AI: The tin man without a heart?
28 October 2025
Paul Chapman, managing director at HornbyChapman, reflects on the realities facing the next generation of post-trade professionals, warning that while AI brings speed and efficiency, it lacks the empathy and moral depth that define true human value in the workplace
Image: Photocreo Bednarek /stock.adobe.com
One of the 鈥� few 鈥� benefits of getting older is that it affords the ability to pass on the benefits of your experience to the next generation, with the aim of helping them to avoid mistakes, obvious or otherwise, and generally making their career journey smoother and more enjoyable.
When I started my first role in securities services, marginally before dinosaurs started to roam the earth, in 1988 at Barclays Angel Court, life was simpler 鈥� if you kept your head down, didn鈥檛 make too many mistakes, and applied yourself, then a solid career beckoned that would carry you fairly painlessly through to retirement. I therefore have mixed emotions when I meet and mentor the next wave of post-trade employees, those from Generation Z. On the positive side, they are invariably focused, keen, mature, and diligent, if a little too serious at times; they are, of course, very comfortable with technology and its applications; and they have dreams of corner offices, global travel, and enjoying roles which are interesting 100 per cent of the time. However, while this Bambi-like naivety is refreshing, my growing sense is that they have a rude awakening ahead of them 鈥� the jobs market in most developed countries is facing an existential crisis brought about by a heady cocktail of rapid technological change, geopolitical factors, and firms鈥� laser-focus on the search for alpha.
The pool of talent from which firms hire is now global and driven by technology-led transparency of opportunities, meaning that competition for roles can come from a far wider range of locations than ever before and the jobs market has evolved into a nightmarish game of musical chairs with hundreds, and on occasion thousands, of applications for a single role. The job-search process can be frustrating, laborious, and morale-sapping and only the most determined, disciplined, and tenacious will succeed.
Once in a role, constant thought and attention will need to be given by candidates to tweaking their personal value proposition 鈥� they should always be asking themselves 鈥渉ow much value did I honestly add to my firm yesterday, how much am I going to add today, and how much am I going to add tomorrow?鈥� One new development which might assist is the rise of the career advisory partner 鈥� an experienced hand to guide candidates through the employment landscape maze and represent them effectively in the market 鈥� more to come on that in future columns.
Have no doubt about it, AI, once it becomes more reliable and accurate, is going to change 99 per cent of roles at some point, likely sooner rather than later, and those changes won鈥檛 be beneficial for humans, with our inherent vulnerabilities, frailties, and vicissitudes. AI can facilitate, educate, and execute, but it lacks sympathy, empathy, and implicit morality 鈥� and while it may be designed to appear more like the benign WALL-E than The Terminator, it is merciless in its inexorable drive towards domination, at the cost of human employment. To those at the outset of their career, I鈥檇 counsel them to choose a path which involves a high degree of human interaction, be prepared to pivot between roles, firms, countries, and continents, and manage their expectations that competition, from both an electronic and human perspective, is only going to get tougher.
In the jobs jungle, we鈥檙e no longer the apex predator.
When I started my first role in securities services, marginally before dinosaurs started to roam the earth, in 1988 at Barclays Angel Court, life was simpler 鈥� if you kept your head down, didn鈥檛 make too many mistakes, and applied yourself, then a solid career beckoned that would carry you fairly painlessly through to retirement. I therefore have mixed emotions when I meet and mentor the next wave of post-trade employees, those from Generation Z. On the positive side, they are invariably focused, keen, mature, and diligent, if a little too serious at times; they are, of course, very comfortable with technology and its applications; and they have dreams of corner offices, global travel, and enjoying roles which are interesting 100 per cent of the time. However, while this Bambi-like naivety is refreshing, my growing sense is that they have a rude awakening ahead of them 鈥� the jobs market in most developed countries is facing an existential crisis brought about by a heady cocktail of rapid technological change, geopolitical factors, and firms鈥� laser-focus on the search for alpha.
The pool of talent from which firms hire is now global and driven by technology-led transparency of opportunities, meaning that competition for roles can come from a far wider range of locations than ever before and the jobs market has evolved into a nightmarish game of musical chairs with hundreds, and on occasion thousands, of applications for a single role. The job-search process can be frustrating, laborious, and morale-sapping and only the most determined, disciplined, and tenacious will succeed.
Once in a role, constant thought and attention will need to be given by candidates to tweaking their personal value proposition 鈥� they should always be asking themselves 鈥渉ow much value did I honestly add to my firm yesterday, how much am I going to add today, and how much am I going to add tomorrow?鈥� One new development which might assist is the rise of the career advisory partner 鈥� an experienced hand to guide candidates through the employment landscape maze and represent them effectively in the market 鈥� more to come on that in future columns.
Have no doubt about it, AI, once it becomes more reliable and accurate, is going to change 99 per cent of roles at some point, likely sooner rather than later, and those changes won鈥檛 be beneficial for humans, with our inherent vulnerabilities, frailties, and vicissitudes. AI can facilitate, educate, and execute, but it lacks sympathy, empathy, and implicit morality 鈥� and while it may be designed to appear more like the benign WALL-E than The Terminator, it is merciless in its inexorable drive towards domination, at the cost of human employment. To those at the outset of their career, I鈥檇 counsel them to choose a path which involves a high degree of human interaction, be prepared to pivot between roles, firms, countries, and continents, and manage their expectations that competition, from both an electronic and human perspective, is only going to get tougher.
In the jobs jungle, we鈥檙e no longer the apex predator.
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