Will AI replace information security engineers?

Not on current evidence. Less than 30 minutes of a typical shift goes to tasks that AI or robots are doing today. The other 7h 43m (96%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 5.1% more of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

AI shows up regularly in 1 of 20 tasks, about 17m of a typical shift. The biggest ones:

• Oversee performance of risk assessment or execution of system tests to ensure the functioning of data processing activities or security measures. (17m a shift, people use AI to help)

7h 43m of a typical shift, or 96%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Identify or implement solutions to information security problems. (46m a shift)
• Coordinate monitoring of networks or systems for security breaches or intrusions. (40m a shift)
• Conduct investigations of information security breaches to identify vulnerabilities and evaluate the damage. (34m a shift)
• Develop or install software, such as firewalls and data encryption programs, to protect sensitive information. (34m a shift)
• Troubleshoot security and network problems. (34m a shift)

On Indeed, job postings in the IT Systems & Solutions sector are at 77% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), up 10.8% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 27,000 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $116,580 a year ($56.05 an hour), 129% above the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $55,940 and $188,470 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects growth of 5.1% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 495,000 jobs in 2035. It expects about 27,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 435,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.28% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 94th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 495,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is a bachelor's degree: about 47% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 4 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: bachelor's degree. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Programming, Quality Control Analysis, Systems Evaluation, Systems Analysis
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 7h 43m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Splunk Enterprise, Python, Oracle Java, Microsoft PowerShell, Microsoft Azure software
• Learn to use AI well on the tasks where it already shows up in this job (listed above)

These use similar skills. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Computer Systems Engineers/Architects (3h 8m touched, $117k median pay)
• Computer Network Architects (1h 59m touched, $134k median pay)
• Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers (3h 26m touched, $104k median pay)
• Information Security Analysts (4h 17m touched, $129k median pay)
• Web Administrators (2h 32m touched, $117k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 1 observed in real AI use, 19 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.