A talk with Paul Grant, Co-Founder of Equilibria and A9X Cyber Security, Best-Selling Author and ISP Parent at Tara Pattana International School

These FAQs are designed for ISP parents and students. They summarise the key insights from the A to Z Speaker Series interview with Paul Grant and include additional questions linked to the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025.

1. What is this talk about?

This episode of the A to Z Speaker Series explores what engineering really means today and why it remains one of the most flexible foundations for a career. Through the experience of Paul Grant, ISP parent at Tara Pattana International School and co-founder of Equilibria and A9X Cyber Security, the conversation examines how engineering has shifted from isolated disciplines to integrated systems, why the mindset that built the industry matters more in an age of AI, and how young people can prepare for careers that will span industries, countries and generations of technology.

2. Who is Paul Grant?

Paul Grant is a graduate civil engineer whose career has taken him from oil rigs to boardrooms across five continents, with over 37 years of experience and more than 30 years working internationally. A first-class honours graduate of Heriot-Watt University, he began at BP as a drilling engineer, held senior international roles at Schlumberger and Transocean, and went on to co-found Equilibria and A9X Cyber Security. He is a best-selling author of Money Remixed and Personalities Remixed, and an ISP parent at Tara Pattana International School.

3. What is engineering and what does it actually involve?

Paul sees engineering as turning real-world problems into practical solutions. The field spans many domains – mechanical, electrical, electronic, civil, aeronautical, chemical, drilling, software and hardware – but the code is the same in all of them: using knowledge and creativity to design, build and maintain solutions that work in the real world. In an age of AI, the tools are changing but the human responsibility for what is built and how it affects people is not.

4. How did Paul get into engineering?

Paul was drawn to engineering as a chance to create value by solving problems, and to do it in a career that could take him anywhere in the world. He took the international path in 1997 and has since built and led work across Asia, the Middle East, North America, South America and Africa – crossing engineering, energy, entrepreneurship, coaching and human performance. That single decision to go international, he says, opened doors that would otherwise have been closed.

5. What skills are most important in engineering?

Paul identifies transferable skills over job titles as what has carried him through his career, alongside a mindset he calls curiosity over comfort. The skills he singles out are:

• Problem solving – the ability to define problems clearly and design solutions that work in the real world
• Communication and collaboration – explaining ideas simply, listening well and working across different personalities and cultures
• Understanding systems – seeing how disciplines, technologies and people interact
• Learning how to learn, including AI literacy – staying curious, picking up new tools quickly and using technology as an assistant, not a replacement for your own thinking

Paul emphasises that skills come from experience, not from books or screens, and that the willingness to be a beginner again is what makes long careers possible.

6. Why does engineering matter more, not less, as AI reshapes industries?

Paul is direct: AI is changing how we do engineering, not whether we need it. Wherever we have real-world problems we will always need engineered solutions. AI is taking over more of the routine analysis and design work, but the need for human judgement is not going away. AI can support the engineering process, but it cannot replace the human responsibility of what is built and how it affects people.

7. How is AI changing engineering and technical roles?

Engineering is going from manual to assisted design and analysis. AI speeds up simulation, optimisation, coding and documentation, so engineers spend less time on routine calculations and more on framing problems and making decisions. There is also a move from a purely technical focus to systems and ethics: as AI handles the more technical details, human engineers are pushed up a level, taking greater ownership of outcomes like safety, cost, carbon impact and usability.

8. What kinds of careers exist within and beyond traditional engineering?

Paul’s own career shows how broad engineering can be. He began as a drilling engineer, moved into rig management, then Country Manager roles in Gabon, Thailand and Vietnam, then into corporate leadership in Houston and Brazil covering HR, compensation and marketing, and now co-founds businesses in executive coaching, human performance, maritime cyber-security and alternative investments. Engineering, he argues, is a starting line rather than a straight line – a discipline broad enough to build a life around, whatever industry, country or technology comes next.

9. What is the outlook for engineering careers over the next decade?

Paul expects three big shifts rather than a disappearance of engineering. First, more systems and outcomes and less routine detail – AI will handle calculations, drafting and simulation, while engineers will spend more time defining problems and owning outcomes. Second, hybrid roles as the norm: many engineers will be part engineer, part data or AI user, part product or stakeholder lead. Third, a stronger emphasis on ethics, regulation and human impact – as AI designs more of what we use and live in, engineers will be expected to lead on ethics, risk, compliance and long-term consequences.

