Best Computer Jobs for the Future
The computer and technology job market is changing fast. Artificial intelligence is creating new jobs and specialties, even while it automates others. At the same time, tech hiring has become more competitive, especially for those breaking into the field. This guide identifies the computer jobs with the best future prospects, along with the trends shaping demand and the likely impact of AI.
For this ranking, we looked at the latest 2025-2035 employment projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), annual job openings, median pay, current hiring conditions, and the long-term outlook of each career.
AI received special attention in our 2026 update. The new BLS AI exposure categories reinforce that being more affected by AI doesn’t automatically mean job losses. AI can replace some tasks while making workers more productive and creating new jobs.
| Best Computer Jobs at a Glance | |||||
| Rank | Career | Growth | Salary | Market | AI Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI / ML Engineer | +22%* | $140,300* | High Demand | Very Positive |
| 2 | Cybersecurity Analyst | +21% | $129,180 | High Demand | Very Positive |
| 3 | Data Scientist | +35% | $120,230 | Competitive | Positive |
| 4 | DevOps Engineer | +10%* | $135,980* | High Demand | Very Positive |
| 5 | Technology Manager | +16% | $175,140 | Steady | Positive |
| 6 | Data Engineer | +9%* | $139,500* | High Demand | Very Positive |
| 7 | Software Engineer | +10% | $135,980 | Competitive | Mixed |
| 8 | Computer Systems Analyst | +8% | $105,850 | Steady | Positive |
| 9 | Computer Hardware Engineer | +9% | $161,740 | Steady | Positive |
| 10 | Computer Network Architect | +8% | $134,050 | Steady | Positive |
For comparison, BLS projects employment across all U.S. jobs to grow 3.5% with median pay of $50,980. Computer jobs overall are projected to grow 5.7% with median pay of $109,470.
Employment stats with an asterisk mean BLS doesn't track that tech job title separately, so we used the closest benchmark. Read about our methodology.
Here’s a closer look at the ten best computer jobs for the future:
AI / ML Engineer
Job Growth Through 2035: +22%*Annual Job Openings: 2,900*Median Pay: $140,300*Current Job Market: High DemandAI Impact: Very PositiveThe outlook for AI and machine learning engineers is especially strong as businesses move from experimenting with AI to deploying it at scale. Companies are building it into products, internal systems, customer service, analytics, cybersecurity, and more.
The latest hiring data reflects this shift. The 2026 Stanford AI Index found that AI skills appeared in 2.5% of all U.S. job postings in 2025, up 55% in a single year. Demand for agentic AI expertise soared over 280%, while AI deployment skills in cloud computing, scalability, and workflow management continued to gain ground.
AI/ML engineers who can turn models into production-ready systems will be well-positioned for success. Doing that requires skills in data engineering, cloud infrastructure, software development, and model evaluation.
Cybersecurity Analyst
Job Growth Through 2035: +21%Annual Job Openings: 14,100Median Pay: $129,180Current Job Market: High DemandAI Impact: Very PositiveCybersecurity was already one of the strongest tech career fields before the AI boom. BLS projects information security analyst employment to grow 21% through 2035, with 14,100 openings per year. Escalating cyberattacks and the need to protect new technologies, including AI, will drive future growth.
Current workforce demand is also high. CyberSeek counted 514,359 U.S. cybersecurity job listings from May 2024 to April 2025, up 12% over the previous period. About 10% of these listings specifically called for AI skills.
AI will take over some routine cybersecurity work. Automated tools are already good at reviewing logs, identifying suspicious activity, and sorting alerts. But AI is also giving attackers new tools, creating new risks, and adding another layer of tech for organizations to protect. Skilled cybersecurity professionals should remain hard to replace.
Data Scientist
Job Growth Through 2035: +35%Annual Job Openings: 24,800Median Pay: $120,230Current Job Market: CompetitiveAI Impact: PositiveData scientist employment is expected to skyrocket 35% from 2025 to 2035 as organizations collect massive amounts of data and hire more people to turn it into useful insights, predictions, and business intelligence.
However, the data science job market is more competitive than the long-term outlook suggests. Indeed’s Hiring Lab reported in June 2026 that job postings in data analysis were roughly 30% below their February 2020 level, part of a broader hiring slowdown in several high-tech fields.
AI should still be a net positive for data scientists. It will automate more routine coding, data prep, and analysis, which will boost the value of skills like problem framing, statistical judgment, model evaluation, and determining if AI-generated results are reliable enough to act on.
DevOps Engineer
Job Growth Through 2035: +10%*Annual Job Openings: 95,300*Median Pay: $135,980*Current Job Market: High DemandAI Impact: Very PositiveDevOps engineers help organizations build, deploy, automate, monitor, and maintain software and cloud environments. This job will become more important as companies continue to migrate applications to the cloud and expect development teams to release software faster without sacrificing reliability.
AI is adding more work at the infrastructure layer. AI-powered applications need to be deployed, monitored, scaled, secured, and connected to existing systems. Dice's August 2026 jobs report showed Azure DevOps Engineer among job titles with sharp recent hiring growth. It also found strong year-over-year growth in AI infrastructure, observability, maintainability, and cloud-native architecture skills.
Automation is more likely to change this job than eliminate it. DevOps engineers already automate repetitive work. As these tools improve, more demand should shift to architecture, reliability, security, troubleshooting, and keeping these complex systems running smoothly.
Technology Manager
Job Growth Through 2035: +16%Annual Job Openings: 53,500Median Pay: $175,140Current Job Market: SteadyAI Impact: PositiveWith median pay over $175,000, Technology Manager is the top-paying IT career in our ranking. BLS projects employment of computer and information systems managers to grow 16% through 2035, adding more than 108,000 positions over the decade.
