Will SEO software make SEO professionals redundant?

Sometimes I don’t ‘get’ some of my peers in the SEO industry. I’m not talking about anyone I know personally, but a few SEO folk do seem to worry about the strangest things. For example, I’ve seen some chatter concerning SEO software replacing SEO professionals.

Since I started working in SEO (over twenty years ago) many very simple, low cost, tools have appeared that on the surface make SEO very simple. The issue within my industry is that while the leading tools are accessible to everyone, and are becoming easier to use, they don't tell the whole story.  Tools like SEMrush are great (really great) for breaking down what users need to do to make big SEO wins, but they don't help speed up the decision making process when it comes to strategy.  Although to be fair, with SEMrush they’re getting very close to that point!

When planning SEO campaigns having the data and knowing what to do with it is only a starting point.  I could go to the hardware store and buy a really great set of chisels, then I could watch some brilliant tutorials on YouTube. But I wouldn't instantly be a master carpenter.

I am very much in favour of my industry being demystified. The democratisation of skills is a brilliant thing for helping businesses move forward.  But experience really does count for a lot.  You can buy a paperback guide to climbing Mount Everest, but you'll make more progress, in a safer fashion, if you hire an experienced guide.