How to thrive amid the rise of the machines: Junior Awards 2026

High-flying business consultant Daniel Garsin, Guest of Honour at Junior Awards, told prize-winners that they will enter a world very different from the one that existed when he left QE just 20 years ago.

The continuing rise of artificial intelligence is “not a reason to be afraid”, he said, “but it does mean the old rules about how you get on in life are being rewritten”.

With AI already doing much of the careful, detailed work that young people used to do in their first jobs, Daniel, the 2005 School Captain, spelt out what that means for the boys: “It is no longer what do you know’, but ‘what can you do that a machine cannot?’”

Award-winners from across Years 7–9 gathered with their families and teachers in the School Hall for the formal afternoon event, during which Daniel (OE 1999–2006) presented the prizes.

The event included prizes for the academic subjects, for commitment, and for service in QE’s six Houses. There were also awards for co-curricular activities such as sport, drama, debating & public-speaking and supporting The Queen’s Library.

The Music prize-winners – Hercules Li, of Year 7; Julius Collins, of Year 8; and Ryan Hsu, of Year 9 – played piano pieces by Mozart, Debussy and Chopin respectively, while they and other award-winners formed an ensemble to perform the processional and recessional music for the ceremony. The VIP party included the Deputy Mayor of Barnet, Cllr Humayune Khalick.

In his introduction, Headmaster Neil Enright told the boys in the audience: “You are in pole position to be the leaders of your generation in your chosen fields; to be leaders of influence and valued collaborators.”

After leaving QE, guest speaker Daniel read History at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He has since forged a career in consulting, firstly with Deloitte and, for the past 15 years, with Elixirr, which has grown in that time from a 30-person firm to one that is now listed on the London Stock Exchange with more than 800 employees worldwide.

He arrived at Junior Awards still captivated by what he had observed on a recent business trip to San Francisco. “Some of what I saw there was breathtaking and exciting, and some of it was genuinely unsettling. The pace of change is faster than anything I have witnessed in my career. Things that were impossible only a year ago are ordinary today.”

Echoing the Headmaster’s optimistic tone, he said: “The territory is being redrawn as we speak, and you get to help draw it. And you’re at the very best place to do this.”

Daniel reflected on how he is likely to recruit in the future and offered clear advice: “Do not try to compete with the machine. I will be looking for the deeply human things, because those are getting more valuable, not less. Can you win someone’s trust? Can you carry a team through a hard week? Can you walk into a tense room and read what is actually going on? No machine can do that, and I do not believe one ever will. I will be looking for curious people who can learn fast, and then learn again. And above all, I will be looking for character and personality.”

Daniel urged the boys to focus on three values.

• Be collaborative
• Be entrepreneurial
• Go beyond expectations.

“If I could swap places with you today, here is what I would do. I would try to learn how to use these new tools, but never once let them do my thinking for me. I would read more widely than I do today. I would say ‘yes’ to the things that scare me a little (and that I said ‘no’ to). And I wouldn’t worry about having it all figured out, because nobody yet knows what the world will look like in 5-10 years,” he said.

After Daniel’s address, the Year 7 debating & public-speaking award-winner, Parth Gulati, gave a vote of thanks. Everyone then stepped outside on to Staplyton Field for refreshments.

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