Perplexity CEO Says AI Browser ‘Comet’ Could Replace Recruiters, Executive Assistants

In a bold proclamation that's sending ripples across tech and corporate sectors, Perplexity AI's CEO Aravind Srinivas believes the company's latest product, Comet, could soon displace two essential white-collar roles—recruiters and executive assistants.

Revealed during an episode of The Verge’s Decoder podcast, Comet is not just another AI assistant. It’s an AI-powered browser designed to manage high-level operational tasks, quietly running in the background like a digital employee. According to Srinivas, Comet goes well beyond web searches and chat prompts—it’s capable of handling real work, end-to-end.

What sets Comet apart is its deep integration with widely-used tools like Gmail, Google Calendar, and LinkedIn. Through these platforms, it performs tasks that are traditionally managed by human professionals—scheduling, email management, candidate sourcing, follow-ups, and even briefing ahead of meetings. These are not aspirational features, but already functional within the browser, as noted in a recent Business Insider report.

Srinivas specifically pointed to the vulnerability of two job categories:

“A recruiter's work worth one week is just one prompt: sourcing and reach outs,” he explained.

He added that Comet can track candidate replies, update spreadsheets, manage follow-ups, and prepare recruitment briefings, making it capable of managing the full recruitment lifecycle. Similarly, for executive assistants, Comet is designed to handle calendar management, conflict resolution, email triage, and meeting preparation—all through natural language prompts.

Still in its invite-only phase, Comet is being positioned not just as a browser, but as a complete AI operating system for office work—an autonomous agent that follows commands, completes tasks, and operates silently in the background.

The comments from Srinivas come as AI continues to reshape office dynamics at an unprecedented pace. Industry leaders are split on what this disruption means. Anthropic’s Dario Amodei forecasts that up to 50% of entry-level office jobs could be replaced within five years. Ford CEO Jim Farley echoed similar concerns, warning that half of U.S. white-collar roles may be at risk due to automation.

On the other hand, some tech leaders see AI as an enhancer, not a threat. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang described AI as having evolved his role, not eliminated it. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff emphasized that AI should be viewed as a tool for augmenting human work, not replacing it.

Even so, corporate giants like Amazon are already urging employees to embrace AI tools—or risk falling behind. CEO Andy Jassy recently cautioned his teams that failing to adapt could lead to job redundancies.

Whether Comet becomes a game-changing co-worker or a tool for workforce reduction, it symbolizes the rapidly evolving intersection of AI and human labour. As companies and employees brace for this shift, one thing is becoming increasingly clear—the future of work is being redefined right now.