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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products?
Task-level automation exposure for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products: 18 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
58%
weighted task index
18 of 18 tasks scored
Median Salary
$72,080 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Very High
1,238,190 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-0.9%
employment change
99,800 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$29,460 – $82,420
Highest medians
Rhode Island $82,420
District of Columbia $80,010
Washington $79,830
Massachusetts $79,810
New York $79,590
Lowest medians
Guam $29,460
Puerto Rico $34,870
Virgin Islands $45,980
Arkansas $55,120
Alaska $56,830
State figures come from the 41-4012 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 58%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 5%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 44%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 21%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 0/100
Low
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
18 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 70%
12 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 19%
4 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 11%
2 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#8113 · Core · 68% automatable
Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, product uses, and credit terms.
information retrieval — Product questions answered from knowledge base
Answer customer questions about goods or services.
#8114 · Core · 60% automatable
Recommend products to customers, based on customers' needs and interests.
decision support — Product recommendations need customer context and persuasion
Recommend products or services to customers.
#8116 · Core · 64% automatable
Estimate or quote prices, credit or contract terms, warranties, and delivery dates.
decision support — Estimates costs/terms; human negotiates and commits
Estimate costs or terms of sales. Explain technical product or service information to customers.
#8117 · Core · 70% automatable
Consult with clients after sales or contract signings to resolve problems and to provide ongoing support.
information retrieval — Product-use advice is largely informational with review
Advise customers on the use of products or services.
#20267 · Core · 65% automatable
Prepare sales contracts and order forms.
text generation — Draft contracts; legal terms human-owned
Prepare sales or other contracts.
#8119 · Core · 15% automatable
Provide customers with product samples and catalogs.
physical manipulation — Physically distributing samples and literature
Distribute promotional literature or samples to customers.
#8122 · Core · 81% automatable
Monitor market conditions, product innovations, and competitors' products, prices, and sales.
information retrieval — AI extracts product specs and summarizes
Monitor market conditions or trends. Study product information to acquire professional knowledge.
#8124 · Core · 82% automatable
Perform administrative duties, such as preparing sales budgets and reports, keeping sales records, and filing expense account reports.
data analysis — Maintain structured sales records via tools
Prepare financial documents, reports, or budgets. Maintain records of sales or other business transactions.
#8115 · Core · 40% automatable
Contact regular and prospective customers to demonstrate products, explain product features, and solicit orders.
interpersonal — Technical explanation to customers needs live interaction
Explain technical product or service information to customers. Demonstrate products to consumers. Contact current or potential customers to promote products or services.
#8120 · Core · 68% automatable
Identify prospective customers by using business directories, following leads from existing clients, participating in organizations and clubs, and attending trade shows and conferences.
data analysis — AI analyzes market data to identify prospects
Identify potential customers.
#8129 · Supplemental · 38% automatable
Negotiate with retail merchants to improve product exposure, such as shelf positioning and advertising.
interpersonal — Price negotiation needs live give-and-take
Negotiate prices or other sales terms.
#8127 · Supplemental · 64% automatable
Check stock levels and reorder merchandise as necessary.
decision support — Merchandise purchasing aided; human owns buying decisions
Purchase stocks of merchandise or supplies. Monitor inventories of products or materials.
#8128 · Supplemental · 22% automatable
Plan, assemble, and stock product displays in retail stores, or make recommendations to retailers regarding product displays, promotional programs, and advertising.
decision support — Campaign coordination needs human judgment and relationships
Set up merchandise displays. Stock products or parts. Coordinate sales campaigns.
#20268 · Supplemental · 38% automatable
Negotiate details of contracts and payments.
interpersonal — Price negotiation needs live give-and-take
Negotiate prices or other sales terms.
#8118 · Supplemental · 65% automatable
Prepare drawings, estimates, and bids that meet specific customer needs.
decision support — Estimates costs/terms; human negotiates and commits
Estimate costs or terms of sales. Prepare drawings or diagrams of products or services. Develop proposals for current or prospective customers.
#8125 · Supplemental · 72% automatable
Obtain credit information about prospective customers.
data analysis — Credit data screening against criteria, human decides
Verify customer credit information.
#8126 · Supplemental · 75% automatable
Forward orders to manufacturers.
text generation — Sending digital materials automatable; physical mailing human
Send information, materials or documentation. Order materials, supplies, or equipment.
#8121 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Arrange and direct delivery and installation of products and equipment.
decision support — AI can arrange deliveries; exceptions need human handling
Arrange delivery of goods or services.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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