‘Skills nobody can take’: Meet a 20-year-old with a 4.5 GPA who skipped college for technical school to land an ‘AI-proof’ career

AI is barreling into white-collar industries, and more people than ever are trying to AI-proof their careers.

Gen Z college graduates are increasingly landing in retail and food service as AI absorbs many of the entry-level roles that once served as their on-ramp.

Alejandro Rodriguez, a 20-year-old certified Porsche apprentice technician, wants Gen Z to know that college isn’t the only path to a respected, fulfilling career—especially one that’s less vulnerable to AI .

Rodriguez, a recent graduate of Universal Technical Institute, told Fortune that despite excelling in school, taking college classes, and earning a 4.5 GPA in high school after a lifetime in the gifted and talented program, he decided to follow his passion for cars.

That drive didn’t take him to college, but to a technical institute.

Given his academic record, school administrators weren’t thrilled when he began floating technical school as a post-graduation plan instead of a four-year college.

“It [college] was expected of me because of how I did in school,” Rodriguez said.

“When I told them that’s not what I wanted to do, I wanted to go to a technical school, they really tried to get me to apply for community colleges instead.” But after he pushed them to accept that it was his path, Rodriguez said they “finally conceded.” Looking back, he says his school offered no pathway toward blue-collar work.

“There wasn’t a single day we’d have a shop class, no woodwork, nothing hands-on,” he said, adding, “It would be nice to have those options that just weren’t there.” Rodriguez says there has finally been a gradual shift toward taking blue-collar professions more seriously —but it’s a recent development, and AI has accelerated it.

“AI definitely has a part in it,” he said.

“People are starting to come out of work, and they’ve got to do something.

And our jobs kind of can’t be taken.” A secure career, with no debt The data backs up the instinct.

An April 2026 Census Bureau paper found that hiring of workers ages 22 to 24 fell sharply in the industries most exposed to AI, such as software and information technology, even as hiring held steady in less-exposed fields.

A companion paper co-authored by the same economist found that graduates shut out of those roles often shift into lower-paying retail or food-service work to pay the bills.