Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas has made a bold claim that’s stirring debate across the tech and corporate worlds. According to Srinivas, a new tool developed by his company — an AI-native browser called Comet — is poised to replace two key white-collar roles: executive assistants and recruiters.
Speaking on The Verge’s Decoder podcast, Srinivas emphasized that Comet is more than just another chatbot. Unlike conventional AI tools, he said, Comet is designed to perform continuous, autonomous tasks, functioning as a background digital worker rather than a reactive assistant. The announcement comes shortly after OpenAI’s introduction of its own task-executing AI agent, showing just how rapidly the field is advancing toward autonomous general-purpose systems.
So what sets Comet apart? Srinivas described it as an AI system deeply integrated with platforms like Google Calendar, Gmail, and LinkedIn, allowing it to manage calendars, handle emails, find job candidates, and send customized outreach — tasks that mirror what recruiters and executive assistants do every day. “A recruiter’s work worth one week is just one prompt: sourcing and reach outs,” Srinivas explained.
Currently in invite-only mode, Comet already features these capabilities, according to a report from Business Insider. It can respond to emails, track candidate progress in spreadsheets, automate follow-ups, and even provide pre-meeting briefings. For executive support, it can prepare documents, resolve scheduling conflicts, and manage inboxes — all from simple natural language prompts.
Srinivas envisions Comet as an AI operating system for office work, capable of turning commands into real-world action while running quietly in the background. While it’s currently limited to premium users, he believes many will be willing to pay for a browser that delivers actual productivity rather than just search results.
Beyond Comet’s technical potential, Srinivas issued a broader call to action: “People who really are at the frontier of using AIs are going to be way more employable than people who are not. That’s guaranteed to happen.” He urged individuals to “spend less time doomscrolling on Instagram” and instead invest in learning how to use AI tools — not for corporate benefit, but to stay relevant in a changing world.
As automation advances, voices in the industry remain split. Some, like Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and Ford CEO Jim Farley, warn that half of entry-level white-collar jobs may vanish in the next five years. Others, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, see AI as a transformative force that augments rather than replaces human workers.
Still, with tools like Comet gaining traction, it’s clear that the nature of office work is on the brink of a major shift.
