It's the buzzword that's taken over most human resources (HR) conferences. At last year's HR Technology Conference and Expo in Las Vegas, several companies touted the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into their recruiting products. Back home, the 2018 SHRM HR Tech Conference, held in Hyderabad in April, saw key sessions on how AI is going to be a driving force in HR functions. Their next conference in Chicago, held in June, had sessions on how to use AI to better understand employees. AI, or the ability of machines to imitate the human mind, is invading the workplace.

Last year, Bipin Preet Singh let go of his personal assistant. "A traditional secretary is just a messaging medium and not incredibly efficient," says the CEO and founder of MobiKwik. "Plus, there are some things that I wouldn't schedule through a secretary." For people who directly report to him, a secretary represented a layer of bureaucracy. We encourage interaction and informal conversations," Singh adds. Times have never been tougher for the secretary. Competing with virtual assistants, Google calender and mobile apps that can make bookings, take down minutes of meetings, store records and even send reminders to drink water, the secretary has lost some of his/her swag and salary. For an earlier generation of corporate leaders, having a secretary used to be a symbol of status, a measure of their professional success. But new-age managers scoff at the idea of having one. "Communication has evolved so much.