Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel
In short: today's best AI models could do about 59% 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 60% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 40% of the time, stays with people.
Sell services to individuals or businesses. May describe options or resolve client problems.
1,256,010 people do this job in the US. $69,990 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 on12 h
- A person checks AI's work11 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet1 h
- Stays with people16 h
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 12 hours, 11 hours become checking its work, 1 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 16 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Develop sales presentations and proposals (about 8 h, a person checks); Identify prospective customers (about 4 h); Monitor the market and competitors (about 3 h).
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.
- 53%
- 7%
- 32%
- 8%
- 0%
Anthropic's data does not cover this job.
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 59% 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, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 36%. Today's estimate: 59%.
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, 0.36% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 74th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 8 of its 15 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0039% to 0.0015% (released February and March 2025); none to 0.0018% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.36% to 0.36% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0039% | 637 of 708 | 1 of 15 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0015% | 699 of 703 | 1 of 15 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0013% | 666 of 672 | 1 of 15 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0018% | 659 of 677 | 1 of 15 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.36% | 71 of 434 | 8 of 15 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.36% | 74 of 447 | 8 of 15 |
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 1% of this job's working time as physical work. For 1% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 1% in a structured facility. 0.03 of 3, the 628th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 99%
- In a structured facility 1%
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
40% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Contact customers about their needs, the conversation, 7%
- Support clients after the sale, the conversation, 6%
- Attend trade meetings and read publications, the in-person work, 6%
- Recommend service features, the conversation, 5%
- Identify prospective customers, the conversation, 4%
- Answer customers' questions, the conversation, 4%
What becomes checking the machine
29% 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 30% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
- Develop sales presentations and proposals, costly if wrong, 21%
- Quote prices and terms, costly if wrong, 3%
- Create forms or agreements, costly if wrong, 3%
- Support clients after the sale, costly if wrong, 2%
- Inform customers about their contracts, costly if wrong, 1%
- Negotiate prices and terms, costly if wrong, 0.6%
What to learn
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts. About 53% 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.
- The conversations. About 40% 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.
- Dealing with people outside the organization. Customers, patients, suppliers or the public: trust with them is built by a person.
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 . 15 tasks from . One has a worked example.
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop sales presentations or proposals to explain service specifications.Pure document work.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 21% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Documents 100% | 96%Half by now |
| Identify prospective customers using business directories, leads from clients, or information from conferences or trade shows.Research in directories and lead lists, with some calls.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 15% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Documents 70%, conversation 30% | 70%Desk part half by now |
| Attend sales or trade meetings or read related publications to obtain information about market conditions, business trends, regulations, or industry developments.Reading and attending; the knowing is the person's own.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 12% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Documents 50%, in person 50% | 49%Desk part half by now |
| Consult with clients after sales or contract signings to resolve problems and provide ongoing support.Calls with the client, with changes made on the account.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 8% | 38 min13 min to 2.5 h | Conversation 80%, systems 20% | 20%Desk part half by now |
| Contact prospective or existing customers to discuss how services can meet their needs.Sales calls, with some visits.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Conversation 80%, in person 20% | Stays with people |
| Monitor market conditions, innovations, and competitors' services, prices, and sales.Reading and summarizing market information.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task.See it done: one graded attempt (passes) | 7% | 50 min25 min to 3.3 h | Documents 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Quote prices, credit terms, contract terms, or fulfillment dates for services.Working up the quote, and giving it to the customer.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Documents 50%, conversation 50% | 50%Desk part half by now |
| Emphasize or recommend service features based on knowledge of customers' needs and vendor capabilities and limitations.Selling in conversation.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Conversation 100% | Stays with people |
| Maintain customer records using automated systems.Entries in the customer system.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Systems 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Answer customers' questions about services, prices, availability, or credit terms.Calls and messages with customers.Done several times a day by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Conversation 100% | Stays with people |
| Negotiate prices or terms of sales or service agreements.Negotiation with the customer, with terms written up.Done more than weekly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 3.3 h | Conversation 80%, documents 20% | 20%Desk part half by now |
| Compute and compare costs of services.A cost comparison.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Documents 100% | 100%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.
- Customer Service Representatives64% now, 64% by 2028
- Telemarketers56% now, 56% by 2028
- Sales Managers42% now, 43% by 2028
- Advertising Sales Agents56% now, 61% by 2028
- Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products43% now, 44% by 2028
- Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products46% now, 47% 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 Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 59% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 60% 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 Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel 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: Develop sales presentations and proposals (96% of the task's time now); Identify prospective customers (70% of the task's time now); and Monitor the market and competitors (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Contact customers about their needs; Recommend service features; and Answer customers' questions. Together such tasks are about 17% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are briefing a model and checking its drafts; the conversations; and reviewing work you did not do yourself. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 40% of the working time stays with people, 29% becomes checking a model's work and 30% 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 Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.36% went to this job's tasks, the 74th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 8 of its 15 tasks appeared. 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 Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 1% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 1% of the working time, 1% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.03 of 3. One example: Ottobot (Ottonomy.IO) for "hand out promotional materials at events". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 15 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. The Work Bench has 1 worked example of its tasks: a brief, a rubric written beforehand, one attempt by an AI model and its grade.
This job in your state or metro area
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.
Your own version of this job
The page above is the occupation. Your job is your title and what you actually do: give both, and they are read against these tasks in your browser, nothing sent anywhere. The headline is free: how much of your working time is within reach now and by the end of 2028, and how many of the tasks your description names.
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.