Many SREs view AI with a sense of uncertainty or even fear, worried about what it might mean for their role. But automation has always been a core principle of SRE, and AI should be seen as a leap forward in that mission—the ultimate automation frontier. For decades, we’ve sought to automate repetitive tasks and streamline operations, only to encounter fragile, incomplete solutions. AI offers the potential to overcome those limitations, tackling complex tasks that have long resisted automation. Importantly, AI doesn’t replace the human element in SRE; it enhances it. By eliminating the toil of manual, repetitive work, AI allows SREs to focus on higher-level strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and driving innovation. In essence, AI helps bring humanity back into the role, empowering SREs to do what they do best—keeping systems reliable, resilient, and ready for the future.

Tina Huang is a VP of Product and Engineering at Harness. Previously, she was the founder and CTO of Transposit, an AI-powered incident management platform. Tina advocates for a human-centric approach to solving complex engineering challenges, focusing on leveraging AI to augment human capabilities rather than replace them. Tina began her career at Apple, where she designed and built APIs for the company’s application framework. As one of Google’s early engineers, she worked on the Blogger team and was instrumental in re-architecting the Google News frontend. At Twitter, she led the architecture, scaling, and operation of the company’s notification platform and also contributed to the developer productivity and build tools team. These experiences fueled her passion for enhancing DevOps and optimizing engineering workflows. Tina holds a degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also studied humanities at the University of Chicago, shaping her perspective on human-technology interaction.