Sustainable Workforce Design: Balancing Automation & Human skills

In an interaction with Thiruamuthan, Correspondent, Asia Business Outlook, Narinder Kumar, CEO and Co-Founder of To The New, shares how automation in India is accelerating routine tasks across industries while human creativity, empathy, and judgment remain central. Narinder Kumar, Technology Strategist & Business Leader, with over 25 years in digital technology, specializes in product engineering, agile practices, and leadership development. His expertise spans global markets, driving innovation, building high-performing teams, and mentoring future leaders with a focus on strategy, adaptability, and sustainable growth.

Automation is reshaping India’s industrial and service workforce at an unprecedented pace. How are organizations balancing efficiency gains with preserving essential human-centric skills?

Automation is transforming India’s workforce faster than any of us anticipated. From media and entertainment to financial services and technology, every industry is rethinking the balance between efficiency and human skill. The challenge for leaders is not simply adopting automation but ensuring that the qualities only people can bring remain central to value creation.

When we look at media and entertainment, Generative AI is already helping with tasks such as editing, subtitling, and trailer creation at speed and scale. Yet the real impact of content still depends on human creativity. In banking, AI is streamlining compliance and customer onboarding, but trust continues to be built by relationship managers who can listen and advise. Even in IT services, where GenAI has accelerated coding and analytics, the true differentiator lies in architects, designers, and consultants who can apply domain knowledge and creativity to solve complex business problems.

This points to a larger truth. Automation works best when it is paired with human judgment, empathy, and imagination. Companies need to actively design for this partnership. That means redesigning workflows to be human plus machine, creating career paths that reward domain expertise and creativity, and making continuous learning a cultural habit.

For example, we at To The New built a GenAI Center of Excellence to guide responsible adoption. But technology on its own is not enough. We invest heavily in initiatives such as Knowledge Meets, mentoring circles, and our People Manager Program, which has been recognized nationally. These programs make sure that while our teams gain efficiency from automation, they also grow in areas like creativity, collaboration, and leadership.

The lesson across industries is clear. Machines are getting faster, smarter, and more accurate. What will continue to set organizations apart is how well they preserve and amplify the skills that are uniquely human. Those that succeed in doing both will build the most sustainable and future-ready workforces.

Certain workforce roles face higher redundancy risk as automation scales in India. Which roles are most vulnerable without proactive workforce redesign strategies?

It is true that certain roles in India are more vulnerable as automation scales. Jobs that are highly transactional, rules-based, and low on contextual judgment are most at risk. These include basic data entry, routine back-office processing, first-level customer query handling, and repetitive quality assurance checks. Generative AI and other automation tools are already showing they can perform many of these tasks faster and at lower cost.

However, vulnerability is not destiny. The real opportunity lies in how organizations respond. Leaders need to treat automation not only as a way to reduce effort but also as a catalyst for evolving roles. A good starting point is to run skill audits to identify positions at risk and then design pathways for employees to move into higher-value work. For example, a manual tester could be reskilled into areas such as test automation, security, or even AI governance. A customer service associate could transition into a customer experience analyst role where empathy and domain knowledge matter as much as process.

We also see the need for collaboration beyond company walls. Governments, industry bodies, and businesses must come together to create reskilling funds and learning ecosystems that can absorb displaced workers and prepare them for the new economy. Without this proactive approach, we risk a talent crisis that will hold back growth. With the right strategy, however, India can turn a potential redundancy problem into an opportunity to create a workforce that is more skilled, more adaptive, and more future-ready.

At To The New, we have seen firsthand how reskilling and role redesign can shift the equation. By integrating automation with continuous learning programs, we reduce redundancy while opening up new career ladders. As an example, we recently empowered our teams with certifications on GenAI and Machine Learning and developed their expertise in prompt engineering. This not only secures our talent pipeline but also ensures that our people continue to grow as technology evolves.

Also Read: Robots And Automation - The Future That Lies Ahead

Reskilling speed often lags behind the adoption of AI-driven automation in Indian companies. How are organizations ensuring workers transition without displacement Risks?

The speed of reskilling has become one of the biggest challenges in India. AI-driven automation is being adopted quickly, but people often do not have enough time or support to keep pace. Without intervention, this gap can impact millions of workers. The way forward is to make learning continuous, practical, and directly tied to business outcomes.

What works in practice are three things. First, embed learning into the flow of work. Micro-learning modules, live projects, and apprenticeships with AI tools help employees apply new skills immediately rather than treating training as something separate. Second, training should be aligned with real client or business problems. When teams are certified against live use cases, the learning sticks and directly contributes to outcomes. Third, create safe pathways for internal mobility. Rotational programs, job shadowing, and mentor-backed transitions give employees the confidence to move into new roles without fear of displacement.

Industry peers are also finding value in using artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate reskilling. Adaptive learning platforms can personalize career paths by identifying gaps in real time and recommending targeted modules. Collaborations with universities and certification bodies are expanding the talent pool, while policies that tie reskilling commitments to job security are showing measurable impact. In fact, organizations that invest in structured reskilling often see retention improve by 20 to 30 percent.

The message for leaders is clear. AI adoption and reskilling cannot be on separate timelines. They need to run in parallel, with the same urgency and this shift will not only minimize disruption but also create an agile workforce that can adapt to the next wave of change.

India’s Industry 4.0 journey requires sustainable workforce design that aligns automation with human value creation. How do you see this evolving ahead?

India’s Industry 4.0 journey is about more than just automation. It is about creating a workforce and an organization where technology and human capability work together to drive value. Industry 4.0 leverages automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, GenAI, cloud computing, advanced analytics, and big data to make operations smarter, faster, and more adaptive. For India, this represents a unique opportunity to compete globally while building sustainable and future-ready organizations.

Looking ahead, three shifts will define how companies evolve. First, roles will be designed around a combination of machine-enabled tasks and human skills such as creativity, judgment, and problem-solving. Second, internal capability marketplaces will allow employees to contribute to projects based on skills and potential rather than fixed roles, making talent deployment more agile. Third, governance will be critical. As AI and automation scale, organizations must ensure responsible adoption, ethical oversight, and continuous reskilling to protect employability.

Governments are supporting this with programs under Digital India and smart manufacturing initiatives, but businesses need to lead on workforce development. Investments in learning ecosystems, skill mobility, and transparent career pathways will enable employees to move into higher-value roles where machines cannot replace human insight.

At To The New, we apply these principles every day. Automation and analytics allow us to deliver faster and at scale. GenAI helps accelerate content creation, code generation, and insights. Yet, it is our people who create the strategic direction, solve complex problems, and deliver the innovation that clients value most. By building hubs in tier-2 cities, investing in continuous learning, and creating clear career growth paths, we ensure that technology amplifies opportunity rather than replacing it.

The companies that succeed in Industry 4.0 will be those that treat automation as an enabler and human creativity and judgment as the differentiator. By aligning technology with human growth, organizations can create a workforce that is skilled, adaptable, and ready to lead in a rapidly changing world.