Can AI replace my assistant?
I noticed a pattern in the early conversations in my executive briefings and one-on-one technology coaching. Conversations often starts like this:
"Christine, your assistant—she helped organise this session. Is she human or AI?"
She’s totally human.
"Really? Haven't you replaced her with AI already?"
No. I have not. And here’s why.
AI Isn’t Fully Autonomous—Yet
Many people assume that early adopters of AI have fully automated their workflows with AI. After all, if AI understands everything we say, it should be able to do anything, right?
Well… not quite. Not yet.
Right now, we still have to jump between AI tools to give them context and get information, switch between apps and verify everything AI does.
We are not yet at the stage where we can simply say, “Hey AI, go do this for me,” and expect it to execute tasks across multiple systems without manual input.
The future of AI Automation is Agents
There are platforms like Zapier, Lindy, Gumloop, and Cassidy that automate workflows, and allow AI-powered steps in their flows.
AI agents—which will eventually plan, execute, and monitor tasks independently—are on their way, but they’re not easily available to us yet. (I’ll cover AI agents in a future newsletter.)
Even in well-established AI use cases, human oversight is essential:
Chatbots: Anyone who interacted with them knows how quickly we hit their limitations.
AI Meeting Assistants: Speech-to-text technology is excellent now so the transcriptions are great. But AI-generated summaries still require review.
For example, an AI might summarise a meeting as if we made a firm decision—when in reality, we only discussed a possibility.
I never send AI-generated summaries straight to clients or into my systems without checking them first.
Right now, we still need a human in the loop.
The Role of AI in My Team
So, will I replace Christine with AI?
No.
What I want from Christine—and from anyone on my team—is to:
Stay on top of AI tools and how they can enhance their work.
Identify where AI can improve efficiency and quality.
Maximise AI's potential to support, but not replace, human decision-making.
And when AI agents get more sophisticated, when automation becomes more seamless, and when AI can truly click on my screen and do tasks for me, my team will be ready.
Will Yours?
So, who can you bring into the room, who is still outside?
Who can you empower with the gift of freedom and knowledge?
Let's make sure no one is left behind!
Inbal Rodnay
Guiding Firms in Adopting AI and Automation
Keynote speaker | AI Workshops | Executive briefings | Consulting CIO
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