# Will AI replace network engineers? Updated October 2026 Network engineers score 59 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 64%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 25% outright, and 11% stays with people. - **25%** AI can do it - **64%** AI helps - **11%** Needs a person High exposure Higher than 89% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 26 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 7 of them today, speeds up 16 and leaves 3 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Document help desk requests and resolutions. AI drafts ticket resolutions from chat and call notes. | 75% AI can do it | | Create or revise user instructions, procedures, or manuals. AI drafts user guides and procedures; staff review accuracy. | 75% AI can do it | | Run monthly network reports. Monthly reports can be generated from data pipelines automatically. | 75% AI can do it | | Document network support activities. AI drafts support notes from tickets and activity records. | 70% AI can do it | | Monitor industry Web sites or publications for information about patches, releases, viruses, or potential problem identification. AI agents can scan advisories and summarize relevant patches. | 70% AI can do it | [See what AI can take on across an IT team](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/it/) ## How network engineers compare All occupations (923) Computer and mathematical (36) **Network engineers score 59**, marked by the dark line. Each dot is a score, darker where more occupations share it. The short marks show the averages, 37 for all occupations and 60 for computer and mathematical. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $76,220 a year, May 2025 People employed 146,190 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +1.2% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Splice fiber optic cables on site with a fusion splicer - Restore network data from backups in Windows Server - Troubleshoot Active Directory replication faults on live domain controllers - Write and approve firewall rule changes in firewall software - Review AI-drafted ServiceNow tickets before closing them ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Computer network architects55 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/computer-network-architects/) - [Systems administrators58 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/systems-administrators/) - [Telecommunications engineering specialists57 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/telecommunications-engineering-specialists/) - [Telecommunications technicians32 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/telecommunications-technicians/) - [Broadcast technicians47 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/broadcast-technicians/) ## Questions about network engineers and AI Will network engineers be replaced by AI? Partly. About 5 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly documenting help desk requests and running monthly network reports. Cable work, hardware repair and on-site testing stay with people because they need a technician standing at the equipment. Which tasks are AI taking over for network engineers? AI takes over documenting help desk requests, writing user procedures and running monthly network reports, each with an exposure score of 75. These are text and data tasks, and the tickets, logs and pipelines they draw on are already machine generated. Which network engineer tasks stay human? Installing or repairing network cables, including fiber optic cables, has an exposure score of 3, the lowest in this job. Routine repairs on switches score 15 and testing repaired items scores 20, since both need a technician working on the hardware in person. How can network engineers stay valuable? Build hands-on fiber splicing and rack repair skills, which carry the lowest exposure in this job. Go deep on Active Directory and firewall software, then review every AI-drafted ServiceNow ticket and Windows Server backup before sign-off. Testing restores and approving firewall changes keep a named person accountable. ## Related jobs - [IT support specialists59 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/it-support-specialists/) - [Cybersecurity analysts60 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cybersecurity-analysts/) - [Systems analysts59 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/systems-analysts/) - [Database administrators60 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/database-administrators/) ## Next steps for network engineers - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your actual tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV and see which of your tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Cement masons score lowest, at 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Radiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Cement masons need little prior training and score 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**For natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we publish, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 occupation groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.