Professionals · code 2522
Systems administrators
AI can monitor the servers. Fixing them when it all goes wrong is still a sysadmin.
AI could take a fair chunk of four of the five tasks, including running networks, suggesting configuration changes and doing backups. Diagnosing hardware and software faults is mostly out of its reach.
What they actually do (and what else they get called)
Systems administrators develop, control, maintain and support the optimal performance and security of information technology systems. Tasks include - (a) maintaining and administering computer networks and related computing environments, including computer hardware, systems software, applications software and all configurations; (b) recommending changes to improve systems and network configurations, and determining hardware or software requirements related to such changes; (c) diagnosing hardware and software problems; (d) performing data backups and disaster recovery operations; (e) operating master consoles to monitor the performance of computer systems and networks, and to coordinate computer network access and use. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Network administrator - Systems administrator (computers) Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Database administrator - 2521 - Network analyst - 2523 - Webmaster - 3514 - Website administrator - 3514 - Website technician - 3514
- ICT system administrator
Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.
43 / 100
Changing significantly
AI could do a real share of the everyday tasks. The job is changing shape, not vanishing.
Not the odds you keep your job. It's how much of the everyday work still needs a person, out of 100.
The ILO's official verdict: Exposed: Gradient 3
403 of 427 for holding up against AI
Not quite your week? Make it yours ↓
Why this score?
The ILO rated each of this job's 5 tasks for how much of it AI could do. They average 56.6 out of 100, so it holds up at 100 − 56.6 = 43.4.
That's the whole sum. No black box, no secret sauce: you can check it against the ILO's study. ILO group “Exposed: Gradient 3”: Most of the tasks are affected.
This job rates 23.3 out of 100 for how hands-on it is. The score above only looks at AI tools, not robots, but for work this far from the physical that matters less.
from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.8-observed-use
Man v Bot · compare
Who holds up better?
Systems administrators 43
vGo on, try your partner's job. Or your sibling's. We won't tell.
Man v Bot
Where the bot helps, and where the human wins
Bot
What AI takes
The routine stuff. You may not miss it.
- Routine administration.
- Monitoring.
- Backups.
Man
What people still do better
Judgement, trust and skilled hands. Hard to download.
- Diagnosing problems.
- Disaster recovery.
- Security decisions.
Both
What's arriving
New work that only exists because the AI does.
- Cloud and infrastructure as code.
- AI operations tools.
- Security.
Written by a human, from the ILO's task ratings below. Yes, we see the irony. Read it as one person's take.
Meet your two rivals
They're not the same machine. AI software can only reach the parts of a job done on a screen or in words. A chatbot can't climb a ladder. A robot might, one day, if it doesn't fall off.
The AI
Lives in a screen. Never had to fix a boiler.
Threat level: Medium
47 could do without you
It could take over some of the work, and help with more. It could help with 71 of 100.
The robot
The wildcard. Has hands, still working out stairs.
How much it matters here: Lower
23 how hands-on
Not much of this job needs hands, so the robot can sit this one out.
So could a robot do the physical part?
Less than half of this job is hands-on. Robots still matter, but for a smaller part of the work, so we don't sort it any further.
Robots hate fiddly work in awkward spaces. On that measure, this job scores 29 out of 100. The higher it is, the longer the robot waits.
hands-on
and cramped
Kind of hands-on work Less than half hands-on
The small print
They aren't a robot score, and nothing on this page is. Nobody measures how far robots have got well enough to put a number on it. These are the closest thing we have: how hands-on the job is, and how much fiddly, cramped work it takes, which is what Frey and Osborne found hardest for machines.
From O*NET, matched to one US job .
finger skill 37.4 · hand skill 30.3 · cramped spaces 20 · averaged · rule: hands-on under 50
estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.8-observed-use measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement
The job, task by task
Every job is really a bundle of tasks. Here's this one unpacked, with how much of each AI could do, out of 100. The score is the average, and averages can hide a lot.
AI's favourite task here scores 61, against an average of 57. The bigger the gap, the more lopsided the job: some of it wide open to AI, some of it barely touched.
- 61
Recommending changes to improve systems and network configurations, and determining hardware or software requirements related to such changes
Medium - 59
Maintaining and administering computer networks and related computing environments including computer hardware, systems software, applications software and all configurations
Medium - 59
Operating master consoles to monitor the performance of computer systems and networks, and to coordinate computer network access and use.
Medium - 57
Performing data backups and disaster recovery operations
Medium - 48
Diagnosing hardware and software problems
Low
5 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's
from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.8-observed-use
New · the weekly task audit
Your week, your score
The score above assumes systems administrators spend the same time on every task. You don't. Slide each task to how much of your week it takes, and we'll re-weight the same ILO ratings to fit your job.
- Some
- Some
- Some
- Some
- Some
Your score
43 / 100
Same as the job as a whole, so far.
Move the sliders to make it yours.
The job as a whole: 43 / 100
Link copied.
Nothing you enter leaves your browser. The link just carries your slider positions.
Sidekick or replacement?
A tool that makes you faster is a very different thing from one that does the task while you watch. Jobs and Skills Australia measured the two separately, which is handy.
- AI helps you
- 71
- AI does it for you
- 47
Sidekick wins, by 25 points.
How good a match is this?
2 Australian jobs match this one, and we've simply averaged them. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.
estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.8-observed-use matched to Australian jobs 2621, 2631
Meanwhile, in real life…
Everything else here is about what AI could do. This is what people actually did. When they asked Claude for help with this kind of work, did they hand the whole task over, or roll their sleeves up and work through it together?
Out of every 100 conversations
worked through it together handed it over
The small print
Anthropic publishes this about its own product, and it doesn't feed into any score here. These are people who use Claude, not workers in general, so little use here doesn't mean AI can't reach the job. This job makes up 0.16% of the conversations.
These two add up to 100. The bars elsewhere on the page don't, because each is scored on its own, so we don't put them side by side.
observed use Anthropic Economic Index release 2026-06-26, period beginning 2026-05-01 data 0.8-observed-use 2026-05-01 · Anthropic, about its own product
So, should systems administrators be worried?
Short answer: not worried, but paying attention. The job is changing.
Much of it is exposed. Recommending changes, administering networks, monitoring and backups are rated Medium; diagnosing problems is Low. Automation and cloud tools take on routine admin; diagnosis stays human.
Worth remembering: we score tasks, not jobs. When AI takes on a task, the job usually reshuffles around it rather than vanishing.
Where this job could lead
None of the new jobs we've written up start from here yet. Could be you're the first. See the jobs AI is creating →
How are the neighbours doing?
There are 92 jobs in the “Professionals” family, averaging 62. This one is below the family average.
- Creative and performing artists not e… 87
- Veterinarians 86
- Dentists 85
- Religious professionals 83
- Dancers and choreographers 81
- Health professionals not elsewhere cl… 81
- Early childhood educators 79
- Visual artists 79
- Paramedical practitioners 77
- Optometrists and ophthalmic opticians 76
- Audiologists and speech therapists 76
- Nursing professionals 75
- Primary school teachers 74
- Specialist medical practitioners 73
- Environmental and occupational health… 72
- Musicians, singers and composers 72
- Social work and counselling professio… 72
- Physiotherapists 72
- Special needs teachers 72
- Farming, forestry and fisheries advis… 72
- Generalist medical practitioners 71
- Mining engineers, metallurgists and r… 71
- Secondary education teachers 70
- Midwifery professionals 70
- Civil engineers 70
- Engineering professionals not elsewhe… 70
- Judges 69
- Electrical engineers 69