Generative AI for Software Engineering Teams
Generative AI is trending in the tech world, but how are software engineering leaders making use of the tool? Which use cases are most promising, and which concerns are top of mind?
One minute insights:
More than half of respondents say generative AI is currently used in their software engineering department; those who aren’t using it cite security concerns
For those using generative AI, pair programming is a common use
ChatGPT is a commonly used tool among respondents whose software engineering departments are using generative AI
Respondents are excited about generative AI’s use in code generation, but concerned with inaccurate, dated and/or biased results
Many respondents believe that generative AI will positively impact software engineering
More than half of respondents’ software engineering departments are currently using generative AI, but those who aren’t cite security concerns
55% of respondents say their software engineering department is currently using generative AI. Almost one-quarter (23%) are not using generative AI in their software engineering department, while 22% say that certain teams or employees are using it independently.
Is your software engineering department currently using generative AI?
n = 110
Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding
Respondents whose software engineering departments are not currently using generative AI (n = 49) cited security (76%) and inaccurate or biased results (71%) as reasons why they’re not using the tool on a departmental level.
What are the reasons you aren’t using generative AI in your software engineering department? Select all that apply.
n = 49
Lack of viable use cases 29% | Insu icient skills on the team 29% | Cost 6% | Not sure 0% | None of these 0% | Other 0%
Question shown only to respondents who answered “no” or “no, but certain teams or employees are using it independently” to the question “Is your software engineering department currently using generative AI?”
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Question: What is one way that you believe generative AI will impact software engineering in the future?
Transparency and accountability will help to get more trust on AI
[Generative AI] will help engineers to come up with complex products faster.
For those using generative AI, pair programming is a common use and ChatGPT is a common tool
Respondents whose software engineering departments utilize generative AI (n = 60) use it for AI-assisted pair programming (60%), code generation (52%) and code documentation generation (45%).
How do you use generative AI in your software engineering department? Select all that apply.
n = 60
Customer feedback summarization 20% | Governance document generation 12% | Hyperautomation support 12% | None of these 2% | Not sure 0% | Other 0%
Question shown only to respondents who answered “yes” to the question “Is your software engineering department currently using generative AI?”
More than three-quarters (78%) of respondents whose software engineering department uses generative AI (n = 60) use ChatGPT for generative AI.
Which tool(s) do you use for generative AI? Select all that apply
n = 60
Replit Ghostwriter 15% | Bitext 12% | Stability.AI 12% | None of these 3% | Not sure 2% | Other 0%
Question shown only to respondents who answered “yes” to the question “Is your software engineering department currently using generative AI?”
Despite using generative AI in their software engineering departments (n = 60), more than half (53%) of these respondents do not have governance policies in place guiding employees on how to use it.
Do you have a generative AI governance policy in place to guide employees on how to use it?
n = 60
Question shown only to respondents who answered “yes” to the question “Is your software engineering department currently using generative AI?”
Question: What is one way that you believe generative AI will impact software engineering in the future?
[Generative AI] is going to change the overall TAT [turnaround time] for producing quality code. [It] may eradicate a lot of jobs especially at the junior software developer level.
It will create more volume of new code than we have resources to keep in check
Whether or not their software engineering department uses generative AI, leaders are excited about its use in code generation, but concerned with undesirable results
Respondents are most excited about generative AI’s use in code generation (61%), AI-assisted pair programming (55%) and technical document generation (48%).
Overall, which use cases for generative AI are you most excited about for software engineering? Select all that apply.
n = 110
Productivity 35% | Governance document generation 30% | Hyperautomation support 25% | Customer feedback summarization 18% | There are no promising use cases 4% | None of these 1% | Not sure 0% | Other 0%
As for di iculties, respondents identified undesirable results (66%), lack of corporate governance policies (43%) and pushback from leadership (38%) as the biggest challenges associated with using generative AI in software engineering.
Overall, what are the biggest challenges associated with using generative AI in software engineering? Select all that apply.
n = 110
Licensing, IP or plagiarism concerns 29% | Lack of regulations for generative AI tools 26% | Lack of trust in generative AI vendors 25% | Pushback from staff 24% | None of these 1% | I don’t have any concerns 0% | Not sure 0% | Other 0%
Question: What is one way that you believe generative AI will impact software engineering in the future?
I could see that the AI will reduce the e orts involved with coding and will eventually reduce the delivery time. However, the same will be true when companies focus on training the workforce, investing time as well as money.
[Generative AI] will help speed up coding — with human intervention after the main work is done by the AI
Many respondents believe that generative AI will positively impact software engineering and a ect sta ing and hiring
Almost three-quarters (70%) of respondents believe that generative AI will have a somewhat positive impact on software engineering. 23% believe it will have a very positive impact.
Do you believe that generative AI will have a positive or negative impact on software engineering?
0% Very negative 0% Too early to tell
As for the impact on software engineering sta ing and hiring, 63% believe generative AI will necessitate training for current sta on how to use it. 59% think that new job roles will be created for generative AI initiatives, and 55% think that management candidates will need expertise in generative AI governance.
How will generative AI impact software engineering staffing and hiring overall? Select all that apply.
n = 110
Not sure 2% | Other 0%
Question: What is one way that you believe generative AI will impact software engineering in the future?
Low-level software engineering jobs will be replaced by AI.
[Generative AI will] increase productivity to a large extent, [and] create a lot of jobs for software engineers. The department will take a more strategic tack. More jobs will be created to develop a new set of human work tasks — many of them of higher value.
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Respondent breakdown
Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Respondents: 110 software engineering and IT leaders