Gaining the Skills Our Industry Needs

Recently, I spent an evening building a tool with AI to solve a problem for one of our customers. He was repeatedly calculating by hand how many diamonds would fit into a tennis bracelet or eternity ring, and what the resulting carat weight would be. I’m not a developer, but within two hours, I had turned his problem into a working tool. 

Why was the CEO sitting there writing code instead of running the company? Because when I build, I understand. 

You cannot fully appreciate what AI can do by reading about it or sitting through a presentation. You understand its potential when you use it to solve a real problem. More importantly, I realized that if I can build something useful with AI, so can many others across our company and our industry. 

That experience speaks directly to the focus of this issue of Rapaport Magazine. The skills our industry needs are evolving, and so are the ways we acquire them. AI is changing how people work, learn, and solve problems, but technology alone will not secure the future of the diamond and jewelry trade. 

Our industry depends on knowledge that cannot simply be downloaded or automated. The expertise of a master bench jeweler, the judgment of an experienced diamond dealer, and the relationships built over decades in the trade must be passed from one generation to the next. Mentoring, apprenticeships and education remain essential. 

The opportunity lies in combining these strengths. We need people who understand diamonds, jewelry, craftsmanship, and the realities of the market, but who are also curious enough to experiment with new technology and challenge established ways of working. 

That is the culture we are building at Rapaport. We want people to identify problems and take the initiative to solve them, using the knowledge, technology and data available to them. We are investing in AI and developing new tools for the diamond trade, but our greatest asset remains people who understand the industry and are willing to keep learning. 

The future of our trade will not be built by technology alone. It will be built by people who combine experience with curiosity – and who are prepared to teach, learn, experiment, and create what comes next. 

Main image: Rapaport Group CEO Dan Mano. (Orna Gutman Levy)