CEO of Perplexity Aravind Srinivas has stirred up some debate with a pointed take on how the modern office job came to be. And, he is placing a lot of the blame, or credit, on Microsoft.
Appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast, Srinivas argued that the whole idea of the “knowledge worker”, someone whose day revolves around spreadsheets, email and word processors, was not some natural evolution of work. It was largely engineered by Microsoft as a way to move more software and hardware.
In his telling, “So it was not about making computing beautiful or anything in the way like Steve Jobs envisioned it, right? It was just about — computers, sell more software, sell more computers, because that way you can sell more software. And if you sell more software, you become rich.”
AI taking over routine knowledge work ‘not a bad thing’
Srinivas made these comments while talking more broadly about where AI might take work and education next. His take was that if AI ends up automating a lot of routine knowledge work, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
In fact, he thinks AI could do the opposite of what social media has done to people’s attention spans. Where algorithmic feeds tend to flatten curiosity into endless scrolling, he sees AI tools doing the reverse, letting people chase down questions and ideas the moment they come up. He compared it to suddenly having a personal researcher on call, available anytime.
“If that part is going to be done by an AI, it’s not necessarily a bad thing because this is not actually the way you feel like real purpose and fulfillment in your own life,” he said.
The CEO added that people should instead pursue what naturally excites them. “Whatever you had as the intrinsic curiosity in you, that’s probably what you should be doing,” said Srinivas.
What future does Srinivas see with AI?
Later in the conversation, Rogan asked whether AI could create a future where people no longer depend on traditional jobs for survival. Srinivas agreed and said education would play a key role in helping people adapt. “Yeah, it has to start from school,” he said.
The Perplexity CEO said that schools should encourage curiosity and creativity rather than preparing students only for routine office work. He said AI could free people from repetitive digital tasks and allow them to spend more time on meaningful and fulfilling pursuits.