There are days when I wonder whether my job will exist in ten years.

That’s not a panic-driven question. It’s an honest one. I think anyone who works in people and organisations should be asking it — not out of fear, but out of responsibility.

I asked it more than usual this week, after following what happened at Meta.

What I actually do

I have worked in HR for several years. My day-to-day involves processes, policies, compliance, documentation. There is a lot that AI already does faster and better than I do — and I have no problem admitting that.

But there are other things.

There is the person who came to me one Thursday afternoon and could not quite explain what was going on — only that they were close to the edge. There was no formal process for that moment. There was a conversation. There was listening. There was the decision not to treat that moment like an agenda item.

There is the colleague on probation whose official feedback was reasonable, but who I knew — through context, through conversations, through team dynamics — was not getting the support they needed. And someone had to say that out loud.

There are the situations where what is written on paper does not match what is happening in the room. And where the job of someone working with people is exactly that: to see the gap between the two.

What AI does not do

AI can process policies. It can answer FAQs. It can screen candidates, analyse engagement data, generate internal communications.

What it does not do — at least not in the same way — is be present when someone is struggling and does not yet have words for it. It does not make the situational judgement to know that this meeting is not the right moment for that conversation. It does not build trust over time through consistency and small actions that people notice without naming.

And it does not carry the weight of knowing that the decisions it makes have an impact on real people’s lives.

That is not nostalgia. It is not resistance to change. It is an honest assessment of what is irreplaceable — and why.

What I think will change

I think the HR roles that survive this transition will be the ones that position themselves clearly on the side of what AI does not do. Not in opposition to technology — but as its complement.

What automation frees up is time. Time for the hard conversations. For being present. For the relational work that always existed but was often buried under the administrative load.

If we use that time well, the role of people in HR could become more human, not less.

One last thing

Everyone is talking about what AI will do to work.

Fewer people are talking about what we want to preserve — and why.

I think that is one of the most important conversations we can have right now. And I believe it starts exactly here: with people who work with people saying out loud what they do, what it is worth, and what is not for sale.

Thank you for following this series.

References

SHRM — The State of AI in HR 2026: Human Intelligence Is Irreplaceable in Empathy and Judgment 

SHRM — AI in HR 2026: From Hype to Measured, Human-Centred Impact 

AISera — Will HR Be Replaced by AI in 2026?  

Metaintro — 5 Human Skills AI Cannot Replace — And How to Build Them in 2026

Harvard Business Review — How to Foster Psychological Safety When AI Erodes Trust on Your Team 

Harvard Business Review — Workers Don’t Trust AI. Here’s How Companies Can Change That. 

Engagedly — Understanding the Role and Future Impact of AI in HR