Specialize in compensation or talent acquisition leadership and earn a CCP or SHRM-SCP within 18 months — those two specialties are where HR managers actually become hard to replace and command 30–50% comp premiums.

Build fluency in workforce-analytics tooling (Workday reporting, Visier, basic SQL) so you can own the data layer that AI is augmenting rather than the policy layer it's automating — this is the single biggest hedge against the moderate-automation risk on your current skill set.

Lead one named, measurable people-ops project per year (eg. cutting time-to-hire 40%, restructuring a comp band) and write it up publicly — HR is unusually invisible online, so even modest thought-leadership lifts you above the passive-profile pile.