Will AI replace Regulatory Affairs Managers?
Work in Regulatory Affairs Managers sits in the in-between: AI reaches some of it (~56% in theory) but is only measured doing about 7% today — part human, part machine.
The Hybrid Zone
Part human, part AI — already a blend.
O*NET-SOC 11-9199
How your 122 core tasks split
9 AI can do this now
102 AI speeds this up
11 Still on you
AI could do · GPT-4 study
56%
49-pt gap
AI actually does · 2026 report
7%
Top = what GPT-4 judged AI could speed up. Bottom = how much AI was actually used for these tasks (Anthropic's March 2026 report, usage from Aug & Nov 2025). The gap is the real story.
Back in 2023, GPT-4 judged AI could, in theory, assist with a moderate share of this job's tasks (~56%). By late 2025, real-world AI use had reached about 7% of its task activity (growing but still limited). The gap between that 2023 forecast and today is the real story.
Where this job sits among 738 jobs
Each dot is one of 738 U.S. jobs. Right = AI can do more of it. Up = AI is actually used more.
Lowconfidence
Don't trust a single AI-risk score here
For this job, the signals disagree sharply. AI's theoretical reach looks moderate (~56%), but real-world use is only ~7%, and how much AI "can" do shifts wildly by model — one 2026 study found the share of "high-risk" jobs swung 2.7% to 51.5% just by changing which AI did the rating. This page shows the spread instead of pretending there's one number.
See all 122 tasks, ratedBased on real task-level AI scores — click to collapse
AI can already do this9 of 122
- Review materials such as marketing literature or user manuals to ensure that regulatory agency requirements are met.
- Develop and maintain standard operating procedures or local working practices.
- Establish procedures or systems for publishing document submissions in hardcopy or electronic formats.
- Maintain documentation of compliance activities, such as complaints received or investigation outcomes.
- Disseminate written policies and procedures related to compliance activities.
- Maintain documentation of all loss prevention activity.
- Maintain operations records, such as work orders, site inspection forms, or other documentation.
- Provide verbal or written project status reports to project teams, management, subcontractors, customers, or owners.
- Maintain records of decisions, actions, and progress related to environmental redevelopment projects.
AI speeds this up102 of 122
- Provide responses to regulatory agencies regarding product information or issues.
- Direct the preparation and submission of regulatory agency applications, reports, or correspondence.
- Review all regulatory agency submission materials to ensure timeliness, accuracy, comprehensiveness, or compliance with regulatory standards.
- Develop regulatory strategies and implementation plans for the preparation and submission of new products.
- Manage activities such as audits, regulatory agency inspections, or product recalls.
- Formulate or implement regulatory affairs policies and procedures to ensure that regulatory compliance is maintained or enhanced.
- Maintain current knowledge of relevant regulations, including proposed and final rules.
- Communicate regulatory information to multiple departments and ensure that information is interpreted correctly.
- Provide regulatory guidance to departments or development project teams regarding design, development, evaluation, or marketing of products.
- Direct documentation efforts to ensure compliance with domestic and international regulations and standards.
- Monitor emerging trends regarding industry regulations to determine potential impacts on organizational processes.
- Investigate product complaints and prepare documentation and submissions to appropriate regulatory agencies as necessary.
- Represent organizations before domestic or international regulatory agencies on major policy matters or decisions regarding company products.
- Train staff in regulatory policies or procedures.
- Participate in the development or implementation of clinical trial protocols.
- Implement or monitor complaint processing systems to ensure effective and timely resolution of all complaint investigations.
- Contribute to the development or implementation of business unit strategic and operating plans.
- Coordinate internal discoveries and depositions with legal department staff.
- Develop relationships with state or federal environmental regulatory agencies to learn about and analyze the potential impacts of proposed environmental policy regulations.
- Establish regulatory priorities or budgets and allocate resources and workloads.
- Evaluate new software publishing systems and confer with regulatory agencies concerning news or updates on electronic publishing of submissions.
- Monitor regulatory affairs activities to ensure their alignment with corporate sustainability or green initiatives.
- Report violations of compliance or regulatory standards to duly authorized enforcement agencies as appropriate or required.
