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AI and jobs

Will AI Replace Executive Assistants? (2026)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places executive assistants in its very high AI exposure category, among the occupations most exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by 0.0% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 43,300 openings a year.

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.

BLS AI exposure
Very highBLS EP supplemental table
AI-resilience score
25/100Higher than 16% of jobs · NueCareer
Projected change
0.0%BLS EP 2025–2035; all jobs 3.5%
Openings a year
43,300BLS EP 2025–2035

The federal measure

How exposed executive assistants are to AI

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a relative AI exposure category for each occupation it projects, built from five public measures of where AI could be, or already is, used to assist with or complete the work. Executive Assistants land in the very high category: among the occupations most exposed to current AI.

Where this job sits on the BLS scale

786 occupations in the NueCareer bank, in BLS's four relative categories; width shows how many fall in each

  1. Low203 occupations · 26%
  2. Moderate194 occupations · 25%
  3. High190 occupations · 24%
  4. Very high · this job199 occupations · 25%

Source: BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories supplemental table.

  1. Exposure is relative. The categories rank occupations against each other; they are not a probability that a job is automated.
  2. BLS says exposure does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. A highly exposed job can still grow if AI makes the people in it more productive.
  3. The classification reflects AI capabilities as the underlying studies measured them. Read the BLS method and limitations.

Inside the work

What AI can and cannot do in this job

O*NET rates how important each work activity is to an occupation and how often each working condition comes up. The ratings below are the ones that move the job's NueCareer AI-resilience score the most: the ones that pull it up, and the ones that pull it down. Only ratings clearly above the midpoint count.

What holds up

Physical, hands-on and person-to-person work

  • Face-to-face discussions4.7/5
    O*NET work context, frequency or level
  • Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships4.5/5
    O*NET work activity, importance
  • Assisting and caring for others3.5/5
    O*NET work activity, importance
  • Dealing with the public3.9/5
    O*NET work context, frequency or level

What AI reaches first

Routine, repeatable and screen-based work

  • Performing administrative activities4.4/5
    O*NET work activity, importance
  • Processing information4.0/5
    O*NET work activity, importance
  • Working with computers4.4/5
    O*NET work activity, importance
  • Documenting/recording information3.8/5
    O*NET work activity, importance

The tasks O*NET lists for executive assistants

  • Answer phone calls and direct calls to appropriate parties or take messages.
  • Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software.
  • Perform general office duties, such as ordering supplies, maintaining records management database systems, and performing basic bookkeeping work.
  • Prepare responses to correspondence containing routine inquiries.
  • Open, sort, and distribute incoming correspondence, including faxes and email.
  • Prepare agendas and make arrangements, such as coordinating catering for luncheons, for committee, board, and other meetings.

O*NET 31.0 Database task statements, most important first.

The jobs

Will there still be jobs?

Exposure says where AI meets the work. The BLS projection says what the labor market is expected to do over 2025–2035. BLS projects 0.0% change in employment over the decade, against 3.5% across all occupations, and about 43,300 openings a year once retirements and career changes are counted. About 459,910 people work in the job today, at a median of $76,590 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

Full executive secretary and executive administrative assistant profile: pay by state, entry route and skills

Options

Related careers less exposed to AI than executive assistants

Careers O*NET lists as related to the work, or in the same field at similar pay, that BLS places in a lower exposure category.

  1. Administrative Services Manager

    Management

    Median pay
    $114,130median a year
    Growth
    +5.2%
    Openings / yr
    22,000
    Education
    Bachelor's
    Moderate
    BLS AI exposure
    43/100
    resilience

    Plan, direct, or coordinate one or more administrative services of an organization, such as records and information management, mail distribution, and other office support services.

  2. Postal Service Clerk

    Office and Administrative Support

    Median pay
    $62,130median a year
    Growth
    −0.3%
    Openings / yr
    5,300
    Education
    No formal credential
    High
    BLS AI exposure
    42/100
    resilience

    Perform any combination of tasks in a United States Postal Service (USPS) post office, such as receive letters and parcels; sell postage and revenue stamps, postal cards, and stamped envelopes; fill out and sell money…

Will AI replace administrative services managers?

Questions

Will AI Replace Executive Assistants? FAQ

Will AI replace executive assistants?

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 0.0% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 43,300 openings a year.

How exposed are executive assistants to AI?

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Executive Assistants 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 an executive secretary and executive administrative assistant's job can AI do?

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

Is being an executive secretary and executive administrative assistant a safe career from AI?

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O*NET work activities, executive assistants score 25 out of 100, higher than 16% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $76,590 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 executive assistants are less exposed to AI?

Administrative Services Manager (moderate exposure, $114,130 median), Postal Service Clerk (high exposure, $62,130 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than executive assistants, and most are listed by O*NET as related to the work.

The AI exposure category is the Bureau of Labor Statistics'. The AI-resilience score and the activity breakdown are NueCareer's analysis of O*NET 31.0 Database data (method), not a federal figure. More: jobs most exposed to AI, jobs least exposed to AI, or check any job.