# Will AI replace data engineers? Updated October 2026 Data engineers score 60 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 72%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 19% outright, and 9% stays with people. - **19%** AI can do it - **72%** AI helps - **9%** Needs a person High exposure Higher than 91% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 25 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 5 of them today, speeds up 18 and leaves 2 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Document and communicate database schemas, using accepted notations. Schema documentation and diagrams can be generated from metadata with minimal review. | 70% AI can do it | | Write and code logical and physical database descriptions, and specify identifiers of database to management system or direct others in coding descriptions. Logical and physical schema code is highly generatable from specifications with review. | 70% AI can do it | | Develop or maintain archived procedures, procedural codes, or queries for applications. SQL procedures and queries are routinely generated and refined by AI assistants. | 70% AI can do it | | Test programs or databases, correct errors, and make necessary modifications. AI generates tests and suggests fixes; engineer reviews results and applies changes. | 65% AI helps | | Develop data model describing data elements and their use, following procedures and using pen, template or computer software. Data dictionaries and element descriptions can be drafted from schemas and templates. | 62% AI can do it | [See what AI can take on across an IT team](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/it/) ## How data engineers compare All occupations (923) Computer and mathematical (36) **Data engineers score 60**, 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 $139,500 a year, May 2025 People employed 67,140 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +9.4% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Review AI-drafted schema code in Amazon Redshift - Run requirement sessions with system and software architects - Take responsibility for design sign-off for each warehouse data model - Build Apache Airflow pipelines for warehouse data flows - Provision warehouse infrastructure with AWS CloudFormation templates ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Software developers59 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/software-developers/) - [Systems analysts59 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/systems-analysts/) - [Blockchain engineers58 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/blockchain-engineers/) - [Systems administrators58 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/systems-administrators/) - [Computer network architects55 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/computer-network-architects/) ## Questions about data engineers and AI Will data engineers be replaced by AI? Partly. About 5 in 10 of a data engineer's working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly writing logical and physical schema code and building SQL procedures and queries. What stays with people is gathering requirements from stakeholders, setting the scope of database projects, and signing off the design that goes live. Which tasks is AI taking over from data engineers? Schema documentation, logical and physical schema code, and SQL procedures and queries are the most exposed, each scoring 70 on the exposure scale. AI can generate schema diagrams from metadata and draft SQL queries from specifications, so the engineer's work moves to reviewing and correcting that output. Which tasks is AI taking over from data engineers? Schema documentation, logical and physical schema code, and SQL procedures and queries are the most exposed, each scoring 70 on the exposure scale. AI can generate schema diagrams from metadata and draft SQL from specifications, so the engineer's work moves to reviewing and correcting that output. Which tasks stay with data engineers? Collaborating with system and software architects to pin down business requirements, and coordinating project teams to set database scope, are the least exposed, scoring 15 and 20. Both depend on live stakeholder conversations and negotiation that need a person present. ## Related jobs - [Database administrators60 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/database-administrators/) - [Data scientists67 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/data-scientists/) - [Software testers64 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/software-testers/) - [Programmers66 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/programmers/) ## Next steps for data 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.