---
title: "Will AI Replace Chief Executives? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates chief executives' exposure to AI as very high. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+3.2% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-chief-executives"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Chief Executives? (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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places chief executives in its very high AI exposure category, among the occupations most exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +3.2% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 19,100 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Very high | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 41/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +3.2% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 19,100 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $213,990 | 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

- Coaching and developing others: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Resolving conflicts and negotiating with others: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Processing information: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Evaluating information to determine compliance with standards: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing administrative activities: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Analyzing data or information: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Analyze operations to evaluate performance of a company or its staff in meeting objectives or to determine areas of potential cost reduction, program improvement, or policy change.
- Direct, plan, or implement policies, objectives, or activities of organizations or businesses to ensure continuing operations, to maximize returns on investments, or to increase productivity.
- Interpret and explain policies, rules, regulations, or laws to organizations, government or corporate officials, or individuals.
- Review reports submitted by staff members to recommend approval or to suggest changes.
- Prepare budgets for approval, including those for funding or implementation of programs.
- Appoint department heads or managers and assign or delegate responsibilities to them.

## FAQ

**Will AI replace chief executives?**

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. 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 +3.2% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 19,100 openings a year.

**How exposed are chief executives to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Chief Executives 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 chief executive'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, evaluating information to determine compliance with standards and performing administrative activities. The parts that hold up best are coaching and developing others, resolving conflicts and negotiating with others and face-to-face discussions. 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 chief executive a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, chief executives score 41 out of 100, higher than 42% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $213,990 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.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/chief-executive.

---

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