---
title: "Will AI Replace Operations Research Analysts?"
description: "BLS rates operations research analysts' 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-operations-research-analysts"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Operations Research Analysts? (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 operations research analysts in its very high AI exposure category, among the occupations most exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +11.9% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 7,500 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Very high | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 17/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +11.9% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 7,500 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $88,940 | 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: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Making decisions and solving problems: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Thinking creatively: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Processing information: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Analyzing data or information: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Working with computers: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Getting information: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Present the results of mathematical modeling and data analysis to management or other end users.
- Perform validation and testing of models to ensure adequacy, and reformulate models, as necessary.
- Collaborate with others in the organization to ensure successful implementation of chosen problem solutions.
- Formulate mathematical or simulation models of problems, relating constants and variables, restrictions, alternatives, conflicting objectives, and their numerical parameters.
- Observe the current system in operation, and gather and analyze information about each of the component problems, using a variety of sources.
- Analyze information obtained from management to conceptualize and define operational problems.

## FAQ

**Will AI replace operations research analysts?**

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 +11.9% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 7,500 openings a year.

**How exposed are operations research analysts to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Operations Research Analysts 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 operations research analyst'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, analyzing data or information and working with computers. The parts that hold up best are face-to-face discussions, making decisions and solving problems and thinking creatively. 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 operations research analyst a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, operations research analysts score 17 out of 100, higher than 9% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $88,940 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/operations-research-analyst.

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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