Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel
Machines can already do 65% of this job's tasks. By 2035 that rises to 82%. Most of the work is changing now.
Share of the work machines can do
Worldwide baseline, 2026 to 2050
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel in 2026: the short answer
- Today: machines can do 65% of this job's tasks.
- Forecast: machines can already do half of its tasks, and 82% by 2035, according to the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit.
- Size: 1,256,010 people do this job in the United States, on a median pay of $69,990 a year.
- Contact with people: it scores 80% for contact with people.
- Also called: National Sales Executive, Sales Representative (Sales Rep).
Updated by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit. These are worldwide baseline figures; the Workforce Starburst shows them for your country. Go deeper: How ready am I? or an executive briefing.
How the work changes, task by task
The tasks that take up most of the day, with the share of each that machines can do in 2026 (dark) and 2035 (pink). Worldwide baseline.
| Task | Share of the day | Machines can do | 2026 to 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact prospective or existing customers to discuss how services can meet their needs | 19% | 71% to 82% | |
| Consult with clients after sales or contract signings to resolve problems and provide ongoing support | 12% | 71% to 82% | |
| Answer customers' questions about services, prices, availability, or credit terms | 10% | 71% to 82% | |
| Develop sales presentations or proposals to explain service specifications | 10% | 71% to 91% | |
| Maintain customer records using automated systems | 6% | 85% to 97% | |
| Identify prospective customers using business directories, leads from clients, or information from conferences or trade shows | 6% | 71% to 91% | |
| Emphasize or recommend service features based on knowledge of customers' needs and vendor capabilities and limitations | 6% | 38% to 63% | |
| Create forms or agreements to complete sales | 5% | 70% to 95% |
The skills this job runs on
The skills sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel use most, most used first.
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Questions
When will machines do half of the tasks of Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel?
Machines can already do half of its tasks. That is the worldwide baseline from the 311 Workforce Starburst, before adjusting for country.
Will AI take the job of sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel?
Machines can do 65% of the tasks of sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel today and 82% by 2035. Most of the routine work moves to machines, and the people in the job move to oversight, judgement and client work.
Sources and citing
Tasks and their share of the day: O*NET 31.0, occupation 41-3091.00 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0). Pay and jobs: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. AI use today: Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY). Scoring and forecast: the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit; after 2035 the figures extend each trend, with lower confidence. Foresight, not advice.
Cite as: 311 Institute (2026). Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel: the outlook to 2050. 311 Workforce Starburst. https://www.311institute.com/jobs/sales-representatives-of-services-except-advertising-insurance-financial-services-and-travel/