business analyst
Business analysts research and understand the strategic position of businesses and companies in relation to their markets and their stakeholders. They analyse and present their views on how the company, from many perspectives, can improve its strategic position and internal corporate structure. They assess needs for change, communication methods, technology, IT tools, new standards and certifications.
business analyst business analysts research and understand the strategic position of businesses and companies in relation to their markets and their stakeholders. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.58 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include digital data processing, business analysis, data visualisation software, risk management, market research.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £53,295 a year for Management consultants and business analysts (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £40,202 to £70,977 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 2431). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only business analyst, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Economics and Accounting
- Communications and Media
- Education and Training
What you'd actually do
- Generate standard or custom reports summarizing business, financial, or economic data for review by executives, managers, clients, and other stakeholders.
- Maintain or update business intelligence tools, databases, dashboards, systems, or methods.
- Manage timely flow of business intelligence information to users.
- Provide technical support for existing reports, dashboards, or other tools.
- Identify and analyze industry or geographic trends with business strategy implications.
- Document specifications for business intelligence or information technology reports, dashboards, or other outputs.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does business analyst do?
Business analysts research and understand the strategic position of businesses and companies in relation to their markets and their stakeholders. They analyse and present their views on how the company, from many perspectives, can improve its strategic position and internal corporate structure. They assess needs for change, communication methods, technology, IT tools, new standards and certifications.
What skills does business analyst need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include digital data processing, business analysis, data visualisation software, risk management, market research, business analytics. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace business analyst?
Our AI-durability model gives business analyst a score of 0.58 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.