AI won't replace managers — but it can make the job better

There are many workplace roles and responsibilities artificial intelligence could realistically take over, but leading a team doesn't seem to be one of them just yet. 

In 2020, management consulting company Gartner estimated that by the end of 2024, 69% of routine managerial tasks would be fully automated by AI. But as tech tools continue to evolve and play a more significant role in administrative responsibilities such as scheduling, organizing and staffing, managers' jobs aren't going to disappear — they'll just look very different. 

"The ability to collect data on how people are doing, how well managers' soft skills are being received and how to get better can now be done electronically," says Seckin Secilmis, founder and CEO of 5fn, a workplace training platform. "Most managers used to have to physically walk around to understand how their people are doing — that's just becoming faster."

Read more: 75% of employees say their managers weren't trained to oversee a hybrid team

Despite persistent fear that more automation could make certain jobs obsolete, this kind of change to managers' workflow could not come at a better time, Secilmis says. After the pandemic, managers' responsibilities grew to include more than just keeping their direct reports on track professionally. Now, they're expected to play a larger role in employees' personal lives, in ways like supporting employees' mental health and improving the workplace cultural experience. 

As a result, more than half of managers reported feeling burned out at work in 2023, according to a study conducted by the Harvard Business Review. That stress has had adverse effects on their relationship with their teams: More than 40% of one-on-one meetings are rescheduled weekly, according to data from ReclaimAI, due to managers not having enough time to gather the information they need beforehand, Secilmis says. 

"The status quo doesn't have to continue like this," he says. "We ask the managers in our network, 'Aren't you struggling? Aren't you tired of burning yourself out and not able to see your family because you're busy trying to manage a team? Don't you want to change that?' AI can enable that change." 

Leveraging better tech tools gives managers access to employee data and metrics faster and more comprehensively, according to Secilmis. It could significantly shave down the time leaders spend away from their teams figuring out what is and isn't working based on employees' engagement and productivity, and instead deliver that information to them directly. 

Read more: Managers need help talking about mental health. Here's where to start

"More AI allows for the interactions that managers have with their people to be where they're actually spending their time growing and empowering them, rather than trying to collect information," Secilmis says. "Because ultimately, does it matter how you're collecting the data you need as long as you're building that human sustainable model that employees are looking for?" 

In the end, employees have made it clear that they want to work for companies — and managers — where they feel cared for and supported. AI programs can't create a better workplace culture or lead a whole team, but they can help managers grow and evolve so that they can easily take on those responsibilities. 

"Companies need to lean in as soon as possible," Secilmis says. "Employee dissatisfaction and poor employee experience will only continue to rise until human connection can be made. That's  not going to happen unless they really start considering tech to solve this problem."