The news that Meta may be automating its data science teams within a year should not be read as a warning to avoid the role, it should be read as a signal to rethink what you bring to the table. If the rumor is true, and the company is moving toward full automation of certain analytical functions, then the job you are interviewing for today may not exist in its current form tomorrow. That is not a reason to walk away. It is a reason to walk in with clarity about how you want to position yourself in a shifting market.
For the person asking whether to take the interview, the practical question is not "Is this a hire-for-fire position?" but "What am I building that cannot be automated?" If the role is purely about generating reports, cleaning data, or producing dashboards, then yes, that is exactly the kind of work that machine learning systems are being trained to handle. But if the role involves asking better questions, interpreting context, and translating messy business problems into actionable decisions, that is not a commodity skill. That is a human skill, and it becomes more valuable the more automation takes over the repetitive parts of the job.
Meta's reported move, if accurate, is not an outlier. It is a preview of a broader trend across the industry. Companies are not eliminating data roles because they want fewer insights; they are eliminating roles that are too narrow or too mechanical. The people who thrive in this environment are those who treat automation as a tool, not a threat. They learn how to work alongside it, using it to handle the routine while they focus on the judgment calls that require context, creativity, and an understanding of human behavior. That is the future of data work, and it is not a future that belongs to any single company or role.
So, if you are sitting across from a Meta interviewer, do not waste time asking whether the seat is safe. Ask what problems you will be solving, how decisions are made, and where the human judgment is expected to add value. If the answers feel thin, that tells you more than any rumor. If they are substantive, you have found a place to grow, regardless of what the automation roadmap looks like. The question is not whether the role will change. It will. The question is whether you are prepared to change with it.