Professor Armin Trost will be appearing at HR Tech Europe on March 24 and 25 in London, UK.

What qualities will define talent as more jobs are consumed by computers and there is even more competition for fewer places?

Many jobs will be taken over by computers and droids. While this happens new jobs and challenges will emerge. We just need to think about those people who develop computers and droids. Work will not get exhausted. It never did.

To what extent will the world be run on agile timeframes in the future, or is this a concept and practice confined to specific projects and specific businesses?

Agility is not a matter of specific jobs, projects or functions. It is rather a matter of entire organisations. We tend to see agility as being part of knowledge-intense areas and business. However, they are by far not limited to these. We all live in uncertain, changing, complex and dynamic environments. And I can hardly imagine any organisation in any industry that does not struggle with coping with this environment.

Will the future be defined by specific working patterns or will it be so flexible that there will be no widespread models?

It will be both. Quality will require specific processes and ways to get things done. At the same time we will use all flexibility to improve these working patterns. Overall flexibility will increase. More and more employees do two things while they work: they think and communicate. You can do this whenever and wherever you are.

What are you most looking forward to about HR Tech Europe in London?

As in the past I surely will meet many people in my professional network. My aim is to learn something through every single conversation. I definitely will learn a lot.

What will the HR function look like in 2020?

Look how the HR function did change in the last five years. It did not change so dramatically. However, what we can see are some major trends. There will still be a focus on admin while the other part of HR will work on a more strategic level very close to the business line.

What new thoughts and innovations are most exciting you in the world of HR at the moment?

I love the topic of HR agility. I’m pretty sure that our traditional way of thinking will get out-dated. Many processes, instruments and approaches in HR are based on the assumption of a business environment being stable and predictable. Think of classic performance appraisal, competence management etc. We are currently learning that we will need to rethink HR in the way that we support an organisation’s agility.