Neill Dunwoody is a passionate professional who thrives on innovation and collaboration. He is the founder of Spryt, Chief Talent Strategist, and Head of Ireland with Tribes.
Will AI replace your job or help you do it better? That’s the question at the heart of this thought-provoking piece by the founder of Spryt, a human-led AI platform in healthcare. Drawing from real-world experience in one of the most complex and sensitive industries, the article challenges common fears about automation, reframing AI not as a threat, but as a tool for freeing up human potential. If you’ve ever wondered where you fit in an AI-driven future, this founder’s perspective offers clarity, optimism, and a clear path forward.
A founder’s perspective from building Spryt
It’s one of the most common and valid questions people ask about artificial intelligence:
“Is AI going to replace me?”
And if you work in a knowledge-based or service-heavy role, especially in healthcare, where we focus at Spryt, it’s more than just a hypothetical concern. AI is no longer some distant technology. It’s already shaping workflows, surfacing insights, and automating tasks once thought to require a human touch.
So the anxiety is understandable. But here’s what I’ve learned building an AI-enabled platform in one of the most sensitive and high-stakes industries:
The goal isn’t to replace people. It’s to free them up to do what only they can do.
The wrong fear, the right concern
Let’s get something out of the way. Yes, AI will change how we work. That’s already happening. But the fear that it will completely replace people is, in most cases, misplaced.
The deeper concern, one that is absolutely worth focusing on, is how AI will be integrated. Will it be used to cut corners and remove people from critical conversations? Or will it be used to make work more human, more efficient, and more impactful?
At Spryt, we’ve made a deliberate choice to build AI that is human led. And that decision comes from real-world observations.
The real problem in healthcare workflows
In healthcare, we’ve talked to hundreds of people across the system: GPs, specialists, care coordinators, admin teams. What we see over and over again is not a shortage of skill or knowledge. It’s a system problem. People aren’t just busy, they’re stuck doing things they shouldn’t be doing in the first place.
Highly trained professionals spend hours on hold, writing and rewriting referrals, chasing paperwork, filling out forms. They aren’t working at the top of their license; they’re buried under tasks a machine could easily manage.
And here’s the thing. No one enjoys it. Not the clinicians, not the patients, not the admin staff. It’s time-consuming, inefficient, and a massive source of burnout.
What AI should do
This is where AI actually shines. It’s excellent at structured, repeatable tasks. It can:
Summarise and pre-fill forms
Extract key data from long documents
Coordinate workflows behind the scenes
Surface relevant information in real time
Reduce follow-up loops and waiting times
All of which leads to faster care, fewer errors, and more time for the things that matter.
But the key is how you deploy it.
You don’t build AI to make people obsolete. You build it to make their work more satisfying, more valuable, and more human.
From gatekeepers to facilitators
At Spryt, our North Star is this:
We want to turn people from overwhelmed gatekeepers into empowered facilitators of care.
That means giving them tools that remove the repetitive load so they can focus on judgment, collaboration, and compassion, the things AI can’t (and shouldn’t) do.
It’s not just a tech choice. It’s a values choice. We’re not building for a future where machines run the system. We’re building for a future where people run the system, better, faster, and with more support than ever before.
The augmentation mindset
There’s a term that often gets overlooked in AI discussions: augmentation. It’s not sexy. It doesn’t make for dramatic headlines. But it’s where the real opportunity lies.
Augmentation means using AI to extend your capabilities, to take things off your plate that you were never supposed to be doing, to reduce decision fatigue and admin clutter, and to create more headspace for focus and impact.
We’ve seen this firsthand. When clinicians use Spryt, they aren’t “doing less,” they’re doing better. They’re more confident that tasks have been handled. They spend less time chasing details. They feel more in control of the patient journey.
And most importantly, they get to spend more time being clinicians, not paper pushers.
So, will AI take your role?
Here’s the honest answer: not if you adapt, not if you lead.
AI will reshape roles, yes. But the people who will thrive are the ones who embrace the tools, guide how they’re used, and reimagine their roles in the process.
You’re not being replaced, you’re being re-leveled.
The best outcomes will come when we design systems that amplify human skill and judgment, not sideline it.
That’s our philosophy at Spryt. And here’s the short version of how we explain it:
We focus on human-led AI because we want people to augment their roles, not lose them. Our mission is to help turn overwhelmed gatekeepers into empowered facilitators of care. AI should handle the monotonous and repetitive tasks so people can focus on what matters most, with the best possible outcome.
We’re not building tech to replace people. We’re building it to support them, to help them work smarter, reduce stress, and create better care for everyone involved.
Read more from Neill Dunwoody
Neill Dunwoody, Founder and Talent Strategist
As the co-founder and COO of Spryt and Chief Talent Strategist and Director at Tribes, I lead two disruptive startups transforming healthcare and tech talent and digital transformation. Spryt's AI receptionist, ASA, reduces patient no-shows by offering 24/7 appointment management via messaging platforms like WhatsApp, increasing patient engagement by 160%. Tribes connect businesses with prequalified tech talent and run an award-winning digital studio. I also advise Manna, Prommt, and HR Duo, working on cutting-edge drone delivery, payments, and AI-driven HR solutions. A HIMSS Pitchfest winner, I use my 812k TikTok and 426k Instagram followers to advocate for innovation. My focus remains on building companies that solve real problems.
