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Food & Hospitality · Updated Aug 2026

Chefs and Head Cooks

Direct and may participate in the preparation, seasoning, and cooking of salads, soups, fish, meats, vegetables, desserts, or other foods. May plan and price menu items, order supplies, and keep records and accounts.

JVS 2.0.0-phase4b
AI Exposure
61/100
High

How much of this occupation’s work can be materially affected by current AI systems.

Replacement Risk
42/100
Moderate

How likely exposure is to translate into reduced human demand.

Includes provisional estimates for AI adoption pressure and labour-market resilience. How this is measured

Evidence quality
Confidence82/100
Task coverage84%

Confidence reflects task coverage, mapping and capability-evidence quality, and how much of the score rests on provisional inputs.

Task-level evidence

What is driving the score?

Occupation scores are built from the task mix—not a single prediction about a job title.

JVS 2.0.0-phase4b
TaskImportanceAI impactExposure
Instruct cooks or other workers in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, or presentation of food.High
70
Supervise or coordinate activities of cooks or workers engaged in food preparation.High
65
Check the quality of raw or cooked food products to ensure that standards are met.High
70
Order or requisition food or other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation.High
70
Inspect supplies, equipment, or work areas to ensure conformance to established standards.High
52
Estimate amounts and costs of required supplies, such as food and ingredients.High
67
Determine how food should be presented and create decorative food displays.Medium
69
Plan, direct, or supervise food preparation or cooking activities of multiple kitchens or restaurants in an establishment such as a restaurant chain, hospital, or hotel.Medium
64
Monitor sanitation practices to ensure that employees follow standards and regulations.High
32
Prepare and cook foods of all types, either on a regular basis or for special guests or functions.Medium
70
Determine production schedules and staff requirements necessary to ensure timely delivery of services.Medium
63
Analyze recipes to assign prices to menu items, based on food, labor, and overhead costs.High
69
Coordinate planning, budgeting, or purchasing for all the food operations within establishments such as clubs, hotels, or restaurant chains.High
66
Collaborate with other personnel to plan and develop recipes or menus, taking into account such factors as seasonal availability of ingredients or the likely number of customers.Medium
61
Meet with customers to discuss menus for special occasions, such as weddings, parties, or banquets.Medium
53
Meet with sales representatives to negotiate prices or order supplies.Medium
60
Recruit and hire staff, such as cooks and other kitchen workers.Medium
54
Most exposed

Where AI can do more

Routine, digitized, and highly repeatable tasks face the greatest pressure.

  1. Instruct cooks or other workers in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, or presentation of food.70
  2. Check the quality of raw or cooked food products to ensure that standards are met.70
  3. Order or requisition food or other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation.70
  4. Prepare and cook foods of all types, either on a regular basis or for special guests or functions.70
Hardest to automate

Where people still matter

These tasks score lowest on automation feasibility—physical presence, judgement, accountability and real-world variability all resist end-to-end automation.

  1. Monitor sanitation practices to ensure that employees follow standards and regulations.01
  2. Instruct cooks or other workers in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, or presentation of food.02
  3. Supervise or coordinate activities of cooks or workers engaged in food preparation.03
  4. Check the quality of raw or cooked food products to ensure that standards are met.04
  5. Order or requisition food or other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation.05
Where else this work leads

Related occupations

Occupations O*NET links to this one. Relatedness reflects shared work, not a claim that these roles are safer.

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AI risk 48

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

Shares some work

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Beyond AI capability

Adoption and labour-market outlook

Structural factors are kept separate from raw capability so you can see what actually resists automation. Adoption pressure and labour-market resilience are still provisional models—25% of this occupation’s replacement-risk weight rests on them.

Human dependency77
Physical dependency68
Adoption pressure40
Labour-market resilience71
Methodology & sources

O*NET 30.3 occupational data interpreted through the JobsVsAI capability, automation and structural-constraint models.

Confidence82/100
CalculatedAug 21, 2026
Read methodology →