# Sales Engineers

> Sell business goods or services, the selling of which requires a technical background equivalent to a baccalaureate degree in engineering.

- **SOC code:** 41-9031.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-41-9031-00
- **Also known as:** Business Development Engineer, Product Sales Engineer, Sales Engineer, Technical Marketing Engineer, Inside Sales Engineer, Sales Applications Engineer, Technical Sales Engineer, Aeronautical Products Sales Engineer
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Sell products requiring extensive technical expertise and support for installation and use, such as material handling equipment, numerical-control machinery, or computer systems.
- Develop, present, or respond to proposals for specific customer requirements, including request for proposal responses and industry-specific solutions.
- Collaborate with sales teams to understand customer requirements, to promote the sale of company products, and to provide sales support.
- Create sales or service contracts for products or services.
- Visit prospective buyers at commercial, industrial, or other establishments to show samples or catalogs, and to inform them about product pricing, availability, and advantages.
- Keep informed on industry news and trends, products, services, competitors, relevant information about legacy, existing, and emerging technologies, and the latest product-line developments.
- Identify resale opportunities and support them to achieve sales plans.
- Confer with customers and engineers to assess equipment needs and to determine system requirements.
- Plan and modify product configurations to meet customer needs.
- Prepare and deliver technical presentations that explain products or services to customers and prospective customers.
- Recommend improved materials or machinery to customers, documenting how such changes will lower costs or increase production.
- Maintain sales forecasting reports.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Sales and Marketing _(knowledge)_
- Engineering and Technology _(knowledge)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Persuasion _(transferable_skill)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Speech Clarity _(ability)_
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(transferable_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Negotiation _(Common Skill)_
- Complex Problem Solving _(Common Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Amazon Web Services AWS software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Azure software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Python _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Salesforce software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Ansible software _(hot technology)_
- Apache Cassandra _(hot technology)_
- Apache Hadoop _(hot technology)_
- Apple iOS _(hot technology)_
- Atlassian JIRA _(hot technology)_

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 83rd percentile (High) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 81st percentile (High) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 73rd percentile (High) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 87th percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 2nd percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** yes — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 5.5% growth (About average); 5k annual openings; 56.8k → 59.9k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $121,520; 56,690 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 35% automation, 54% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 4.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** directive.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Confer with customers and engineers to assess equipment needs and to determine system requirements. _(3.3% of measured AI use; learning)_
- Research and identify potential customers for products or services. _(3.1% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Provide technical and non-technical support and services to clients or other staff members regarding the use, operation, and maintenance of equipment. _(2.3% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Develop, present, or respond to proposals for specific customer requirements, including request for proposal responses and industry-specific solutions. _(1.0% of measured AI use; task iteration)_
- Collaborate with sales teams to understand customer requirements, to promote the sale of company products, and to provide sales support. _(0.5% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Keep informed on industry news and trends, products, services, competitors, relevant information about legacy, existing, and emerging technologies, and the latest product-line developments. _(0.4% of measured AI use; learning)_
- Prepare and deliver technical presentations that explain products or services to customers and prospective customers. _(0.3% of measured AI use)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me confer with customers and engineers to assess equipment needs and to determine system requirements.
- Help me research and identify potential customers for products or services.
- Help me provide technical and non-technical support and services to clients or other staff members regarding the use, operation, and maintenance of equipment.
- Help me develop, present, or respond to proposals for specific customer requirements, including request for proposal responses and industry-specific solutions.
- Help me collaborate with sales teams to understand customer requirements, to promote the sale of company products, and to provide sales support.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-41-9031-00_