- Identify compliance issues that require follow-up or investigation.
- Discuss emerging compliance issues to ensure that management and employees are informed about compliance reporting systems, policies, and practices.
- File appropriate compliance reports with regulatory agencies.
- Consult with corporate attorneys as necessary to address difficult legal compliance issues.
- Conduct or direct the internal investigation of compliance issues.
- Provide employee training on compliance related topics, policies, or procedures.
- Verify that all regulatory policies and procedures have been documented, implemented, and communicated.
- Prepare management reports regarding compliance operations and progress.
- Conduct periodic internal reviews or audits to ensure that compliance procedures are followed.
- Keep informed regarding pending industry changes, trends, or best practices.
- Monitor compliance systems to ensure their effectiveness.
- Direct the development or implementation of policies and procedures related to compliance throughout an organization.
- Advise internal management or business partners on the implementation or operation of compliance programs.
- Design or implement improvements in communication, monitoring, or enforcement of compliance standards.
- Provide assistance to internal or external auditors in compliance reviews.
- Collaborate with human resources departments to ensure the implementation of consistent disciplinary action strategies in cases of compliance standard violations.
- Coordinate or conduct internal investigations of problems such as employee theft and violations of corporate loss prevention policies.
- Administer systems and programs to reduce loss, maintain inventory control, or increase safety.
- Review loss prevention exception reports and cash discrepancies to ensure adherence to guidelines.
- Provide recommendations and solutions in crisis situations such as workplace violence, protests, and demonstrations.
- Identify potential for loss and develop strategies to eliminate it.
- Advise retail managers on compliance with applicable codes, laws, regulations, or standards.
- Perform or direct inventory investigations in response to shrink results outside of acceptable ranges.
- Assess security needs across locations to ensure proper deployment of loss prevention resources, such as staff and technology.
- Monitor compliance to operational, safety, or inventory control procedures, including physical security standards.
- Verify correct use and maintenance of physical security systems, such as closed-circuit television, merchandise tags, and burglar alarms.
- Analyze retail data to identify current or emerging trends in theft or fraud.
- Direct loss prevention audit programs including target store audits, maintenance audits, safety audits, or electronic article surveillance (EAS) audits.
- Collaborate with law enforcement to investigate and solve external theft or fraud cases.
- Coordinate theft and fraud investigations involving career criminals or organized group activities.
- Supervise surveillance, detection, or criminal processing related to theft and criminal cases.
- Perform cash audits and deposit investigations to fully account for store cash.
- Recommend improvements in loss prevention programs, staffing, scheduling, or training.
- Direct installation of covert surveillance equipment, such as security cameras.
- Monitor and review paperwork procedures and systems to prevent error-related shortages.
- Advise retail establishments on development of loss-investigation procedures.
- Train or coordinate the training of employees in operations, safety, environmental issues, or technical issues.
- Track and maintain records for wind operations, such as site performance, downtime events, parts usage, or substation events.
- Prepare wind field operational budgets.
- Recruit or select wind operations employees, contractors, or subcontractors.
- Provide technical support to wind field customers, employees, or subcontractors.
- Estimate costs associated with operations, including repairs or preventive maintenance.
- Monitor and maintain records of daily facility operations.
- Establish goals, objectives, or priorities for wind field operations.
- Order parts, tools, or equipment needed to maintain, restore, or improve wind field operations.
- Review, negotiate, or approve wind farm contracts.
- Manage warranty repair or replacement services.
- Develop processes or procedures for wind operations, including transitioning from construction to commercial operations.
- Coordinate or direct development, energy assessment, engineering, or construction activities to ensure that wind project needs and objectives are met.
- Manage wind project costs to stay within budget limits.
- Lead or support negotiations involving tax agreements or abatements, power purchase agreements, land use, or interconnection agreements.
- Create wind energy project plans, including project scope, goals, tasks, resources, schedules, costs, contingencies, or other project information.
- Supervise the work of subcontractors or consultants to ensure quality and conformance to specifications or budgets.
- Develop scope of work for wind project functions, such as design, site assessment, environmental studies, surveying, or field support services.
