Computer Network Architects
In short: today's best AI models could do about 44% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 83% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 17% of the time, stays with people.
Design and implement computer and information networks, such as local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), intranets, extranets, and other data communications networks. Perform network modeling, analysis, and planning, including analysis of capacity needs for network infrastructures. May also design network and computer security measures. May research and recommend network and data communications hardware and software.
179,740 people do this job in the US. $134,050 a year.
Reviewed on September 30, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on1 h
- A person checks AI's work17 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet15 h
- Stays with people7 h
Computer Network Architects, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 1 hours, 17 hours become checking its work, 15 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 7 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Recommend network security measures (about 2 h, a person checks); Solve network problems (about 2 h, a person checks); Determine hardware and software requirements (about 1 h, a person checks).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 66%
- 17%
- 13%
- 0%
- 4%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 44% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 6%. Today's estimate: 44%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.021% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 299th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 1 of its 33 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.19% to 0.16% (released February and March 2025); 0.14% to 0.17% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.034% to 0.021% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.19% | 97 of 708 | 19 of 33 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.16% | 106 of 703 | 17 of 33 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.14% | 125 of 655 | 15 of 33 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.15% | 104 of 672 | 20 of 33 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.17% | 106 of 677 | 20 of 33 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.034% | 255 of 434 | 2 of 33 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.021% | 299 of 447 | 1 of 33 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates almost none of this job's working time as physical work, so robots do not reach it.
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
16% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Build configuration prototypes, the hands-on work, 3%
- Supervise network engineers, the conversation, 3%
- Coordinate equipment installation, the conversation, 2%
- Deliver product education sessions, the conversation, 2%
- Determine customer needs, the conversation, 1%
- Coordinate network operations, the conversation, 1%
What becomes checking the machine
77% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it. Another 4% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
- Recommend network security measures, costly if wrong, 15%
- Develop network designs, costly if wrong, 8%
- Solve network problems, costly if wrong, 7%
- Build configuration prototypes, costly if wrong, 7%
- Determine hardware and software requirements, costly if wrong, 6%
- Monitor and analyze network performance, costly if wrong, 4%
What to learn
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts. About 66% of the time is documents and data, the part models reach first: writing a clear brief, giving the right material, and checking what comes back.
- Running AI inside the business systems. About 17% of the time is work inside business systems, which a model can do only once it is connected: knowing the systems well enough to set that up and watch it.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 33 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop or recommend network security measures, such as firewalls, network security audits, or automated security probes.Security measures worked out and recommended on paper.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 15% | 1.6 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | Documents 100% | 34%Half by Feb 2027 |
| Design, build, or operate equipment configuration prototypes, including network hardware, software, servers, or server operation systems.Racking and configuring prototype hardware and servers, to a design.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 10% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1 work week | Systems 50%, hands-on 30%, documents 20% | 15%Desk part half by Jun 2027 |
| Develop conceptual, logical, or physical network designs.Conceptual, logical and physical designs on paper.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 8% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | Documents 100% | 23%Half by May 2027 |
| Develop and implement solutions for network problems.Working out the fix and making it in the network systems.Done more than weekly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Documents 50%, systems 50% | 73%Half by now |
| Determine specific network hardware or software requirements, such as platforms, interfaces, bandwidths, or routine schemas.Requirements worked out on paper.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | Documents 100% | 55%Half by now |
| Supervise engineers or other staff in the design or implementation of network solutions.Conversation with the engineers, with review of their designs.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.7 work days | Conversation 60%, documents 40% | 28%Desk part half by now |
| Coordinate installation of new equipment.Calls with installers and vendors, with the plan.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | Conversation 60%, documents 40% | 37%Desk part half by now |
| Monitor and analyze network performance and reports on data input or output to detect problems, identify inefficient use of computer resources, or perform capacity planning.Watching the monitoring tools and analyzing the reports.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.7 work days | Documents 50%, systems 50% | 71%Half by now |
| Prepare detailed network specifications, including diagrams, charts, equipment configurations, or recommended technologies.Diagrams, charts and configurations written up.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | Documents 100% | 44%Half by Dec 2026 |
| Use network computer-aided design (CAD) software packages to optimize network designs.Design work in network design software.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | Documents 100% | 55%Half by now |
| Develop and write procedures for installation, use, or troubleshooting of communications hardware or software.Procedures written.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Documents 100% | 61%Half by now |
| Design, organize, and deliver product awareness, skills transfer, or product education sessions for staff or suppliers.Sessions for staff or suppliers, which can be held online, and the material.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Conversation 60%, documents 40% | 25%Desk part half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Computer Network Support Specialists79% now, 82% by 2028
- Network and Computer Systems Administrators54% now, 89% by 2028
- Computer Systems Engineers/Architects45% now, 67% by 2028
- Telecommunications Engineering Specialists46% now, 78% by 2028
- Computer Systems Analysts35% now, 89% by 2028
- Software Developers48% now, 78% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Computer Network Architects is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 44% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 83% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (77% to 83% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Computer Network Architects come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Recommend network security measures (34% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Solve network problems (73% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Determine hardware and software requirements (55% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Computer Network Architects stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Maintain network peripherals. Together such tasks are about 1% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Computer Network Architects learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are reviewing work you did not do yourself; briefing a model and checking its drafts; and running AI inside the business systems. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 16% of the working time stays with people, 77% becomes checking a model's work and 4% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Computer Network Architects?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.021% went to this job's tasks, the 299th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 1 of its 33 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 20%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Computer Network Architects?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds almost none of the working time is physical work, so robots do not reach it.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 33 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on September 30, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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The full personal report is $19, to print or save as a PDF: every task with when it comes within reach, which ones your description names, the parts of your description the task list does not cover, what stays with you, what becomes checking the machine and what to learn.