Computer Systems Engineers/Architects

Future-proof High pay & lowrisk Trending
Minimal Risk
Low High

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
6.7/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

16% (Minimal Risk)

Minimal Risk (0-20%): This occupation appears difficult to replace end-to-end with current or near-future automation, including AI software and robotics. Roles in this range usually depend on human judgement, creativity, care, leadership, specialist expertise, or adapting to messy real-world situations. AI and machines may still change parts of the work, but the occupation is likely to remain a distinct human role.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Originality

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with novel ideas and creative solutions when there isn’t an obvious playbook to follow.
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Managing and developing people

Quite important
Why this matters
Motivate, coach, and direct others, and make hiring and staffing decisions. These people-focused responsibilities rely on judgment, trust, and interpersonal skill and are harder to replace end-to-end with automation.
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Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
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Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
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Show 4 more strengths

Communicating with people outside the organization

Quite important
Why this matters
Represents the organization to customers, the public, or government—handling questions, concerns, and relationship-building through conversations, writing, calls, or email.
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Consulting and advising others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide guidance and expert advice to managers or teams on technical, system, or process decisions—explaining options, tradeoffs, and recommended actions.
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Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
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Operations analysis

Quite important
Why this matters
Figure out what people need and what a product must do, then translate those requirements into a workable design.
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What users think

Based on 622 votes

56% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. However, employees may be able to find reassurance in the automated risk level we have generated, which shows 16% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Computer Systems Engineers/Architects will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very high paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Computer Occupations, All Other was $108,970 ($52 per hour).

The median annual wage for Computer Occupations, All Other was 120.1% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Computer Occupations, All Other' job openings is expected to rise 8.2% by 2034

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 439,380 people employed as 'Computer Occupations, All Other' within the United States.

This represents around 0.28% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 350 people are employed as 'Computer Occupations, All Other'.

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What people are saying (6)

Leave a comment
FERNANDO DA COSTA DIAS (Uncertain)
25 Nov 2024 16:20
"I don't know anymore. Everything is being replaced."
Heath (Low)
24 May 2026 21:37
Unless AI can be made to interface with different systems without the use of APIs or add ons, and also develop critical thinking, it won't be replacing engineers and architects anytime soon. We may see a real issue in 50-70 years, but not 20.
Vigneshwaran R
07 Jul 2025 14:46
Hello Everyone

Definitely AI is going to Impact On system Engineer Role also by Reduce 50% of time and Cost. So that It will Increase the Efficiency of the Role & reduce team members also slightly.(5 to 10%)
Corydon Hinton (Uncertain)
08 May 2023 22:37
Aspects of the job may be augmented by automation but extracting and negotiating requirements and mapping to technical domains will require communication, originality, and social skills.
Lew Jacobs (Moderate)
03 Nov 2022 03:13
ML may not replace 100%, but it can narrow potential options and mitigate risk better than humans, and leave low-value workers to whittle down from the output shortlist. ML can already conduct interviews that branch dynamically according to discovered heuristics. A challenge may be interacting with humans and other systems to deal with small but messy and long lists of items that require ad hoc classification.
Mannery Rivera (Uncertain)
27 Feb 2024 17:18
Machine learning offers opportunities to improve efficiency and mitigate risks across various fields. Although it may limit options and gradually reduce low-value workers in certain cases, it is not a perfect or complete solution. The interaction between humans and ML systems is crucial, especially when addressing complex challenges such as ad hoc data classification. It is essential to carefully consider both the benefits and limitations of ML, ensuring that its implementation is carried out ethically and that human and social interests are protected.
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Job description

Design and develop solutions to complex applications problems, system administration issues, or network concerns. Perform systems management and integration functions.

O*NET-SOC code: 15-1299.08