- Update schedules, estimates, forecasts, or budgets for wind projects.
- Prepare or assist in the preparation of applications for environmental, building, or other required permits.
- Review or evaluate proposals or bids to make recommendations regarding awarding of contracts.
- Manage site assessments or environmental studies for wind fields.
- Prepare wind project documentation, including diagrams or layouts.
- Review civil design, engineering, or construction technical documentation to ensure compliance with applicable government or industrial codes, standards, requirements, or regulations.
- Prepare requests for proposals (RFPs) for wind project construction or equipment acquisition.
- Provide technical support for the design, construction, or commissioning of wind farm projects.
- Identify environmental contamination sources.
- Coordinate on-site activities for environmental cleanup or remediation projects to ensure compliance with environmental laws, standards, regulations, or other requirements.
- Identify and apply for project funding.
- Plan or implement brownfield redevelopment projects to ensure safety, quality, and compliance with applicable standards or requirements.
- Estimate costs for environmental cleanup and remediation of land redevelopment projects.
- Conduct quantitative risk assessments for human health, environmental, or other risks.
- Design or implement plans for surface or ground water remediation.
- Design or implement measures to improve the water, air, and soil quality of military test sites, abandoned mine land, or other contaminated sites.
- Review or evaluate environmental remediation project proposals.
- Prepare reports or presentations to communicate brownfield redevelopment needs, status, or progress.
- Inspect sites to assess environmental damage or monitor cleanup progress.
- Develop or implement plans for the sustainable regeneration of brownfield sites to ensure regeneration of a wider area by providing environmental protection or economic and social benefits.
- Conduct feasibility or cost-benefit studies for environmental remediation projects.
- Prepare and submit permit applications for demolition, cleanup, remediation, or construction projects.
- Negotiate contracts for services or materials needed for environmental remediation.
- Design or conduct environmental restoration studies.
- Review or evaluate designs for contaminant treatment or disposal facilities.
Still on you11 of 122
- Serve as a confidential point of contact for employees to communicate with management, seek clarification on issues or dilemmas, or report irregularities.
- Train loss prevention staff, retail managers, or store employees on loss control and prevention measures.
- Investigate or interview individuals suspected of shoplifting or internal theft.
- Hire or supervise loss prevention staff.
- Develop and maintain partnerships with federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies or members of the retail loss prevention community.
- Visit stores to ensure compliance with company policies and procedures.
- Supervise employees or subcontractors to ensure quality of work or adherence to safety regulations or policies.
- Oversee the maintenance of wind field equipment or structures, such as towers, transformers, electrical collector systems, roadways, or other site assets.
- Develop relationships and communicate with customers, site managers, developers, land owners, authorities, utility representatives, or residents.
- Coordinate the disposal of hazardous waste.
- Design or implement plans for structural demolition and debris removal.
How we measured this — and how fresh it is
AI's theoretical reach data: 2023
From GPTs-are-GPTs (Eloundou et al.), where GPT-4 rated how much of each task an AI tool could meaningfully speed up. This is the most recent open, commercially-usable occupation-level potential dataset — it dates to 2023. Newer multi-model re-runs exist but swing wildly (one 2026 study saw "high-risk" jobs range 2.7%–51.5% by model) and aren't openly licensed, so we show the stable 2023 baseline and pair it with newer real-world data.
Real-world AI use 2026 report
From the Anthropic Economic Index, which observes how real Claude conversations map onto each occupation's tasks. Published in Anthropic's March 2026 labor-market report, based on usage measured in Aug & Nov 2025 (Sonnet 4 / 4.5).
Task list & ratings O*NET 30.3
Tasks come from O*NET 30.3. Each task's "AI can do / speeds up / still on you" tier uses the real task-level exposure scores from GPTs-are-GPTs (E1 / E2 / E0) — not a guess from keywords.
Sources: O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0) · GPTs-are-GPTs (MIT, 2023) · Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY, Aug & Nov 2025). Page compiled June 2026. "O*NET" is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor.
This page is for general informational purposes only and is not career, financial, or employment advice. AI exposure reflects research estimates of task overlap, not predictions about any individual's job, employer, or future employment.