---
title: "Will AI Replace Executive Assistants? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates executive assistants' exposure to AI as very high. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (0.0%…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-executive-assistants"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Executive Assistants? (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 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.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Very high | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 25/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | 0.0% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 43,300 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $76,590 | 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: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Assisting and caring for others: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Dealing with the public: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work context)

## What AI reaches first

- Performing administrative activities: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Processing information: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Working with computers: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Documenting/recording information: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- 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.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than executive assistants

- [Administrative Services Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/administrative-services-manager): BLS exposure Moderate, median $114,130; [Will AI replace administrative services managers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-administrative-services-managers)
- [Postal Service Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/postal-service-clerk): BLS exposure High, median $62,130

## 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.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/executive-secretary-and-executive-administrative-assistant.

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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