10. What is Paul’s advice for parents supporting a young person into engineering?

Expose them to many experiences, Paul suggests: different subjects, clubs, sports, arts and practical activities. Patterns of interest will emerge over time. Notice what energises them, not just what they are good at – strengths are often where ability and enjoyment overlap. Pay attention to what they choose to do when no one is telling them what to do. Help them see that there are many kinds of talent – analytical, creative, practical, social, caring, athletic – and all are valuable. Finally, model curiosity and learning yourself. That takes the pressure off getting it right first time.

11. What is Paul’s advice for young people thinking about their future?

Paul’s advice is to look for ways to create value in every role, understand yourself and others, and be clear on your purpose. He believes flexibility matters far more than picking a single right path: the role that suits you at 40 may not even exist when you are 20. If you focus on transferable skills – problem solving, communication and learning quickly – and stay open to change, you can shift direction several times and still build a coherent, successful career. And if you enjoy thinking hard, building things and seeing your ideas turn into something useful, engineering is one of the most direct ways to turn that into a career.

Additional FAQs linked to the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025

What does the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 say about the future of engineering roles?

Engineering is one of the sectors most reshaped by the trends the WEF identifies for 2025-2030. Environmental Engineers and Renewable Energy Engineers appear in the top 15 fastest-growing jobs globally, alongside AI and Machine Learning Specialists and Big Data Specialists – all rising on the back of AI, digital access and the green transition. The report projects that trends in energy generation, storage and distribution alone will create around one million net new engineering-linked jobs by 2030, on top of five million net jobs from climate change adaptation. For students, the message is that engineering as a foundation opens doors across an unusually wide set of growing industries. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 25-26)

Why is systems thinking a rising skill for the engineers of the future?

The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 highlights systems thinking as one of the top rising skills – the kind of skill that is essential for managing multidisciplinary problems and integrating people, technology and process. This maps directly onto what Paul describes in this episode: engineering has moved from isolated disciplines to integrated systems, and systems-of-systems thinking is now the norm. As AI takes on more of the routine technical work, engineers are pushed up a level, owning outcomes rather than tasks. Students can start building systems thinking now by studying how different disciplines connect – science with ethics, technology with people, design with business – rather than treating them as separate subjects. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 39-42)

What does the WEF report say about the rise of hybrid technical and human roles?

The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 finds that AI and information processing technologies are expected to transform the businesses of 86% of employers globally by 2030 – the highest of any technology trend. At the same time, employers expect tasks by 2030 to be split nearly evenly between humans alone, technology alone, and a combination of both. The result is a rise of hybrid roles where technical fluency sits alongside strategic, communication and human-centred skills. This is exactly the shape of the engineering career Paul describes: engineers will be part engineer, part data or AI user, part product or stakeholder lead, expected to lead on ethics, regulation and long-term consequences as much as on technical delivery. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 11, 33-35)

Why is analytical thinking the most sought-after skill by employers, and how does engineering training build it?

Analytical thinking remains the most sought-after core skill among employers globally, according to the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, with seven out of ten companies considering it essential in 2025. Alongside it, resilience, flexibility and agility, leadership and social influence, and creative thinking are all among the top core skills. An engineering training – grounded in defining problems clearly, testing assumptions and building solutions that survive contact with the real world – is one of the most direct ways to develop this skill. As Paul puts it, engineering is fundamentally about turning real-world problems into practical solutions, and that discipline is a lifelong career asset. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 5, 34)

How can students prepare for engineering careers in an AI-shaped world?

The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies AI and big data as the fastest-growing skills for the next five years, followed closely by networks and cybersecurity, technological literacy, and curiosity and lifelong learning. For students, this suggests three fundamentals to build now:

• Technological literacy, including hands-on comfort with AI tools and how they work
• Curiosity and lifelong learning – the willingness to pick up new tools and domains quickly, which Paul calls curiosity over comfort
• Human judgement, ethics and communication – the skills that make sense of what AI produces and turn it into decisions that affect people responsibly

Alongside these, the WEF findings echo Paul’s own advice to focus on transferable skills over job titles, because the roles that will exist in 2040 may not have names today. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 5, 36)

Source: World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2025