Will AI replace Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products?
AI reaches some of this job’s work, but most of it stays with people.
38/100
Moderate exposure
More exposed to AI than 59% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 22% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 58% of the work
What the job involves
Purchase machinery, equipment, tools, parts, supplies, or services necessary for the operation of an establishment. Purchase raw or semifinished materials for manufacturing. May negotiate contracts.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(4)
- Monitor and follow applicable laws and regulations.
- Write and review product specifications, maintaining a working technical knowledge of the goods or services to be purchased.
- Monitor changes affecting supply and demand, tracking market conditions, price trends, or futures markets.
- Review catalogs, industry periodicals, directories, trade journals, and Internet sites and consult with other department personnel to locate necessary goods and services.
Within reach(8)
- Formulate policies and procedures for bid proposals and procurement of goods and services.
- Analyze price proposals, financial reports, and other data and information to determine reasonable prices.
- Negotiate, renegotiate, and administer contracts with suppliers, vendors, and other representatives.
- Research and evaluate suppliers, based on price, quality, selection, service, support, availability, reliability, production and distribution capabilities, and the supplier's reputation and history.
- Maintain and review computerized or manual records of purchased items, costs, deliveries, product performance, and inventories.
and 3 more
Out of reach(7)
- Purchase the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible price and in correct amounts.
- Prepare purchase orders, solicit bid proposals, and review requisitions for goods and services.
- Evaluate and monitor contract performance to ensure compliance with contractual obligations and to determine need for changes.
- Hire, train, or supervise purchasing clerks, buyers, and expediters.
- Confer with staff, users, and vendors to discuss defective or unacceptable goods or services and determine corrective action.
and 2 more
Also called
Buyer · Contract Specialist · Contract Administrator (Contract Admin) · Procurement Specialist · Purchasing Agent · Contract Admin · Contract Analyst · Purchaser
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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