AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 17-2021.00
Will AI replace Agricultural Engineers?
Agricultural Engineers: AI can already handle 5 of 14 tasks; the work mostly needs a frontier-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 14 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Agricultural Engineers, from most to least exposed. 5 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test agricultural machinery and equipment to ensure adequate performance. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Provide advice on water quality and issues related to pollution management, river control, and ground and surface water resources. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Conduct educational programs that provide farmers or farm cooperative members with information that can help them improve agricultural productivity. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Discuss plans with clients, contractors, consultants, and other engineers so that they can be evaluated and necessary changes made. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Visit sites to observe environmental problems, to consult with contractors, or to monitor construction activities. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Meet with clients, such as district or regional councils, farmers, and developers, to discuss their needs. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Design food processing plants and related mechanical systems. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Plan and direct construction of rural electric-power distribution systems, and irrigation, drainage, and flood control systems for soil and water conservation. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Design structures for crop storage, animal shelter and loading, and animal and crop processing, and supervise their construction. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Design sensing, measuring, and recording devices, and other instrumentation used to study plant or animal life. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Design agricultural machinery components and equipment, using computer-aided design (CAD) technology. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Supervise food processing or manufacturing plant operations. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Design and supervise environmental and land reclamation projects in agriculture and related industries. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Prepare reports, sketches, working drawings, specifications, proposals, and budgets for proposed sites or systems. | Observed | Standard |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 1 of 14 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 13 of 14. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 100% of the work is something AI can address at some tier.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 1,480
- Median annual wage
- $98,590
- Middle half of earners
- $82,260 to $124,880
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +5.9%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Agricultural Technicians 74% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure65
- Civil Engineers 69% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure41
- Agricultural Equipment Operators 69% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure23
- Aerospace Engineers 68% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure50
- Automotive Engineers 68% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure51
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Agricultural Engineers and AI
Will AI replace Agricultural Engineers?
AI already handles 5 of the 14 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 56 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +5.9% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Agricultural Engineers?
56 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 1 of the 14 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 13 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Agricultural Engineers tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Test agricultural machinery and equipment to ensure adequate performance; Provide advice on water quality and issues related to pollution management, river control, and ground and surface water resources; Conduct educational programs that provide farmers or farm cooperative members with information that can help them improve agricultural productivity. They are three of the 5 tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Agricultural Engineers, and what do they earn?
1,480 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $98,590 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +5.9% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Agricultural Engineers. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/agricultural-engineers
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