Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity I believe his company is new AI BrowserComets quickly automate two important white-collar roles that all modern workplaces rely on: recruiters and management assistants.Speaking of Verge's Decoder Podcast, Srinivas outlined how Comet's built-in AI agents can access and convert applications like Gmail, LinkedIn, Google Calendar and more completely. Knowledge work. “The job of a recruiter for a week is one prompt. You get to sourcing and out,” he said in an episode Thursday.Currently using an invitation-only beta for premium users, AI-Native browsers can generate suggestions, extract contact information, and send traditionally processed tasks, personalized outreach emails by recruiting coordinators and saucers. Srinivas has demonstrated a scenario where AI can identify Stanford graduates who previously worked in humanity, compile information on Google Sheets and draft personalized cold outreach messages.
AI browsers target management work beyond adoption
Comet's capabilities go far beyond the recruitment capabilities. Srinivas explained how browsers can take on the responsibilities of many executive assistants, including email management, calendar coordination, and meeting preparation. AI can “continue to follow up, track responses, update Google Sheets, mark responses or ongoing status, sync with Google Calendar, resolve conflicts and schedule meetings,” he said.Perplexity CEO expects the browser to evolve into an AI operating system where it continuously performs background tasks and executes commands via natural language prompts. He thinks users will pay a premium price for meaningful automation, and suggests that people may spend “$2,000 on the prompt” if it helps to create important business value.
AI leaders split over the impact of AI on white-collar employment
Srinivas joins other tech executives who predict that office work will be extensively disrupted. While humanity's CEO Dario Amodei suggests that AI can eliminate 50% of entry-level positions within five years, Ford CEO Jim Farley warned that artificial intelligence will “literally replace half of all white-collar workers.”However, not all industry leaders share this apocalyptic view. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Frame AI frame AI as an extension tool rather than a wholesale exchange technology.Although the perspective on AI's ultimate impact differs, Srinivas issued a clear warning. “People on frontiers using AI will be much more employable than those who don't.”
