Trades and care roles seen safest as ‘The Gentlemen’ rise

At Dell Technologies World 2026, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang predicted that occupations requiring physical presence and hands-on skills will be less affected by generative AI. He described agentic AI systems as ‘useful’ but said they change how work is done rather than uniformly replacing hands-on professions.

Huang identified trades, hairdressers, carers, nurses and doctors as among the roles likely to be most resilient as generative AI tools spread. He argued that tasks that require manual dexterity, direct human contact or on-site presence are harder to automate with current agentic systems.

Agentic AI refers to systems designed to act autonomously across multiple applications and services on behalf of users. Presenters at the conference said these systems can search, synthesize and perform actions across systems, creating new efficiencies while also introducing new control questions for IT and security teams.

Separately, security firms report a rise in activity from a ransomware collective known as ‘The Gentlemen’. Researchers estimate the group is responsible for roughly 10% of global ransomware incidents, citing the speed and volume of its recent attacks. One researcher described the group as ‘somewhat nomadic,’ shifting focus to the most lucrative targets and exploiting gaps in defenses.

A recent industry advisory warned against granting broad access to autonomous agents. The advisory stated, ‘You wouldn’t take a section of your employees and give them access to everything, or leave them to run consistently and hope that everything works out,’ and recommended separating an agent’s functional capabilities from the permissions it receives. The guidance did not prescribe specific technical controls.

Security researchers tracking ‘The Gentlemen’ say the group’s tactics reflect wider trends in ransomware: fragmentation of criminal groups, frequent shifts in target selection and faster, more automated extortion techniques. Analysts noted the group’s operations have scaled quickly and that some techniques resemble those used by established ransomware operators.

Executives and IT teams are balancing investments in agentic AI with steps to limit and monitor agent access. Industry advisors and security researchers have urged organizations to adopt clear policies that constrain what agents can access and to monitor agent behavior in production environments.