HR professionals must grapple with a number of disruptive forces in the workplace – and in particular must become the masters of people analytics, according to an expert panel debating the future of work. At an event organised by the University of Bath, HR professionals and academics considered the way technology and the new economy will affect businesses and the people profession in particular. Analytics, AI and the shift to a contingent workforce were identified as particularly profound issues. And Juani Smart, professor in human capital management at the University of Bath, said ownership of data was a vitally important matter for HR. "We no longer work within a single set of organisational boundaries – we work in a very networked way," said Smart.

The phenomenon of human jobs being replaced by machines is not new; it has been happening since the industrial revolution. However, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) – and the ability for machines to think and learn like humans – is a potential game-changer that may seriously destabilise employment opportunities, economic growth and, ultimately, our society as a whole. Indeed, the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2017 suggests that managing technological change is a more important challenge for labour markets than globalisation.

The study said robots could replace humans in data input roles. "That is a current burden in shared-service arrangements, such as those in local government, where legacy systems may not be interoperable," it said. "Robotic process automation now provides a software alternative."

I am working on skills and leadership models for the IT industry and we are already considering a programme for IT recruiters that goes half-way to what you call the singularity. I think we are some years off yet, and the smarter recruiters will use the shift towards AI in career planning and talent management to market advantage. Big data will make today's enterprise HR systems look like chalk and slates.