Is AI Really Going to Take People Analytics Jobs?

The short answer is no.

The long answer is that it depends on a few factors, such as:

• Are you currently doing HR Reporting or People Analytics?

• Are you regurgitating data or interpreting it for insights?

• Are most of your tasks repetitive, or do you work on a project basis?

• Are you a consumer of data or an influencer of data?

• Are you reactive or proactive in your approach?

Before I get into why these factors are essential, there are a few things we need to keep in mind about AI:

1. It has been around since the 1950s; we are now just working with a more augmented version of it (aka Generative AI)

2. It is phenomenal at using existing information and making sense of it in an expedited manner

3. It relies on historical and existing data to do its job

4. It creates “new” ideas from ideas and information that are already in existence

5. It does not do well in accounting for all of the human contexts and nuances we deal with daily

Now, going back to my long answer of “it depends,” I think you can start to see where I’m going with this:

• Suppose your role primarily summarizes existing information into reports, dashboards, visualizations, etc. In that case, technology is more likely to be able to take on more of that work at a higher output rate.

• If you are more focused on the “so what?” and “now what?” questions, then I wouldn’t be too worried. While the business context and experience you apply to your tasks can be augmented by technology, I don’t think we will ever be at a stage where all of that can be replaced entirely.

• If your tasks are primarily repetitive and you can write a set of instructions for them, then whatever you’re working on might be a great candidate for process automation.

• Suppose you only use the data provided to you and cannot influence how data is structured and governed for analytics. In that case, technology has a higher chance of taking over the data-processing tasks.

• If you are always thinking a step ahead about how your outputs will impact/influence the business, then I wouldn’t worry too much because Value is the name of the game for the future of People Analytics. It is challenging for AI to intrinsically understand what value means to different businesses in different contexts.

With all this said, my perspective is that the key to ensuring career stability in People Analytics in the age of AI is critical thinking. Fundamentally, the answer to whether AI will take over People Analytics jobs comes down to the following question: Are you doing glorified reporting today, or are you focused on the analytical insights that will impact the business?