Somewhat Resilient
Last Update: 5/19/2026
AI Resilience Score for Network and Computer Admin:
46.0%
Median Score
Meaningful human contribution
Measures the parts of the occupation that still require a human touch. This score averages data from up to four AI exposure datasets, focusing on the role’s resilience against automation.
Low
Long-term employer demand
Predicts the health of the job market for this role through 2034. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, it balances projected annual job openings (60%) with overall employment growth (40%).
Med
Sustained economic opportunity
Measures future earning potential and career flexibility. This score is a blend of total projected labor income (67%) and the role’s inherent ability to adapt to economic and technological shifts (33%).
High
This reflects the reliability of your score based on the number of data sources available for this career and how closely those sources agree on the outlook. A higher confidence means more consistent evidence from labor experts and AI models.
This result is backed by strong agreement across multiple data sources.
Contributing sources
AI Resilience Report forNetwork and Computer Systems Administrators
$96,800 median salary•14,300 annual openings•SOC Code: 15-1244.00
Network and Computer Systems Administrators are somewhat less resilient to AI impacts than most occupations, according to our analysis of 7 sources.
AI is already taking over the more repetitive parts of this job — things like monitoring networks, sorting through alerts, and applying routine fixes — which means the day-to-day work is meaningfully changing. However, the bigger, trickier tasks still need a human in the loop: deciding whether to trust an AI's recommendation, designing the rules that keep automated systems safe, and making judgment calls when something unusual happens.
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View analysisChat with CoachLatest newsMore career infoAnalysisChatNewsMoreThis role is somewhat resilient
AI is already taking over the more repetitive parts of this job — things like monitoring networks, sorting through alerts, and applying routine fixes — which means the day-to-day work is meaningfully changing. However, the bigger, trickier tasks still need a human in the loop: deciding whether to trust an AI's recommendation, designing the rules that keep automated systems safe, and making judgment calls when something unusual happens.
Read full analysisAnalysis of Current AI Resilience
Network and Computer Admin
Updated Quarterly
How is AI changing Network and Computer Admin jobs?
Right now, AI in network and systems administration is mostly augmenting people rather than replacing them — but the line is starting to shift. Industry analysts call the new wave "agentic NetOps," in which autonomous software agents monitor telemetry, prioritize incidents, run root-cause analysis, and apply preapproved fixes, escalating to humans only when something unusual happens, as described in NTT DATA's April 2026 explainer on agentic network operations [1]. Early deployments are already showing big productivity gains: Yale's School of Management reports [2] that some telecom operators using agents for automated provisioning have seen "more than 60% reduction in manual network operations." Inside data centers, Uptime Institute's 2026 predictions covered by Network World [3] say AI is moving from pilots into daily use for cooling, power optimization, and "industrial copilots" that help operators — but the industry is "moving toward supervised, practical automation… designed to support operators rather than actually replace them." Security work is similar: the SANS Institute notes [4] that 40% of security operations centers use AI/ML tools without making them a defined part of operations, and 42% rely on tools "out of the box," meaning human admins still do the tuning, validating, and judgment calls.
Sources
How fast is AI adoption growing for Network and Computer Admin?
Adoption is accelerating but uneven. On the fast side, commercial AIOps platforms are everywhere, big vendors are shipping agentic tools, and there are huge economic incentives — agents promise to ease the skills gap, cut incident response time, and handle the floods of data that modern hybrid networks generate, according to NTT DATA [1]. On the slow side, the same source cites Gartner data that fewer than 1% of organizations have actually deployed agentic NetOps, "primarily due to limited vendor capabilities and organizational readiness." Trust, security, and governance worries make IT leaders cautious about letting agents change live production networks.
Labor-market signals are mixed but mostly hopeful for young people: CompTIA's State of the Tech Workforce 2026 [5] projects U.S. tech employment growing 1.9% in 2026 to about 9.8 million workers, with more than 275,000 job postings in January 2026 referencing AI skills. The honest takeaway: routine monitoring, ticket triage, and "load the tapes" style tasks will keep shrinking, but humans who can design guardrails, validate AI output, secure networks, and translate business goals into technical policy remain very much in demand.
