I was nominated to submit a commencement speech for my grad school’s 2026 commencement. They didn’t select it, so I’m putting it here.

Congratulations class of 2026.

We are graduating at a very strange time in human history.

Everything is changing: AI, the job market, the world order, our lives.

Many of you are rightfully worried about what comes next.

In addition to our degree, we’re told we need internships, research, side projects, and extra-curriculars. And yet, even that doesn’t feel like enough. We have no idea what’s coming our way or how to brace ourselves.

When I began my academic journey, I thought productivity was everything. We hear the word “productivity” mentioned as something society should maximize, particularly with AI. The more work we can do in a given amount of time, the better and easier things will become. That’s the promise, anyway.

So I, like many of you, focused on my academics and technical portfolio. In my undergrad I joined a research lab, started side projects, and doubled down on academics. It’s what grad programs wanted and what the internet wanted–things that fill out your resume. Humanities—even leisurely reading and writing—were an afterthought, something best done for fun to take a break from real “work”. This approach got me an internship and admission into the Brandeis computer science PhD program. So far, so good.

Then I started research.

And as many of the PhD students here know, research can be brutal. Research is different than classwork or side projects. People in your lab provide guidance, but not answers. You can set up an experiment perfectly and expect a certain result, but reality won’t care. You are never certain whether the failure is in your experiment or the idea itself. Other times, everything seems perfect until you realize there was a bug that gave you a false positive. You can work as hard and as smart as you want on a project, but at the end of the day that direction might just be a dead end.

These problems are not specific to research, though. You will encounter confusing, counter intuitive situations whenever you try something new. When you navigate high-stakes conversations, design new products, and generally create the life you want to live.

These are the points where working harder isn’t enough. Where knowledge, technical skill, and even the all-mighty ChatGPT fall short. Where sometimes the best solution is to try something else. And that’s a good thing, because that is where the magic happens, where we’ll matter most in the years to come.

But how do we prepare for the unknown, for the challenges that AI can’t solve, for a world where out-of-the-box thinking is essential? And how can we do all of this while standing out from millions of other people?

The most effective strategy I found is to be as curious and genuine as possible.

Nothing else comes close.

Be as curious and genuine as possible.

I hate this answer because it sounds like a generic motivational poster, but it’s really true, and seems to only work better as the years go by.

What’s interesting is that this strategy is the exact opposite of maximizing productivity or working super hard.

Let’s talk about curiosity.

Once you become curious, learning becomes fun. Once learning becomes fun, life becomes a whole lot easier. It’s like turning the difficulty of a game down while simultaneously unlocking new areas of the map to explore. Smart people don’t spend hours reading random books because it looks good on a resume. They read because reading generally improves their lives. I can’t tell you how many problems I’ve prevented using tips from random programming blogs, tips that you don’t find from googling error messages.

Nobody knows everything, but those who are curious will always know more than those who aren’t, and they know different things that are useful in different ways. Curiosity is not something we’re all born with, but curiosity–just like anything else–is a skill we can all develop, something we can work on, and it’s one of the greatest returns on investment I’ve experienced.

Be as curious and genuine as possible–let’s talk about the genuine part, about how we express ourselves.

There are so many problems that could have been prevented with better communication. Companies that would still exist, divorces that could have been avoided, lives that could have been saved, if people just found the right combination of words.

You will not believe the things you can say to people if you phrase it right and say it in good faith. You also won’t believe the impact it can have — but you have to phrase it right, read the room, own up to mistakes, and pick your battles carefully. In other words, you need to communicate.

For the last nine months, I’ve been working on AI compilers at company called AMD. I didn’t think I’d get the job in compilers at a hardware company because I had absolutely zero compiler experience and zero hardware experience. But I didn’t hide that fact in my interviews, or pretend some unrelated experience was relevant. I told my interviewers that I had no compiler experience, but that I had read a lot about AI compilers because I thought they were cool, and I knew the terminology to back that up. The technical interview went just OK, but I got the job anyway. The hiring manager felt he could get me up to speed. Nine months later, I’m doing better than I expected. It turns out this is not uncommon in industry. I got my job not because I matched the most buzzwords or had the most research awards. I got it because I also communicated that I cared, wanted to learn more, and didn’t hide things that might be an issue.

It’s not about working harder or working smarter. It’s about being curious enough for it to not feel like work and genuine enough to prevent problems that ruin the fun.

But how do we grow and develop these traits?

This is where Brandeis—and the humanities as a whole—shine. There are books on how to read books, papers on how to read papers, essays on how to write essays, talks on how to talk to people.

Read them.

Listen to them.

And practice.

Write that essay on your hot take, that novel in the back of your mind, that song you’ve always wanted to sing.

Sharpen your voice.

Everyone can read and write and speak, but few do it well, and that makes it a competitive advantage. Now more than ever, our world needs real people. People with not just an original voice, but an effective voice.

Communication and curiosity are a superpower.

You can’t put these traits on a resume, but you can’t fake them in a conversation either, which, in the age of AI, is more valuable than ever.

Congratulations class of 2026.

Your time as students may be ending, but it is never time to stop growing.

Be curious, be genuine.