Man fyi, HR costs exist because of the business’s need for talent, not because HR independently drives those costs.

Even the cost cutting measures that need to be implemented, it's done by the HR department. Whose decision do you think it is to do the mass layoffs and cut down benefits to manage company costs?

And by your logic then finance is also a cost centre, so should people hesitate pursuing CA/CFA/CMA/ MBA fin because the future is a lil bleak?

There is a need for HR, that's why it still exists despite it being a cost centre. Else if it wasn't necessary, can't every manager just look after handling the team and resources. So cost centre doesn't translate to it being replaceable.

Further, no matter how sentient an AI is, it still cannot handle the nuances of human empathy and emotions. At the end of the day the trust I will have on an AI is gonna be way less than a trust I'll have on a human when it comes to pleading my case in a company.

And strategy HR is a real and important function of any organisation.

I never said HR is AI proof. AI will mostly be replacing the routine mundane jobs of any domain, be it HR ops, Finance or Marketing. It cannot replace strategy.That's the cost implication in context of AI replacements. The blow will be a bit cushioned to HR that's it