judgement and technical understanding more valuable?

In this episode of Databricks Diaries, Dan Thornton is joined by Sham and his son Milo for a conversation about AI, data engineering, careers and what companies should really be looking for when hiring data talent.

They get into:

• What being “AI-ready” actually means

• Why strong data foundations matter before AI can give you useful answers

• How AI helped turn work that could have taken 2–3 months into a couple of weeks

• Why you still need to understand and review AI-generated work

• How AI is changing the day-to-day role of data professionals

• What Milo looks for when hiring data analysts

• Why curiosity and problem-solving matter when assessing candidates

• What makes a strong modern data engineer

• Whether companies should prioritise experienced AI-savvy engineers over junior “vibe coders”

There’s also a more personal side to the conversation, with Sham and Milo talking about their different routes into technology, career advice and what they’ve learnt from each other.

The big question:

Has AI actually made technical experience less valuable — or more valuable?

What do you think?

Connect with Dan Thornton and Primus Connect for specialist Databricks recruitment.

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