AI Will Not Take Your Job But Someone Using AI Will”: Cheick Camara Challenges INES-Ruhengeri Students to Rethink the Future

On 4 December 2025, the atmosphere at INES-Ruhengeri carried a quiet electricity as students gathered to meet a guest whose name has become increasingly familiar in Africa’s AI conversations: Cheick Camara, the Managing Director of ServiceNow Africa. He arrived not simply to lecture, but to challenge an entire community to rethink what it means to work, learn, and stay relevant in a world transformed by artificial intelligence.

Photo: Cheick Camara delivering a keynote speech on the future of AI and work.

When Camara took the stage, he offered a message that was both unsettling and empowering. “AI will not take your job,” he told the room, pausing just long enough for curiosity to settle. “But someone who uses AI will make you lose it.” The line struck a chord. It reframed AI from being a distant technological threat to a very human competition, one that rewards adaptability, creativity, and willingness to evolve.

On this afternoon, Camara spoke not as a prophet of doom, but as a guide urging young people to understand that machines only outperform those who refuse to improve. He encouraged students to learn how to lead AI tools rather than fear them, noting that the future belongs to people who know how to direct technology, not be replaced by it.

Photo: Camara on the left, Lambert the moderator in the centre, and Clément on the right during the panel discussion.

Later, in a panel conversation with INES-Ruhengeri’s Director of ICT, Munyentwari Clément, the discussion turned to the jobs most at risk. Surprisingly, the greatest threat is not to senior specialists but to newcomers whose roles depend on repetitive, routine tasks. Those positions,  Camara argued, are the easiest for AI to automate. Both speakers agreed that the only path forward is to treat AI as a partner, a tool that enhances human abilities rather than competing with them.

Photo: Mr. Clément Munyentwari, Director of ICT at INES-Ruhengeri.

Still, Clément offered reassurance. The only thing AI can never take, he said, is human uniqueness. Creativity, empathy, intuition, and emotional intelligence remain untouched by algorithms. These qualities, he explained, will increasingly define the difference between those who lead and those who are replaced.

Students were eager to know which AI tools dominate the market. Camara pointed to ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude as the most widely used today, though he added with a smile that the field changes almost daily. Keeping up, he suggested, is now part of every student’s responsibility.

The Vice Chancellor, Fr. Dr. Jean Bosco Baribeshya, used the moment to address academic integrity. Rwanda encourages the use of AI for learning, research, and innovation, he said, but during examinations, the university must evaluate the student’s own reasoning, not AI-generated answers. His remarks drew nods around the room, a reminder that while AI accelerates thinking, it cannot replace personal understanding.

Camara’s visit came just months after his meeting with President Paul Kagame on 22 May 2025, where discussions focused on expanding ServiceNow’s AI-powered digital workflow solutions across Rwanda. Beyond his corporate influence, Camara is known for championing social impact through partnerships with HBCUs and clean-energy initiatives in Kenya, part of a broader vision of using technology to empower African communities.

As the session ended, students lingered long after the final question, debating, reflecting, and imagining their place in a world where AI is no longer futuristic. It is present, powerful, and unavoidable. Camara left them with a message that echoed through the corridors long after he departed: AI is not a threat to those who learn to work with it. It is a tool that will define who thrives and who is left behind.

In that sense, the event was more than a lecture. It was a turning point, an invitation for INES-Ruhengeri students to step confidently into the future, ready not just to survive the age of AI, but to lead it.

These photos were taken in the Main Hall of INES-Ruhengeri as students and staff engaged in an insightful AI talk.

 Photo: Cheick Camara during his meeting with President Paul Kagame on 22 May 2025.