# Will AI replace cloud engineer? Updated October 2026 Systems administrators score 58 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 90%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 5% outright, and 5% stays with people. - **5%** AI can do it - **90%** AI helps - **5%** Needs a person High exposure Higher than 88% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 20 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 1 of them today, speeds up 18 and leaves 1 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Maintain logs related to network functions, as well as maintenance and repair records. Log and repair records are documentation AI handles well. | 70% AI can do it | | Analyze equipment performance records to determine the need for repair or replacement. AI analyzes performance records; people take responsibility for repair and replace calls. | 60% AI helps | | Research new technologies by attending seminars, reading trade articles, or taking classes, and implement or recommend the implementation of new technologies. AI summarizes trade reading well; decisions and seminars stay human. | 60% AI helps | | Monitor network performance to determine whether adjustments are needed and where changes will be needed in the future. AI reads telemetry trends well; staff decide on capacity changes. | 55% AI helps | | Configure, monitor, and maintain email applications or virus protection software. AI drafts filter rules and triages alerts for review. | 50% AI helps | [See what AI can take on across an IT team](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/it/) ## How systems administrators compare All occupations (923) Computer and mathematical (36) **Systems administrators score 58**, 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 $99,130 a year, May 2025 People employed 314,340 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs \-4.1% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Run disaster recovery drills on AWS and Azure systems - Write Bash and Python scripts that verify scheduled backup jobs - Hold AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate credential - Replace failed drives and components in physical server racks - Build capacity forecasts in Microsoft Excel from SQL extracts - Control user access in Microsoft Entra ID directories ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Computer network architects55 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/computer-network-architects/) - [Telecommunications engineering specialists57 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/telecommunications-engineering-specialists/) - [IT managers50 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/it-managers/) - [Telecommunications technicians32 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/telecommunications-technicians/) - [Information technology project managers56 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/information-technology-project-managers/) ## Questions about systems administrators and AI Will cloud engineer be replaced by AI? Partly. About 4 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly maintaining log and repair records and analyzing equipment performance records. The rest stays with people who physically work on hardware, make repair and capacity calls, and answer for outages. Which systems administrator tasks is AI taking over? Record keeping and performance analysis go first. Log and repair records score 70 on exposure because AI handles this documentation well. Equipment performance analysis, scored 60, is also read-and-summarize work that AI can draft, leaving the administrator to approve each repair or replacement call. Which systems administrator tasks stay human? Hands-on hardware work and disaster recovery stay with people. Loading tapes, disks, and paper scores 12 on exposure because it is physical. DR drills score 30 because they need real systems and staff to run failover. Swapping defective components, scored 40, still needs a technician at the rack. How can systems administrators stay valuable? Keep the tasks that need a person in the room and document each result. Run disaster recovery drills on AWS and Azure systems and record the outcomes. Write Bash and Python scripts that check scheduled backups, then review the output yourself. Keep Linux and UNIX server skills current and hold an AWS or Azure administrator credential. ## Related jobs - [Network engineers59 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/computer-network-support-specialists/) - [Database administrators60 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/database-administrators/) - [Systems analysts59 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/systems-analysts/) - [Cybersecurity analysts60 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cybersecurity-analysts/) ## Next steps for systems administrators - ### 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.