AI exposure: Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products
Sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses or groups of individuals. Work requires substantial knowledge of items sold.
Reading this score
computed58.1% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products at the 94th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 3.1 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 18 tasks it averages 1.73 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.
The most exposed thing this job does is Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, product uses, and credit terms, at 80.0%. The least is Provide customers with product samples and catalogs, at 0.0%. A gap of 80.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within sales occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 22 roles in the group is 49.4%, and only 3 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 18 tasks, 16 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 2 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take systems being given deeper access to the organisation's own records and history, which is already happening. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
18 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, product uses, and credit terms. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.37 | exposed |
| Recommend products to customers, based on customers' needs and interests. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.29 | exposed |
| Identify prospective customers by using business directories, following leads from existing clients, participating in organizations and clubs, and attending trade shows and conferences. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 3.85 | exposed |
| Consult with clients after sales or contract signings to resolve problems and to provide ongoing support. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.23 | exposed |
| Arrange and direct delivery and installation of products and equipment. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.65 | exposed |
| Forward orders to manufacturers. | 70.0% | 17.5% | 12.5% | 3.86 | exposed |
| Monitor market conditions, product innovations, and competitors' products, prices, and sales. | 67.1% | 20.4% | 12.5% | 4.06 | exposed |
| Perform administrative duties, such as preparing sales budgets and reports, keeping sales records, and filing expense account reports. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 4.04 | exposed |
| Estimate or quote prices, credit or contract terms, warranties, and delivery dates. | 61.3% | 26.2% | 12.5% | 4.27 | exposed |
| Prepare drawings, estimates, and bids that meet specific customer needs. | 61.1% | 22.2% | 16.7% | 4.01 | exposed |
| Obtain credit information about prospective customers. | 60.0% | 40.0% | 0.0% | 3.95 | exposed |
| Check stock levels and reorder merchandise as necessary. | 52.5% | 22.5% | 25.0% | 4.40 | exposed |
| Contact regular and prospective customers to demonstrate products, explain product features, and solicit orders. | 51.7% | 23.3% | 25.0% | 3.94 | exposed |
| Prepare sales contracts and order forms. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.16 | exposed |
| Negotiate with retail merchants to improve product exposure, such as shelf positioning and advertising. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.41 | exposed |
| Negotiate details of contracts and payments. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.19 | exposed |
| Plan, assemble, and stock product displays in retail stores, or make recommendations to retailers regarding product displays, promotional programs, and advertising. | 17.8% | 7.2% | 75.0% | 4.38 | untouched |
| Provide customers with product samples and catalogs. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.14 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean. 4 task(s) lacked a usable O*NET weight and are shown but excluded from the weighting.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 3.10 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.39 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.40 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.84 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.73 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.00 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.