09/15/2026
"Autonomous" doesn't mean no people.
Ross Boreham, Head of Healthcare for Europe at Automation Anywhere, put it plainly in a recent session with Karen Ceesay, Deputy Chief People Officer at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust:
Between 50 and 70% of what most people in operational roles do every day is transactional. Administrative. Work that doesn't require their judgment; it just requires their time.
That's the work automation is designed to absorb.
To give people back the bandwidth to act as the strategic business partner their organisation actually needs them to be. To go after the bigger problems, the ones that genuinely matter and that, if we're honest, most professionals got into their field to solve.
That's what an autonomous people services function looks like in practice. Fewer AI signals. Better use of people.
The full conversation between Ross and Karen, including how Leicester NHS Trust is building toward exactly that, is available on demand.
👉 https://ow.ly/ZV7950ZNwHa