---
title: "Will AI Replace Buyers and Purchasing Agents?"
description: "BLS rates buyers and purchasing agents' exposure to AI as very high. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-buyers-and-purchasing-agents"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Buyers and Purchasing Agents? (2026)

**Short answer:** AI will reshape this job more than most, but BLS does not forecast it disappearing. The exposure is among the highest BLS measured, yet it still projects employment to grow faster than average.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places buyers and purchasing agents in its very high AI exposure category, among the occupations most exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +6.0% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 47,200 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Very high | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 13/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +6.0% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 47,200 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $77,710 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High | 190 |
| Very high (this job) | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Face-to-face discussions: 5.0/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Resolving conflicts and negotiating with others: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing for or working directly with the public: 3.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Processing information: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Documenting/recording information: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Working with computers: 5.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Time spent sitting: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work context)

## O\*NET tasks

- Arrange for transportation or storage of purchased products.
- Negotiate contracts with farmers for the production or purchase of farm products.
- Maintain records of business transactions and product inventories, reporting data to companies or government agencies as necessary.
- Purchase, for further processing or for resale, farm products, such as milk, grains, or Christmas trees.
- Review orders to determine product types and quantities required to meet demand.
- Coordinate or direct activities of workers engaged in cutting, transporting, storing, or milling products and maintaining records.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than buyers and purchasing agents

- [Farmer or Agricultural Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/farmer-or-agricultural-manager): BLS exposure Moderate, median $89,900
- [Insurance Appraiser, Auto Damage](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insurance-appraiser-auto-damage): BLS exposure High, median $78,240
- [Fundraiser](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fundraiser): BLS exposure High, median $72,550; [Will AI replace fundraisers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-fundraisers)
- [Labor Relations Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/labor-relations-specialist): BLS exposure High, median $95,420

## FAQ

**Will AI replace buyers and purchasing agents?**

AI will reshape this job more than most, but BLS does not forecast it disappearing. The exposure is among the highest BLS measured, yet it still projects employment to grow faster than average. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +6.0% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 47,200 openings a year.

**How exposed are buyers and purchasing agents to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Buyers and Purchasing Agents are in the very high category, alongside 198 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of a buyer and purchasing agent, farm products's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are processing information, documenting/recording information and working with computers. The parts that hold up best are face-to-face discussions, resolving conflicts and negotiating with others and establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being a buyer and purchasing agent, farm products a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, buyers and purchasing agents score 13 out of 100, higher than 5% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $77,710 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to buyers and purchasing agents are less exposed to AI?**

Farmer or Agricultural Manager (moderate exposure, $89,900 median), Insurance Appraiser, Auto Damage (high exposure, $78,240 median), Fundraiser (high exposure, $72,550 median), Labor Relations Specialist (high exposure, $95,420 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than buyers and purchasing agents, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/buyer-and-purchasing-agent-farm-products.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology