As automation erases jobs at an unprecedented speed, Global Human Index is building the transparency tool that governments and businesses desperately need.
A growing economy and a shrinking workforce aren’t supposed to happen at the same time. Mario Kempken says that’s exactly where the world is headed — and almost nobody is tracking it.
Kempken is the founder of Global Human Index (GHI), an independent certification organization with a pioneering standardized framework for measuring human involvement in business systems. As automation scales globally, human participation in the economy is becoming optional rather than essential. GHI aims to make that shift visible.
“We exist because governments and businesses are struggling to find ways to regulate and manage progress. We provide a transparent view of human involvement in economic development. That allows policymakers and business leaders to actually understand how to govern, regulate and manage progress responsibly,” says Kempken.
The index operates across three tiers: business audits and certifications scored across three pillars (decision weight, labor share and accountability metrics); a self-reporting tool for companies to assess their own teams; and a consumer-facing label indicating that humans were materially involved in producing a good or service.
Scores are compiled through manual auditing, AI-driven data processing and technology consultants fluent in automation and robotics. This exercise produces a single GHI score on a transparent public ledger or listing.
Kempken draws a direct parallel to carbon accounting: just as emissions data gave regulators a common language for taxing and governing polluters, the GHI score does the same for automation.
“If we don’t prioritize human involvement in systems, we risk entire sectors operating autonomously with no human accountability,” Kempken explains. “The result is catastrophic, not because machines can’t do the work, but because humans will lose their economic participation entirely.”
GHI’s focus centers on the European Union, where the EU AI Act and labor legislation provide a natural regulatory landscape. Meanwhile, accountability in finance, auditing and software is largely at stake in the American corporate market.
GHI is in discussions with governments to serve as an official policy guide — providing a metric legislators can use without parsing the technical details of AI or robotics. The goal is not to stop automation; it’s to make progress visible enough for society to choose how to respond.
Learn more about Global Human Index at globalhumanindex.com.
Technology