Sources
Will AI replace Network and Computer Admin?
Not entirely. We think AI will take over some tasks, but not the whole job.
Network and systems administration scores a 46.0% AI Resilience Score, which puts it in real-but-not-fatal territory. AI agents are already handling routine monitoring, incident triage, and root-cause analysis, and some telecom operators using automated provisioning tools have seen more than 60% reductions in manual network operations [2]. That kind of efficiency gain is hard to ignore, and it will keep shrinking the most repetitive parts of this work.
What stays human is the harder stuff: designing guardrails for AI tools, validating their output, securing networks, and translating business goals into technical policy. Security operations are a good example, where human admins still do the tuning and judgment calls even as AI tools become standard [4]. And despite all the automation talk, fewer than 1% of organizations have actually deployed agentic network operations in production, largely because of trust and governance concerns [1].
The economic picture offers some reassurance. U.S. tech employment is projected to grow in 2026, with hundreds of thousands of job postings already referencing AI skills [5]. The administrators who will thrive are the ones who learn to work alongside these tools, not compete with them.
Sources
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Latest AI news for Network and Computer Admin
The recommended articles highlight the transformative impact of AI on the Network and Computer Systems Administrator career. For instance, the potential layoffs at Oracle underscore the need for resilience as AI automates roles traditionally held by engineers. Conversely, the Forbes article reveals opportunities for admins to leverage AI in managing infrastructure, enhancing efficiency and reliability. Understanding these shifts will prepare students to adapt and thrive in an evolving landscape, ensuring they remain valuable in a tech-driven environment.
Oracle layoffs could reach 45000 as AI replace database, engineering roles. Job loss flood
investinglive.com • 3/11/2026
If confirmed, layoffs on this scale would highlight how aggressively major software companies are using AI to reduce engineering headcount.
AI at scale: How we’re transforming our enterprise IT operations at Microsoft
www.microsoft.com • 1/29/2026
Learn how we're using AI tools and technologies to improve our reliability, resiliency, and efficiency across our entire IT operation at...
8 ways to use AI for data backup
www.techtarget.com • 1/27/2026
With this article, examine eight ways that using AI can improve backup and how to incorporate it into a backup implementation.
Designing a neuro-symbolic dual-model architecture for explainable and resilient intrusion detection in IoT networks
www.nature.com • 11/28/2025
The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly evolving into a vast ecosystem of interconnected devices that serve diverse domains, including smart...
The AI Revolution In Infrastructure And Database Management
www.forbes.com • 7/17/2025
While AI has already reshaped various industries, its impact on infrastructure and database management is only beginning to unfold.
More Career Info
Career: Network and Computer Systems Administrators
They set up and manage computer networks to keep them running smoothly, making sure people can connect and access the internet and other resources.
Parent Careers
Employment & Wage Data
Median Wage
$96,800
Jobs (2024)
331,500
Growth (2024-34)
-4.2%
Annual Openings
14,300
Education
Bachelor's degree
Experience
None
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2024-2034
Task-Level AI Resilience Scores
AI-generated estimates of task resilience over the next 3 years
1
Train people in computer system use.
2
Maintain an inventory of parts for emergency repairs.
3
Maintain and administer computer networks and related computing environments including computer hardware, systems software, applications software, and all configurations.
4
Perform routine network startup and shutdown procedures, and maintain control records.
5
Plan, coordinate, and implement network security measures to protect data, software, and hardware.
6
Implement and provide technical support for voice services and equipment, such as private branch exchange, voice mail system, and telecom system.
7
Gather data pertaining to customer needs, and use the information to identify, predict, interpret, and evaluate system and network requirements.
Tasks are ranked by their AI resilience, with the most resilient tasks shown first. Core tasks are essential functions of this occupation, while supplemental tasks provide additional context.
