Will AI replace Natural Sciences Managers?
AI reaches most of this job’s work.
57/100
Very high exposure
More exposed to AI than 88% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 15% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 78% of the work
What the job involves
Plan, direct, or coordinate activities in such fields as life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, statistics, and research and development in these fields.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(3)
- Review project activities and prepare and review research, testing, or operational reports.
- Conduct own research in field of expertise.
- Advise or assist in obtaining patents or meeting other legal requirements.
Within reach(10)
- Design or coordinate successive phases of problem analysis, solution proposals, or testing.
- Confer with scientists, engineers, regulators, or others to plan or review projects or to provide technical assistance.
- Determine scientific or technical goals within broad outlines provided by top management and make detailed plans to accomplish these goals.
- Plan or direct research, development, or production activities.
- Develop client relationships and communicate with clients to explain proposals, present research findings, establish specifications, or discuss project status.
and 5 more
Out of reach(3)
- Hire, supervise, or evaluate engineers, technicians, researchers, or other staff.
- Recruit personnel or oversee the development or maintenance of staff competence.
- Provide for stewardship of plant or animal resources or habitats, studying land use, monitoring animal populations, or providing shelter, resources, or medical treatment for animals.
Also called
Research and Development Director (R and D Director) · R and D Director · Research Manager · Lab Director (Laboratory Director) · Lab Director · Research Director · Agriculture Research Director · Geochemical Manager
Related jobs
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics