Please note: Google DeepMind’s criteria for recruiting graduate candidates are not determined solely by degree.
Lila Ibrahim, Chief AI Readiness Officer at Google DeepMind, said at a media luncheon in September that the company is increasingly valuing candidates who demonstrate a record of continuous learning beyond the classroom.
She said that while degrees remain important for researchers, engineers, and other roles, companies are increasingly valuing additional qualifications and experiences listed on candidates' resumes.
“A single qualification can only tell me what you’ve learned, but multiple qualifications show me that you have a learning mindset,” said Ibrahim.
She noted that today’s graduates often provide more detailed information about what they’ve learned outside formal educational settings, presenting it alongside their work experience and academic background.
When I look at resumes and CVs of recent graduates now, I think, “Oh my goodness, this is so different from my generation’s resumes.”
She said that this additional information is important to Google DeepMind’s recruiters because it reflects whether the candidate is curious and whether they have already committed to living a life of lifelong learning.
Ibrahim said she believes another benefit of diverse learning experiences is that people become better at asking questions—a skill she considers highly valuable in AI-driven workplaces but one that schools do not teach well.
You'll find that many people in school have never truly learned how to ask questions, how to pose good questions, or how to genuinely pursue the question of "why."
She added that even if someone is technically skilled at using AI, these human skills remain important. “The cost of obtaining answers is now very low, but knowing how to ask truly excellent questions is becoming increasingly difficult.”
Ibrahim summarized DeepMind’s requirements for applicants: “curiosity, the courage to embrace entirely new and unpredictable things, and the ability to work in dynamic environments and collaborate with others.”
Humanities or STEM?
Ibrahim previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Google DeepMind, a role she held since 2018. In early 2026, she transitioned to the role of Chief AI Readiness Officer. She said she established this position to help bridge the growing gap between the technologies being developed and society’s readiness to adopt them.
Demis Hassabis, co-founder of Google DeepMind, has been one of the executives warning that society needs to prepare as quickly as possible before the technology enters its next phase.
Hassabis has said that STEM and computer science education remain important, but the AI world also needs humanities disciplines such as philosophy, economics, and ethics.
He said in an interview at a business conference in London in July: "I believe we truly need them in the world we are about to enter."
Ibrahim said that Google DeepMind is looking for interdisciplinary talent who can collaborate effectively with others.
She said that having a combination of neuroscientists, ethicists, and biologists greatly aided some of DeepMind’s technical breakthroughs. She also mentioned that the lab hired many philosophers and added, “You need to pair them with operational staff to turn these ideas into action.”
So far, finding these skills in the UK hasn’t been difficult, Ibrahim said. “Compared to my more than 30 years in Silicon Valley, I’ve seen more diverse talent here, because there’s strong emphasis on philosophy, political science, and these other skills.”
A recent study of over 300 million registered learners on Coursera and Udemy found that the pace at which businesses are deploying AI has outstripped the rate at which people are developing the skills needed to use AI effectively.
Although nearly 75% of organizations have deployed or are piloting this technology, only 18% of respondents said that most of their employees participated in AI upskilling or reskilling over the past year.