Career Explorer Sales
Changing shape
Sales engineers
Sell business goods or services, the selling of which requires a technical background equivalent to a baccalaureate degree in engineering.
Among the careers AI is changing fastest: more resilient than 17% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it very high), and US jobs are projected to change by +2.8% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on creative vision and ethical judgement.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $124,900
- Job growth to 2035
- +2.8%
- Openings a year
- 3,800
- People doing it (2025)
- 51,600
- Usual route in
- Bachelor's degree, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Promote products, services, or programs
- Advise others on products or services
- Identify business or organizational opportunities
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Sell products or services
- Prepare proposals or grant applications
- Communicate with others about business strategies
What the work looks like
- 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.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as artificial intelligence (AI) tools are increasingly integrated into workflows, allowing sales engineers to focus on direct sales activity.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Animal scientistsGrows with AI, Index 40, +5.8%
- Environmental engineersGrows with AI, Index 39, +6.3%
- Civil engineersGrows with AI, Index 44, +6.4%
- Petroleum engineersChanging shape, Index 28, +2.0%
Also known as: Business Development Engineer, Product Sales Engineer, Sales Engineer, Technical Marketing Engineer, Inside Sales Engineer, Sales Applications Engineer, Technical Sales Engineer.
Is this career on your child's list?
Build a free Career Playbook matched to your child, or get a 90-day Action Plan with dated next steps, written for your child by name.
Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.