Sales Managers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 42% 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 43% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 57% of the time, stays with people.
Plan, direct, or coordinate the actual distribution or movement of a product or service to the customer. Coordinate sales distribution by establishing sales territories, quotas, and goals and establish training programs for sales representatives. Analyze sales statistics gathered by staff to determine sales potential and inventory requirements and monitor the preferences of customers.
637,080 people do this job in the US. $148,270 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 on0 h
- A person checks AI's work17 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people23 h
Sales Managers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 17 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 23 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Monitor customer preferences (about 4 h, a person checks); Review reports to project sales and profit (about 2 h, a person checks); Direct and coordinate sales activities (about 2 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.
- 40%
- 3%
- 47%
- 9%
- 1%
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 42% 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, 22%. Today's estimate: 42%.
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, 0.13% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 142nd largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 3 of its 17 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.038% to 0.023% (released February and March 2025); 0.0067% to 0.031% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.068% to 0.13% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.038% | 318 of 708 | 7 of 17 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.023% | 395 of 703 | 5 of 17 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0067% | 502 of 655 | 2 of 17 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.027% | 341 of 672 | 6 of 17 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.031% | 329 of 677 | 6 of 17 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.068% | 209 of 434 | 2 of 17 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.13% | 142 of 447 | 3 of 17 |
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
57% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Advise customers on equipment to buy, the conversation, 11%
- Oversee regional sales managers, the conversation, 10%
- Resolve customer complaints, the conversation, 9%
- Direct and coordinate sales activities, the conversation, 8%
- Plan staffing, training and evaluations, the conversation, 5%
- Direct clerical staff on sales records, the conversation, 4%
What becomes checking the machine
42% 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.
- Monitor customer preferences, costly if wrong, 11%
- Review reports to project sales and profit, costly if wrong, 7%
- Direct and coordinate sales activities, costly if wrong, 6%
- Plan staffing, training and evaluations, costly if wrong, 5%
- Oversee regional sales managers, costly if wrong, 4%
- Resolve customer complaints, costly if wrong, 2%
What to learn
- The conversations. About 56% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
- 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 40% 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.
- Dealing with people outside the organization. Customers, patients, suppliers or the public: trust with them is built by a person.
- Handling protected records. Much of the work touches protected personal records: knowing what may be shared with a model, and how, is part of the job.
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 . 17 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct and coordinate activities involving sales of manufactured products, services, commodities, real estate, or other subjects of sale.Mostly conversation with the people running the work, plus reading and deciding.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 14% | 1.7 h50 min to 4.2 h | Conversation 60%, documents 40% | 40%Desk part half by now |
| Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs.Conversation with the managers, and their numbers reviewed.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 14% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Conversation 70%, documents 30% | 30%Desk part half by now |
| Monitor customer preferences to determine focus of sales efforts.Analysis of sales and customer data.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 11% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | Documents 80%, systems 20% | 99%Half by now |
| Confer with potential customers regarding equipment needs, and advise customers on types of equipment to purchase.Calls and visits with customers.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 11% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Conversation 60%, in person 40% | Stays with people |
| Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service.Calls with the customer, with the facts gathered first.Done more than weekly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 11% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Conversation 80%, documents 20% | 20%Desk part half by now |
| Plan and direct staffing, training, and performance evaluations to develop and control sales and service programs.Plans and reviews on paper, and the conversations that go with them.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 10% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1 work day | Documents 50%, conversation 50% | 47%Desk part half by now |
| Review operational records and reports to project sales and determine profitability.Reading and analysis.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 7% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Documents 100% | 96%Half by now |
| Direct clerical staff to keep records of export correspondence, bid requests, and credit collections, and to maintain current information on tariffs, licenses, and restrictions.Conversation with a desk team, and checking their work.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.1 h | Conversation 70%, documents 30% | 30%Desk part half by now |
| Direct, coordinate, and review sales and service accounting and record-keeping, as well as receiving and shipping.Reviewing the records, and conversation with the staff who keep them.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | Documents 50%, conversation 50% | 50%Desk part half by now |
| Visit franchised dealers to stimulate interest in establishment or expansion of leasing programs.Travel to dealers and meetings in person.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | In person 70%, hands-on 30% | Stays with people |
| Represent company at trade association meetings to promote products.Attending and speaking in person.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 1.7 work days | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Direct foreign sales and service outlets of an organization.Calls with the outlets, and their reports read.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Conversation 60%, documents 40% | 40%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.
- Marketing Managers30% now, 64% by 2028
- Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel59% now, 60% by 2028
- Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists50% now, 93% by 2028
- Advertising and Promotions Managers60% now, 85% by 2028
- Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products60% now, 62% by 2028
- Purchasing Managers46% now, 77% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Automobile Dealers38,800 people
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services37,790 people
- Management of Companies and Enterprises37,750 people
- Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods (4232, 4233, 4235, 4236, 4237, and 4239 only)28,580 people
- Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers23,360 people
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 Sales Managers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 42% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 43% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. 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 Sales Managers 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: Monitor customer preferences (99% of the task's time now); Review reports to project sales and profit (96% of the task's time now); and Direct and coordinate sales activities (40% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Sales Managers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Advise customers on equipment to buy; Visit dealers to promote programs; and Represent the company at trade meetings. Together such tasks are about 16% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Sales Managers learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are the conversations; reviewing work you did not do yourself; and briefing a model and checking its drafts. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 57% of the working time stays with people, 42% becomes checking a model's work and 0% 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 Sales Managers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.13% went to this job's tasks, the 142nd largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 3 of its 17 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 4%. 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 Sales Managers?
- 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 17 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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