UK AI Exposure · Managers, directors and senior officials
Managers and directors in retail and wholesale
Retail and wholesale managers and directors plan, organise, direct and co-ordinate the operations of major retail and wholesale establishments in order to maximise business performance and meet financial goals.
- Employees (UK)
- 336k
- Median annual pay
- £36,006
- Exposure score ?
- 0.0/10 Minimal direct 0.0 · with tools 9.4
- Wage exposure
- £0
Higher exposure than 1% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means
Most of this role's work is still genuinely hard for AI to do. Physical presence, bodily skill, high-context judgment, direct human care - the things that don't translate to text.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
You're not in the firing line today. But the frontier moves. Build enough AI fluency now that you can direct it for the parts of your work that could benefit. People in unexposed roles who understand AI become unusually valuable inside their organisations.
The tasks in this role, ranked by AI exposure
Below are the real tasks O*NET records for this occupation, sorted highest exposure first. "AI can do this" means a language model can already handle the task directly. "AI can help" means an LLM can assist but not replace. "Human work" means today's AI doesn't touch it. Importance is O*NET's 1–5 rating of how central each task is to the role.
0 of 17 tasks in this role are things an AI can already do today. Task list mapped via O*NET "General and Operations Managers" (11-1021.00).
Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction or program improvement.
Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.
Manage the movement of goods into and out of production facilities to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, or sustainability of operations.
Direct administrative activities directly related to making products or providing services.
Set prices or credit terms for goods or services, based on forecasts of customer demand.
Prepare staff work schedules and assign specific duties.
Direct or coordinate financial or budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, or increase efficiency.
Perform sales floor work, such as greeting or assisting customers, stocking shelves, or taking inventory.
Plan or direct activities, such as sales promotions, that require coordination with other department managers.
Perform personnel functions, such as selection, training, or evaluation.
Establish or implement departmental policies, goals, objectives, or procedures in conjunction with board members, organization officials, or staff members.
Develop or implement product-marketing strategies, including advertising campaigns or sales promotions.
Direct non-merchandising departments of businesses, such as advertising or purchasing.
Monitor suppliers to ensure that they efficiently and effectively provide needed goods or services within budgetary limits.
Implement or oversee environmental management or sustainability programs addressing issues such as recycling, conservation, or waste management.
Plan store layouts or design displays.
Recommend locations for new facilities, or oversee the remodeling or renovating of current facilities.
Where a project with Alex usually starts for this role
This role's strict α score is low because its top tasks are judgment, not drafting. But those same tasks compress dramatically when AI is paired with the right context and tools. The three highest-stakes tasks below are usually where we start.
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Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction or program improvement.
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Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.
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Manage the movement of goods into and out of production facilities to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, or sustainability of operations.
Every role has three or four wedges like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days. Talk to Alex about a project →
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Methodology
This role's exposure score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 GPT task labels, aggregated by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 via ISCO-08 (ONS Vol 2 coding index) and US SOC 2010 (BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional. ASHE covers employees only, so self-employed workers are not counted.
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