Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik Reveals Jobs AI Cannot Automate

Artificial intelligence is rapidly shifting workplace expectations across the globe, yet a stark divide remains over which professions can actually be automated. According to a Sept. 17, 2026 survey by the Pew Research Center, people in 34 of 37 countries surveyed expect AI to reduce jobs over the next two decades than create them. Concerns are particularly intense in Australia and South Korea, where 76% of respondents anticipate job losses, alongside 71% in the United States.

Industry leaders have also sounded alarms regarding how quickly automation could penetrate white-collar and professional sectors. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warned on Aug. 26, 2026, that artificial intelligence could fundamentally disrupt fields such as law, customer service, medicine, software development, and manufacturing within a decade. Gates cautioned that without appropriate policy interventions, the global economy could face a significant net deficit in available employment.

Why Healthcare and Caregiving Roles Resist Automation

Despite broad predictions of labor displacement, some sectors possess structural barriers that make technological replacement exceptionally difficult. Speaking on The Sujal Show podcast published Sept. 19, 2026, Alex Svanevik, co-founder and CEO of blockchain analytics firm Nansen, argued that embodied human labor remains central to specific industries. Healthcare stands out as a primary example where physical presence cannot be substituted by software or remote systems.

You have to be present, you have to be in the room with the patient, Svanevik said on The Sujal Show podcast published Sept. 19, 2026, pointing out that nurses utilize AI for administrative or diagnostic support while their core duties remain fundamentally physical.

This physical necessity extends to physiotherapists, caretakers, and massage therapists. While algorithms can help generate diagnostic insights, treatment plans, or exercise instructions, they cannot replicate human touch, physical interaction, and the interpersonal trust required for hands-on care.

The Evolving Role of Human Teachers in Personalized Education

Education faces a similar trajectory where automation alters daily routines rather than erasing the profession entirely. Svanevik expects personalized AI tutors to become widespread quickly, but emphasizes that children will continue to require human oversight, supervision, and mentorship.

Instead of making teachers obsolete, artificial intelligence could shift instructors toward a supervisory model. Svanevik outlined a potential structural shift moving away from a single teacher managing a lecture hall of 25 students toward individualized setups featuring roughly one human mentor for every five students, thereby raising the demand for tailored guidance.

Live Entertainment and the Limits of Robotic Performers

Live entertainment represents another domain insulated from complete automation. Svanevik noted that theater productions, live concerts, and sporting events rely heavily on shared human experiences that code cannot duplicate.

I don’t think we’re gonna see like robot opera singers become very popular, Svanevik said during the Sept. 19, 2026 podcast appearance.

While robotic performers may introduce novel genres of entertainment over time, analysts view them as additive than replace human performers.