Research, design, develop, and test operating systems-level software, compilers, and network distribution software for medical, industrial, military, communications, aerospace, business, scientific, and general computing applications. Set operational specifications and formulate and analyze software requirements. May design embedded systems software. Apply principles and techniques of computer science, engineering, and mathematical analysis.
19 of 19 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Monitor functioning of equipment to ensure system operates in conformance with specifications.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can fully monitor equipment by ingesting telemetry, performing anomaly detection, and triggering alerts or automated remediation to ensure conformance to specs.
Prepare reports or correspondence concerning project specifications, activities, or status.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can fully prepare high-quality reports and correspondence from project data, templates, and status feeds with minimal human editing.
Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can fully automate storing, retrieving, and manipulating data via generated queries, ETL pipelines, scripts, and analytics tools for system capability analysis.
Modify existing software to correct errors, to adapt it to new hardware, or to upgrade interfaces and improve performance.
AI: Partial - AI tools can generate patches, refactor code, and adapt interfaces, but cannot fully ensure correct integration with new hardware and complex legacy systems without human validation and testing.
Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures.
AI: Partial - AI can create detailed test plans and automated test suites from requirements, but cannot fully 'direct' testing teams or handle ambiguous or safety-critical validation without human oversight.
Direct software programming and development of documentation.
AI: Partial - AI can produce code, review contributions, and draft documentation, but cannot fully replace human leadership, project management, and responsibility for directing programming efforts.
Consult with customers or other departments on project status, proposals, or technical issues, such as software system design or maintenance.
AI: Partial - AI can synthesize project status, draft proposals, and provide technical explanations, but genuine consultation requires stakeholder negotiation, trust, and contextual judgment beyond current AI capabilities.
Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze information and propose system installation or modification plans, but practical planning requires site-specific surveys, regulatory checks, and human coordination for implementation.
Supervise and assign work to programmers, designers, technologists, technicians, or other engineering or scientific personnel.
AI: Partial - AI can partially support supervision by recommending assignments and tracking work but cannot fully replace human leadership, personnel management, and complex judgment calls.
Consult with engineering staff to evaluate interface between hardware and software, develop specifications and performance requirements, or resolve customer problems.
AI: Partial - AI can evaluate interfaces, generate specifications, and surface performance issues from documentation, but resolving complex hardware–software integration problems typically requires hands-on engineering and cross-team collaboration.
Design or develop software systems, using scientific analysis and mathematical models to predict and measure outcome and consequences of design.
AI: Partial - AI can design software components and use models to predict outcomes, but end-to-end system design—especially for novel or safety-critical systems—still requires experienced human architects and judgment.
Advise customer about or perform maintenance of software system.
AI: Partial - AI can partially advise and perform many maintenance activities (diagnostics, patches, automated fixes) but complex customer interactions, contractual issues, and nuanced troubleshooting need humans.
Confer with data processing or project managers to obtain information on limitations or capabilities for data processing projects.
AI: Partial - AI can gather, summarize, and propose questions for meetings with data processing or project managers, but interactive negotiation and elicitation of tacit constraints still require human involvement.
Coordinate installation of software system.
AI: Partial - AI can partially coordinate installations by producing deployment plans, automation scripts, and communications but cannot fully manage on‑site logistics and stakeholder negotiation.
Train users to use new or modified equipment.
AI: Partial - AI can partially train users through documentation, interactive tutorials, and conversational agents but may not substitute for hands‑on instruction for specialized equipment.
Specify power supply requirements and configuration.
AI: Partial - AI can partially specify power requirements by calculating loads and referencing standards but final configuration, safety verification, and sign‑off require licensed engineers.
Evaluate factors such as reporting formats required, cost constraints, or need for security restrictions to determine hardware configuration.
AI: Partial - AI can partially evaluate reporting, cost, and security trade‑offs and propose hardware configurations but cannot fully account for organizational constraints, procurement, and final approvals.
Use microcontrollers to develop control signals, implement control algorithms, or measure process variables, such as temperatures, pressures, or positions.
AI: Partial - AI can partially develop microcontroller firmware, control algorithms, and simulations but cannot autonomously perform physical sensor integration, wiring, and on‑device hardware testing.
Recommend purchase of equipment to control dust, temperature, or humidity in area of system installation.
AI: Partial - AI can partially recommend environmental control equipment based on specs and cost data but site inspections, compliance checks, and procurement decisions require human oversight.