AI is adding another major responsibility to IT leadership. Companies must decide which AI projects are worth pursuing, how new systems align with existing platforms, what risks they’ll create, and whether or not the organization has the people and infrastructure to support them. BLS cites investment in cloud computing, cybersecurity, and AI as future demand drivers for IT managers.
Data Engineer
Job Growth Through 2035: +9%*Annual Job Openings: 3,900*Median Pay: $139,500*Current Job Market: High DemandAI Impact: Very PositiveWhile data scientists focus more on analyzing data and finding insights, data engineers build the pipelines, platforms, and architecture that collect, organize, and deliver that data. This role is becoming more important as businesses launch new AI systems.
AI models need large amounts of accessible, reliable, and well-organized data. BLS forecasts database architect employment to grow about 9% through 2035. As routine database maintenance becomes easier to automate in the cloud, demand will shift toward designing data systems, integrating sources, maintaining data quality, and building infrastructure to support AI at scale.
Software Engineer
Job Growth Through 2035: +10%Annual Job Openings: 95,300Median Pay: $135,980Current Job Market: CompetitiveAI Impact: MixedSoftware engineering is still a huge career field. BLS expects software developer employment to grow 10% through 2035, creating nearly 175,000 new jobs with an average of 95,300 openings per year. AI, robotics, smart devices, cybersecurity, and other emerging technologies are all expected to increase demand for software.
The big question is what happens to the engineers doing the work. AI coding tools can already generate, explain, test, and revise code. The 2026 Stanford AI Index cited research showing that developers using GitHub Copilot completed about 26% more code changes, illustrating that AI can make working developers more productive. The report also found that employment of U.S. software developers ages 22 to 25 fell nearly 20% from its 2022 peak, while employment for older developers continued to grow.
This gives software engineering a more complicated outlook than the growth numbers alone suggest. There should still be a lot of software jobs in coming years, but companies will need fewer workers for routine development work, and breaking into the field may get harder. Software engineers who can design systems, solve hard problems, review AI-generated work, understand security, and use AI effectively will be well-positioned for success.
Computer Systems Analyst
Job Growth Through 2035: +8%Annual Job Openings: 32,900Median Pay: $105,850Current Job Market: SteadyAI Impact: PositiveComputer systems analysts figure out how technology can solve business problems. They study an organization's systems, identify what needs to change, and help design and implement better solutions.
This skill set will be valuable as businesses add AI to systems that were never designed with AI in mind. BLS projects 8% growth through 2035 and says businesses expanding their use of IT and artificial intelligence will need analysts to design and install new computer systems.
AI can speed up some aspects of systems analysts' work, such as documentation, research, and initial analysis. The harder part is understanding what your company actually needs, where a new system will fit, what can go wrong, and how to connect business users and tech teams. That mix of technical and business knowledge should keep systems analysts relevant as AI proliferates.
Computer Hardware Engineer
Job Growth Through 2035: +9%Annual Job Openings: 4,100Median Pay: $161,740Current Job Market: SteadyAI Impact: PositiveHardware engineering is the smallest job market in our ranking, but the pay is top-tier and the outlook is strong. BLS projects 9% employment growth through 2035, with a median salary of $161,740.
From cars and medical equipment to smart devices and industrial systems, a growing number of products depend on processors and embedded computing. This trend will support future hiring for hardware engineers. AI adds another source of demand as companies make major investments in the computing capacity to train and run next-gen models. Global corporate AI investment more than doubled in 2025, per Stanford's 2026 AI Index.
There are fewer openings here than other tech jobs on this list, and the educational barrier is high. But for engineers working on chips, embedded systems, AI hardware, connected devices, or robotics, the outlook is bright.
Computer Network Architect
Job Growth Through 2035: +8%Annual Job Openings: 9,600Median Pay: $134,050Current Job Market: SteadyAI Impact: PositiveThese professionals design the networks that connect an organization's systems, users, cloud services, and infrastructure. Network architects are becoming more important as companies rely on larger, more distributed environments.
BLS projects 8% growth through 2035 and points to AI and cloud computing as key growth drivers. Companies adopting AI will need to upgrade infrastructure, while continued cloud migration will require networks that can support greater capacity, performance, reliability, and security.
Network architecture has a stronger outlook than network administration. BLS projects network and systems administrator employment to decline 4% through 2035 as routine work becomes automated or centralized, while demand for higher-level network design continues to grow. This job typically requires 5+ years of related experience. For IT pros coming from networking, systems administration, cloud, or infrastructure, it’s a solid next step.
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Ranking Methodology
To determine the best computer jobs for the future, we considered employment growth, annual openings, median pay, current hiring conditions, and the impact of AI on each career.
We used BLS 2025-2035 employment projections for job growth and openings, along with BLS wage data for median pay. We also used current labor-market research from sources including the Stanford 2026 AI Index, Dice, Indeed Hiring Lab, and CyberSeek for additional context on hiring trends and AI.
Current Job Market reflects today’s hiring conditions.
- High Demand = strong employer demand
- Steady = stable flow of job opportunities
- Competitive = jobs are available but applicants face a tougher market
AI Impact reflects AI’s likely overall effect on the career.
- Very Positive = AI is creating substantial new demand
- Positive = the career should benefit overall from AI
- Mixed = AI is creating new opportunities but also automating a meaningful share of work
The Future of Computer Jobs
The best computer jobs for the future won’t necessarily be the ones least affected by AI. In many cases, the strongest opportunities will be in roles that use AI, build the infrastructure behind it, secure it, or apply it to real-world problems.
If you’re planning a career in IT, don’t look for a job that won’t change (not like those actually exist). Look for tech careers with durable demand, room to grow, and skills that become more valuable as technology advances. Those computer jobs will offer the brightest outlook through 2035 and beyond.
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