The Future Skills Conference, held last month in Tel Aviv, aimed to answer a pressing national question: what skills are truly essential in a world increasingly shaped by technology and specifically AI?
Hosted by Afeka Academic College of Engineering, Globes, and the Trump Foundation, the conference drew hundreds of senior leaders from Israel’s education system, military, academia, and high-tech industry.
FUTURE SKILLS
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The focus? How to better equip today’s students—and tomorrow’s workforce—with tools to thrive in a fast-changing world.
“The education system and the academia hasn't changed for many, many years, while the job market has changed dramatically,” said Prof. Ami Moyal, the former president of Afeka Academic College. “The AI penetration just amplified this problem, because when you're using AI, you need to have skills like critical thinking and creativity.”
Moyal emphasized the growing mismatch between how and what we teach and what’s needed—adding that the digital shift demands urgent reforms to keep educational processes relevant.
“We are converging to a point in which the human intelligence and artificial intelligence we need to converge to a point that we both work together to be more effective,” Moyal said. “So we are on a journey.”
That journey, he says, requires cross-sector collaboration—something the conference exemplified by bringing together IDF commanders, business leaders, and policymakers.
“Israel is a real power thinking about the future, providing the nations the right skills in order to protect themselves,” noted Boaz Levy, president & CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries. “In order to do so, you need education, and the right education is at the lower level, and my recommendation is to start with a lower level of education and grow up with a better understanding of the future requirements.”
Conference organizers say it's not just about math and coding—but about creativity, problem-solving, teamwork and life-long learning. The goal: to bridge the gaps between classroom and career, theory and application, and help build a resilient, future-ready society.
“We owe it to our children, to the next generation, to help them bring Israel to a better, more resilient future—much better than the present that we provided them,” added Eli Hurvitz, executive director of the Trump Foundation.