Goldman CEO Solomon: His dad's advice shapes how interns should think about AI

What happened

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, shared career and decision-making advice with the firm's 2026 summer intern class during a recent town hall. He credited his father's approach—forcing him to weigh both sides of decisions rather than dictating answers—as the foundation for how he evaluates everything from career moves to AI tools. The intern class was selected from an applicant pool with an acceptance rate below 1% for a third consecutive year.

Why it matters

Solomon's core message—slow down, examine the alternative, and don't assume the obvious choice is right—applies directly to how young professionals should use AI. He argues that AI models are sparring partners for stress-testing your thinking, not oracles to confirm it. His own practice is to ask models to verify his read on events and challenge their outputs, because AI can analyze data but cannot replicate human judgment about whether something makes sense. For interns entering banking, law, and accounting—fields he noted Goldman's research estimates could see up to 25% of working hours automated within a decade—the implication is that judgment and relationship skills remain irreplaceable.

What to watch

Solomon's framing of AI's limits is more measured than some of his prior public comments. In May, he wrote in the New York Times that while AI will automate 25% of current U.S. working hours within a decade, it will free workers for more complex tasks rather than eliminate jobs wholesale. He treats this as reason not to panic, but his advice to interns—to genuinely wrestle with the other side of any big decision—suggests the shift requires active thinking, not passive acceptance of either techno-optimism or doom.