Martha Greer Walker ’27 Publishes Book The junior shared her research on how to build an AI-ready career.

By Lily Caldwell
December 5, 2025

Washington and Lee University student Martha Greer Walker ’27 recently published a book, “Navigating the AI-Native Workforce: A Young Professional’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Intelligent Automation,” which is available for purchase on Amazon.

Walker’s book investigates the changing job market and the anxiety about artificial intelligence (AI) replacing human workers. Her research offers guidance for students and young professionals helping them blend crucial human skills, like creativity, ethical judgment and critical thinking, with technological proficiency. Backed by six months of in-depth research and insights from 11 industry experts, Walker encourages readers to shift their mindsets and learn to guide AI to leverage its power and productivity.

Walker used AI as a “co-author” of the text to demonstrate its capabilities and allow the agents to help her in creating a succinct and helpful product. She worked in collaboration with the AI, going through three drafts of the book and learning to communicate effectively with AI agents and master the art of prompt engineering. To monitor her progress and results, she kept a 50-page journal composed of prompts and reflections, documenting what the AI responded well to and what needed adjustment.

“This book is not the result of a single prompt that instantly produced a finished product,” said Walker, a business administration and English double major from Huntsville, Alabama. “It is the outcome of multiple iterations in which I conducted my own research, fed the agents my thoughts, evaluated their outputs and then combined the AI’s work with my own to create a cohesive final product.”

Walker received a research grant from the Connolly Entrepreneurship Society, which enabled her to pursue her work this past summer. She was able to develop her project with the mentorship of Jay Margalus, Johnson Professor of Entrepreneurship and Leadership director of W&L’s Connolly Center for Entrepreneurship (CES), and Blair Garrou ’94, managing partner of the Mercury Fund and chairman of the CES Advisory Board, whom Walker met at the 2025 Entrepreneurship Summit.

“Being a part of CES helped rekindle my entrepreneurial spirit,” said Walker. “After hearing from a number of inspiring speakers at CES, I realized I didn’t have to stop pursuing knowledge in my own way.”

Walker is a member of the Connolly Entrepreneurship Society, Jubilee a capella group, Delta Society and Development Ambassadors. She is also the author of the book “What the Heck is BioTech?: Learn about internships and careers in BioTech from people working at the HudsonAlpha Institute,” which was published in 2023.

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