As artificial intelligence continues to reshape entry-level employment across North America, Geotab is doubling down on early-career talent rather than scaling it back. The global leader in connected operations and AI-powered telematics has welcomed 300 interns so far in its 2026 program cohorts, reinforcing a long-term campus hiring strategy at a time when early-career job prospects are tightening under AI-driven workforce transformation.
Geotab’s latest internship expansion arrives against a backdrop of structural change in the entry-level labor market. Across North America, new graduates are facing rising unemployment and widespread underemployment, with nearly 43% now working in roles that do not match their qualifications. At the same time, employers are becoming more selective, with projected hiring growth for the Class of 2026 estimated at just 1.6%.
These pressures are increasingly linked to artificial intelligence adoption. A November 2025 study from Stanford University’s Digital Economy Lab found a 16% decline in early-career employment across occupations most exposed to AI. As companies deploy automation tools to handle routine tasks, entry-level roles—traditionally the training ground for new talent—are being compressed or restructured.
Geotab, however, is taking a different approach.
The company, which specializes in connected vehicle intelligence, video telematics, and AI-driven fleet insights, has placed more than 1,000 interns over the past five years. Its 2026 cohort spans 300 interns across North American offices, covering functions from data science and engineering to business operations and support roles.
Neil Cawse, Founder and CEO of Geotab, acknowledges the structural shift but argues that it strengthens—not weakens—the case for investing in early-career talent.
“AI is certainly reshaping the entry-level job market by automating some tasks, and the market to gain first work experience is difficult,” Cawse said. “We are committed to our campus hiring. You simply cannot build a company for the long term without investing in the next generation of talent and the human judgment, curiosity, and fresh insight that they bring.”
Rather than insulating interns from artificial intelligence, Geotab is embedding AI directly into their onboarding experience. New hires are introduced to GIA, the company’s internal AI assistant, from their first week on the job. The goal is not to use AI as a substitute for entry-level work, but as a foundational tool that interns learn to direct, interpret, and integrate into daily workflows.
This reflects a growing divergence in how companies are responding to AI at the entry level. Some firms are reducing junior hiring in favor of AI-augmented senior roles, while others—like Geotab—are reframing entry-level positions around AI fluency as a core competency rather than an optional skill.
Klaus Boeckers, Chief People Officer at Geotab, emphasized that the challenge is not AI replacing graduates, but rather how organizations prepare them for AI-native environments.
“The concern about AI eliminating entry-level roles is legitimate,” Boeckers said. “However, the answer isn’t to deprioritize new talent, it’s to invest in giving early-career people the skills to work alongside AI effectively.”
Interns at Geotab are assigned across technical and operational teams, working on real business problems where judgment, interpretation, and domain understanding are still required—areas where AI systems remain assistive rather than autonomous. Approximately 20% of interns in past cohorts have transitioned into full-time roles, suggesting the program functions as both a talent pipeline and a long-term hiring strategy.
The broader industry context reinforces the tension Geotab is addressing. According to Stanford Digital Economy Lab, early-career job displacement is most pronounced in AI-exposed occupations, particularly in knowledge work roles that involve standardized analytical or administrative tasks. Meanwhile, employers increasingly report that AI tools are reducing the need for traditional entry-level workloads such as data processing, reporting, and basic analysis.
Yet at the same time, companies are also reporting shortages in AI-literate talent—particularly individuals who understand how to work with AI systems rather than around them. This dual dynamic is shaping a new definition of entry-level readiness: one that prioritizes AI collaboration skills, systems thinking, and applied technical fluency.
Geotab’s internal approach reflects this shift. Instead of positioning interns as replacements for automated workflows, the company is positioning them as operators of AI-augmented systems. GIA, its internal assistant, serves as both a productivity tool and a training layer, enabling interns to learn how AI interprets data, generates insights, and supports decision-making in real operational contexts.
The strategy also underscores a broader question facing enterprise employers: whether AI will ultimately reduce entry-level hiring or redefine it. While some organizations are compressing junior roles, others are evolving them into hybrid human-AI functions where learning and supervision are embedded into AI-enabled workflows.
In Geotab’s case, the internship program is increasingly functioning as a controlled environment for building that hybrid model. It blends traditional learning—exposure to engineering, analytics, and business operations—with direct interaction with production AI systems.
The result is an entry-level experience that looks less like apprenticeship in a static role and more like training inside a live AI-enabled enterprise system.
Market Landscape
The entry-level labor market is undergoing measurable disruption as AI adoption accelerates. According to Stanford University’s Digital Economy Lab, occupations with high exposure to AI have experienced a 16% decline in early-career employment, particularly in roles involving structured cognitive tasks.
At the same time, broader workforce projections from McKinsey & Company suggest that while automation may eliminate certain repetitive tasks, it will also increase demand for roles that require human-AI collaboration, systems oversight, and domain-specific judgment.
This dual pressure is reshaping internship and graduate hiring strategies, with companies increasingly split between automation-led workforce reduction and AI-enabled talent development.
Top Insights
- Geotab has onboarded 300 interns in its 2026 program, reinforcing a long-term talent pipeline strategy amid widespread AI-driven disruption in entry-level employment markets.
- North American graduates face rising underemployment and slower hiring growth, with AI adoption contributing to a 16% decline in early-career roles in highly exposed occupations.
- The company integrates its internal AI assistant, GIA, into internship onboarding to ensure early-career employees develop AI fluency from day one.
- Approximately 20% of Geotab interns transition into full-time roles, highlighting internships as a structured pathway into AI-enabled workforce development.
- The program reflects a broader industry divide between firms reducing junior roles due to AI and those redefining entry-level work around AI collaboration skills.
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