The wider impact of AI on the highways and transportation sector remains largely unknown. But the current reduction in entry-level hiring is increasingly, if anecdotally, attributed to AI absorbing the administrative tasks traditionally handed to junior professionals. This webinar tests whether that's really what's happening, and asks a harder question: if fewer people enter the sector today, who leads it in twenty years? Drawing on live recruitment market data and the experience of senior hiring leaders, the session will examine what's actually driving the entry-level slowdown, what it means for succession planning, and what organisations can do now to protect their leadership pipeline.

What you’ll learn

• Understanding the entry-level slowdown: What current recruitment market data tells us about the reduction in entry-level hiring across the highways and transportation sector, and the extent to which AI is contributing.
• Looking beyond AI: Exploring the wider factors shaping early-career recruitment and what is really driving changes in demand for junior professionals.
• Protecting the future talent pipeline: Why fewer entry-level opportunities today could create significant challenges for succession planning and sector leadership in the years ahead and what organisations can do now to respond.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the session, you’ll understand:

• The latest evidence on entry-level recruitment trends in the highways and transportation sector and the potential role of AI.
• The implications of reduced entry-level recruitment for skills development, succession planning and the future leadership of the sector.
• Practical approaches organisations can take to ensure AI supports, rather than undermines, the development of early-career talent and future leaders.

Why attend?

• Free to CIHT Members
• Excellent CPD opportunity
• Gain insight into the latest recruitment market data and emerging workforce trends affecting the highways and transportation sector.
• Hear directly from senior hiring leaders about the changing role of AI and its implications for recruitment and talent development.
• Explore what organisations can do now to maintain a strong pipeline of skills and future leaders.
• Interactive Q&A with industry experts

Who is this masterclass for?

This webinar is particularly relevant to professionals involved in recruitment, workforce planning, talent development and organisational leadership, as well as anyone interested in the future skills needs of the highways and transportation sector.

The session is open to all CIHT members, CIHT partner employees, BCoE members and non-members. It is free for CIHT and BCoE members to attend and charged for CIHT Partner Employees and non-members.

Speaker details

Blayne Cahill, Director, Rail, Highways & Infrastructure, Carrington West

Blayne Cahill is Director of the Highways, Transportation & Infrastructure division at built environment recruiter Carrington West, leading four specialist teams with a strong reputation for designing and delivering resourcing solutions across the public and private sectors. As a recruiter, he set numerous individual records while building a team that delivered several consecutive years of exponential growth, work recognised nationally twice by the REC, the recruitment industry's governing body. Having spoken at CIHT national conferences in 2025 and 2026 on the industry's skills gap, Blayne continues to focus on how the sector attracts, engages and develops its people, the lens he brings to today's discussion.