# Will industrial production managers be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Industrial production managers score 44 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 61%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 19% outright, and 20% stays with people. - **19%** AI can do it - **61%** AI helps - **20%** Needs a person Moderate exposure Higher than 60% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 21 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 4 of them today, speeds up 13 and leaves 4 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Prepare reports on operations and system productivity or efficiency. Routine productivity reports are data summaries AI can draft. | 72% AI can do it | | Prepare and maintain production reports or personnel records. Routine report and record writing suits AI drafting and generation. | 70% AI can do it | | Maintain records to demonstrate compliance with safety and environmental laws, regulations, or policies. Compliance logs and records are structured data AI can maintain. | 65% AI can do it | | Monitor permit requirements for updates. AI can monitor regulatory sources and flag permit changes. | 62% AI can do it | | Develop or implement production tracking or quality control systems, analyzing production, quality control, maintenance, or other operational reports to detect production problems. AI can analyze reports and flag production problems; engineers verify. | 55% AI helps | ## How industrial production managers compare All occupations (923) Management (56) **Industrial production managers score 44**, 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 46 for management. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $126,060 a year, May 2025 People employed 246,250 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +2.6% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Validate AI-drafted production reports against SAP production orders - Lead root cause meetings with engineers on downtime and scrap - Supervise floor crews and resolve personnel grievances in person - Hold an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer credential - Run Microsoft Project schedules for line changeovers and maintenance ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Biomass power plant managers40 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/biomass-power-plant-managers/) - [Biofuels production managers36 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/biofuels-production-managers/) - [Geothermal production managers40 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/geothermal-production-managers/) - [Hydroelectric production managers40 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/hydroelectric-production-managers/) - [Industrial engineering technicians43 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industrial-engineering-technicians/) ## Questions about industrial production managers and AI Will AI replace industrial production managers? Partly. About 4 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly drafting productivity reports and maintaining production and personnel records. Floor supervision, site audits and personnel decisions stay with people because they need a person in the room. Which tasks does AI take over for industrial production managers? Operations productivity reports and production records come first, scoring 72 and 70 on exposure. Both are structured data summaries, so AI can draft them straight from SAP or Oracle PeopleSoft exports. Which industrial production manager tasks stay with people? Supervising subordinate employees, scoring 12 on exposure, and hiring, discipline and grievance work, scoring 18, stay with people. Floor supervision needs a person in the room, and personnel decisions need a manager who is legally accountable for the outcome. How can industrial production managers stay valuable? Check every AI-drafted report against SAP production orders before it goes out in Outlook. Spend the hours saved on floor supervision, root cause meetings with engineers and supplier price talks in Excel. ## Related jobs - [General managers44 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/general-managers/) - [Supply chain managers54 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/supply-chain-managers/) - [Logistics managers51 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/logistics-managers/) - [Construction managers47 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/construction-managers/) ## Next steps for industrial production managers - ### 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.