Every few months, a new wave of articles declares that AI is about to eliminate IT jobs. The reality on the ground in Texas in 2026 is more interesting and more nuanced than those headlines suggest. AI is changing what IT jobs involve. It is not eliminating the need for IT workers — in fact, it’s creating categories of work that didn’t exist five years ago.
What AI is actually doing to IT work
Routine, high-volume tasks are being automated faster than more complex ones. Password resets, basic ticket routing, common troubleshooting scripts — these are being handled increasingly by AI tools and self-service portals. The tier 1 help desk role that existed in 2019 handles a different distribution of work in 2026 than it used to.
What’s not being automated: the judgment calls, the ambiguous situations, the novel problems, the user management work that requires understanding context. A SOC analyst deciding whether an alert is a real threat or a false positive. A sysadmin figuring out why an application behaves differently on one server than on another with identical configuration. These require human judgment about real-world situations — which AI tools assist with but don’t replace.
What AI is creating
New roles that didn’t exist before. AI system administration — the work of configuring, monitoring, and maintaining AI tools deployed in enterprise environments. Prompt engineering and AI tool integration, which sits at the boundary of IT and business operations. Data pipeline work that feeds the training and fine-tuning processes. These are emerging IT roles, and the people who understand both foundational IT and AI tools are positioned for them.
What this means for someone starting out now
The foundational skills — networking, systems, security, databases — remain essential. AI doesn’t change what a VPN is or how a SQL query works. It changes which tasks are automated and which new tasks need humans. Learning the foundations and staying current with AI tools is the combination that matters.
Infotech Academy’s AI and Automation learning track is part of the Pre-Apprenticeship Program, building these skills alongside traditional IT foundations. The program is free for eligible Texas residents. Check your eligibility at infotechacademy.online/pap.