Will AI replace Penetration Testers?
AI reaches most of this job’s work.
59/100
Very high exposure
More exposed to AI than 91% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 86% of the work
What the job involves
Evaluate network system security by conducting simulated internal and external cyberattacks using adversary tools and techniques. Attempt to breach and exploit critical systems and gain access to sensitive information to assess system security.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(19)
- Document penetration test findings.
- Identify security system weaknesses, using penetration tests.
- Write audit reports to communicate technical and procedural findings and recommend solutions.
- Gather cyber intelligence to identify vulnerabilities.
- Maintain up-to-date knowledge of hacking trends.
and 14 more
Out of reach(3)
- Identify new threat tactics, techniques, or procedures used by cyber threat actors.
- Test the security of systems by attempting to gain access to networks, Web-based applications, or computers.
- Assess the physical security of servers, systems, or network devices to identify vulnerability to temperature, vandalism, or natural disasters.
Also called
Security Consultant · Security Engineer · Cyber Systems Engineer · System Vulnerability Analyst · Threat Hunter · Vulnerability Assessor · Application Security Assessor · Application Security Hacker
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