Information technology directors
Information technology directors plan, organise, direct and co-ordinate the work and resources necessary to provide and operate IT infrastructure and services, including networks, devices, servers and software that runs on the infrastructure within an organisation. IT programme managers and directors direct and provide technical oversight to particular IT programmes of a discrete duration and/or budget.
- Employees (UK)
- 60k
- Median annual pay
- £90,081
- Exposure score ?
- 1.2/10 Minimal 9.4/10 Very high strict reading, with tools is 9.4/10 with-tools reading, strict is 1.2/10
- Wage exposure
- £649m £5.08bn
Higher exposure than 61% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Almost every routine task in this role is within reach of today's models. Roles like this are being rebuilt, usually not by disappearing but by one person using AI to produce what several did.
If you are in this role
Be the person doing the rebuilding. People who learn to run this kind of work with AI become very valuable, and the ones who wait tend to have the change made for them.
Where the work usually starts.
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.
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Manage backup, security and user help systems.
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Direct daily operations of department, analyzing workflow, establishing priorities, developing standards and setting deadlines.
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Meet with department heads, managers, supervisors, vendors, and others, to solicit cooperation and resolve problems.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Manage backup, security and user help systems.
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Direct daily operations of department, analyzing workflow, establishing priorities, developing standards and setting deadlines.
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Review project plans to plan and coordinate project activity.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Computer and Information Systems Managers" (11-3021.00).
What AI can already do
2 of 17 tasks, unaided
Assign and review the work of systems analysts, programmers, and other computer-related workers.
Review and approve all systems charts and programs prior to their implementation.
What still needs a person
15 of 17 tasks
Manage backup, security and user help systems.
Direct daily operations of department, analyzing workflow, establishing priorities, developing standards and setting deadlines.
Meet with department heads, managers, supervisors, vendors, and others, to solicit cooperation and resolve problems.
Review project plans to plan and coordinate project activity.
Provide users with technical support for computer problems.
Develop computer information resources, providing for data security and control, strategic computing, and disaster recovery.
Recruit, hire, train and supervise staff, or participate in staffing decisions.
Stay abreast of advances in technology.
Consult with users, management, vendors, and technicians to assess computing needs and system requirements.
Develop and interpret organizational goals, policies, and procedures.
Evaluate the organization's technology use and needs and recommend improvements, such as hardware and software upgrades.
Prepare and review operational reports or project progress reports.
Evaluate data processing proposals to assess project feasibility and requirements.
Control operational budget and expenditures.
Purchase necessary equipment.
Tasks via O*NET "Computer and Information Systems Managers" (11-3021.00).
What AI can already do
16 of 17 tasks, with tools
Manage backup, security and user help systems.
Direct daily operations of department, analyzing workflow, establishing priorities, developing standards and setting deadlines.
Review project plans to plan and coordinate project activity.
Assign and review the work of systems analysts, programmers, and other computer-related workers.
Provide users with technical support for computer problems.
Develop computer information resources, providing for data security and control, strategic computing, and disaster recovery.
Recruit, hire, train and supervise staff, or participate in staffing decisions.
Stay abreast of advances in technology.
Consult with users, management, vendors, and technicians to assess computing needs and system requirements.
Develop and interpret organizational goals, policies, and procedures.
Evaluate the organization's technology use and needs and recommend improvements, such as hardware and software upgrades.
Review and approve all systems charts and programs prior to their implementation.
Prepare and review operational reports or project progress reports.
Evaluate data processing proposals to assess project feasibility and requirements.
Control operational budget and expenditures.
Purchase necessary equipment.
What still needs a person
1 of 17 tasks
Meet with department heads, managers, supervisors, vendors, and others, to solicit cooperation and resolve problems.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Managers, directors and senior officials, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons