Will AI replace Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products?

What this score means

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products sits in the middle of the exposure range for Business & Operations. Routine parts of the job are starting to automate, but much of it still depends on judgment, relationships, and context that today's models handle poorly. At 44 out of 100 it sits close to the Business & Operations average of 46. Across the 3 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 37 to 60, so the score is a weighted consensus rather than any single figure.

The number is a consensus estimate for the typical version of the role, built from published academic and industry research scored occupation by occupation. It is not a prediction about any individual. How scoring works

What this job actually involves

Exposure follows the work itself rather than the job title, so it is worth seeing what the role is made of. These are the tasks O*NET records for Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products, most central first, showing 12 of 19.

• 01Monitor and follow applicable laws and regulations.
• 02Purchase the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible price and in correct amounts.
• 03Formulate policies and procedures for bid proposals and procurement of goods and services.
• 04Prepare purchase orders, solicit bid proposals, and review requisitions for goods and services.
• 05Write and review product specifications, maintaining a working technical knowledge of the goods or services to be purchased.
• 06Analyze price proposals, financial reports, and other data and information to determine reasonable prices.
• 07Hire, train, or supervise purchasing clerks, buyers, and expediters.
• 08Research and evaluate suppliers, based on price, quality, selection, service, support, availability, reliability, production and distribution capabilities, and the supplier's reputation and history.
• 09Evaluate and monitor contract performance to ensure compliance with contractual obligations and to determine need for changes.
• 10Negotiate, renegotiate, and administer contracts with suppliers, vendors, and other representatives.
• 11Study sales records and inventory levels of current stock to develop strategic purchasing programs that facilitate employee access to supplies.
• 12Confer with staff, users, and vendors to discuss defective or unacceptable goods or services and determine corrective action.

Task statements from O*NET by the National Center for O*NET Development, used under CC BY 4.0. The tasks are descriptive; the exposure score above is ours.

The research behind this score

This baseline aggregates 3 research sources that scored Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products for AI and automation exposure. More recent, higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.

• 01Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure · 2025
• 02GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024
• 03AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023

Also covers

Buyer · Contract Administrator (Contract Admin) · Contract Analyst · Contract Specialist · Contractor Buyer · Equipment, Supplies, and Tools Purchasing Agent · Fuel Agent · Fuel Buyer and related titles

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