Zoho co‑founder Sridhar Vembu lists out traditional roles he believes are likely to remain resilient to AI‑driven automation, pointing to local temple priests, classical musicians and other deeply human‑centred occupations as examples. He argues that, while AI will reshape many white‑collar and software‑driven jobs, certain professions that are rooted in ritual, culture, care and live performance are unlikely to be mechanically replaced, even as they become rarer and more valuable.
According to Mint, Vembu frames AI not as a job‑killer in the absolute sense, but as a force that may compress incomes in highly automatable sectors while elevating the social and economic value of uniquely human services. He suggests that jobs involving personalized care, artisanal skill, spiritual ministry and live performance, such as priests who conduct local rituals, classical musicians performing at temples or concerts, farmers tending small‑scale land, and caregivers working in homes and communities, are less prone to full‑stack automation because they are intrinsically relational, context‑specific and culturally embedded.
Vembu also urges software professionals and other white‑collar workers to prepare for a future where routine tasks are automated, and to think about how they can shift toward roles that combine technical literacy with human‑centred capabilities such as emotional intelligence, creativity and community engagement. His broader thesis, as reported by Mint, is that AI will push society toward a world where humans increasingly earn value not from replicable, standardized labour, but from activities that are irreplaceable because of their human touch, meaning and local rootedness.
Sridhar Vembu on jobs that will remain unaffected by AI
