What Happened

On August 16, 2026, Fortune published an interview with George Brasher, SVP and managing director of North America at HP, in which he directly pushed back against the prevailing narrative that Gen Z workers are lazy or lack interpersonal skills. Brasher, who oversees a team that includes a significant population of Gen Z employees at the $27 billion tech company, said he finds the opposite to be true.

"I've got a reasonable population of Gen Z folks in my team, and I find people with great ability to listen, great ability to build that trust, to build that relationship, and then to understand really what customers need," Brasher told Fortune.

Crucially, Brasher framed Gen Z's advantage through an AI lens. He described them as not just digital natives but "AI natives," noting that Gen Z and millennials have the highest usage of AI technology. This fluency, he argued, positions them well in a competitive entry-level job market and gives them a "healthy relationship with work."

The article cited a 2026 PwC analysis of Lightcast data showing that more than 1 million U.S. job postings required AI-related skills as of last year — a 66% increase from 2024. Brasher's comments were corroborated by executives at other major companies: Sally Massey, CHRO of Colgate-Palmolive ($73B), credited Gen Z with ambition and tech savvy; Emily Glassberg Sands, head of data and AI at Stripe ($159B), said recent graduates "have the cutting-edge skills" she looks for; and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman called young workers "generation AI," saying AI fluency makes them "enormously attractive" to employers.

Why It Matters

The workplace discourse around Gen Z has been dominated by culture-war framing — complaints about office etiquette, work hours, and entitlement. What Brasher and his peers are doing is reframing the conversation around a concrete, measurable capability: AI tool literacy.

This matters because the talent market is shifting. A 66% year-over-year increase in AI-related job postings means demand for AI-skilled workers is accelerating faster than the broader labor market. Gen Z workers entering the workforce now are the first cohort to have grown up with generative AI tools readily available. For operators building AI products or integrating AI into existing workflows, this means the entry-level talent pool comes pre-equipped with a skill that mid-career hires often need to be trained on.

The risk for companies is twofold: first, dismissing Gen Z talent based on stereotypes means losing access to the most AI-fluent cohort in the workforce. Second, failing to update hiring criteria to explicitly screen for AI tool proficiency means competing for talent on outdated signals.

Who Is Affected

This signal is most relevant to AI startup founders and hiring managers building technical or AI-adjacent teams, enterprise talent acquisition leaders at companies integrating AI tools into operations, and any operator hiring entry-level talent in 2026. It's particularly actionable for organizations in engineering, data, marketing, and customer success roles where AI tool proficiency directly impacts day-to-day productivity.

Strategic Implications

For AI startup founders: When hiring entry-level talent, screen for AI tool fluency as a first-class skill, not a bonus. Gen Z candidates who can demonstrate practical experience with AI workflows — prompt engineering, AI-assisted coding, automated research — may ramp faster than mid-career hires who are resistant to AI adoption. Update job descriptions to explicitly call out AI tool experience.

For developers/operators building with AI APIs: Junior team members may be more comfortable with AI-assisted development workflows (Copilot, Claude, Cursor) than senior engineers who learned to code without these tools. Consider pairing AI-native hires with experienced engineers to accelerate AI tool adoption across the entire team, rather than siloing AI fluency in junior roles.

For non-technical business owners evaluating AI tools: If you're hiring in 2026, younger candidates may already be familiar with tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Microsoft Copilot. Factor this into your interview process — ask candidates how they currently use AI tools in their workflow. Treat AI proficiency as a core competency, not a nice-to-have.

What to Watch Next

Monitor whether other large employers formally add AI tool proficiency to job requirements and whether compensation premiums emerge for AI-fluent entry-level hires. Also watch for pushback from mid-career workers who may face retraining pressure as AI-native talent enters the workforce.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What did the HP executive say about Gen Z workers?

A: George Brasher, SVP and managing director of North America at HP, said Gen Z employees demonstrate strong listening skills, trust-building ability, and customer understanding. He specifically highlighted their status as "AI natives" with the highest AI technology usage, positioning them as a competitive advantage in the workforce.

Q: How many U.S. job postings require AI-related skills?

A: According to a 2026 PwC analysis of Lightcast data, more than 1 million U.S. job postings required AI-related skills as of last year, representing a 66% increase from 2024.

Q: Which other executives have defended Gen Z's tech skills?

A: Sally Massey (CHRO, Colgate-Palmolive), Emily Glassberg Sands (head of data and AI, Stripe), and Reid Hoffman (cofounder, LinkedIn) have all publicly praised Gen Z's tech adaptability and AI fluency as hiring advantages.