One survey of software professionals has found that 63% were using GenAI irresponsibly — a behavior that could negate the technology’s benefits

Based on a survey of 1,098 senior executives (director and above) and 1,092 software professionals (architects, developers, testers, and project managers, among others)* on the trends surrounding the use of generative AI (GenAI) in software engineering, several findings were discerned from the data.

First, 80% of the software professionals group of respondents indicated the belief that, by automating simpler repetitive tasks, GenAI tools and solutions will significantly transform their function, freeing up time for them to focus on higher-value-adding tasks.

Second, more than three quarters of the respondents in the software professionals group cited confidence that GenAI has the potential to boostcollaboration with non-technical business teams. 

Other findings

Thirdly, while GenAI adoption for software engineering is still in its early stages, with nine-in-10 respondents indicating their organizations have yet to scale, those with active GenAI initiatives in force indicated reaping multiple benefits from its adoption, with 61% citing “fostering innovation”, and 49% citing “improving software quality”.

These respondents also cited an improvement of between 7% and 18% (on average) in the productivity of their software engineering functions. For certain specialized tasks, time saving was as high as 35%. Also:

  • 50% of the respondents (software professionals group) enjoying GenAI benefits cited that the time freed-up had been channeled into developing new software features; 47% channeled it to upskilling; a 4% spent on reducing headcount being the least-adopted route. New roles, such as “GenAI developer”, “prompt writers” or “GenAI architect” were also emerging.
  • 78% of the software professionals group of respondents were optimistic about Ge AI’s potential to enhance collaboration: from facilitating better communication to explaining what the software code is doing in natural language, GenAI was said to make the connection between software engineers and other business teams more effective.
  • 46% of the software engineers in the software professionals group were using GenAI tools to assist them on various tasks. Almost three quarters indicated that GenAI’s potential extends beyond the automated writing of code. While coding assistance was the leading use case, the respondents also used GenAI in other software development lifecycle activities, such as code modernization or user experience (UX) design.
  • 69% and 55% of senior and junior software professionals, respectively, reported high levels of satisfaction from using GenAI. They indicated seeing GenAI as a strong enabler and motivator. However, 63% of software professionals in the survey also declared using unauthorized GenAI tools. This rapid take-up, without proper governance and oversight in place, could expose their organizations to functional, security, and legal risks like hallucinated code, code leakage, and IP issues.

According to Pierre-Yves Glever, Head, Global Cloud & Custom Applications, Capgemini, the firm that commissioned and conducted the survey: “GenAI has emerged as a powerful technology to assist software engineers, rapidly gaining adoption… however, we must remember that the true value will emerge from a holistic software engineering approach, beyond deploying a single ‘new’ tool. This involves addressing business needs with robust and relevant design; establishing comprehensive developer workspaces and assistants; implementing quality and security gates; and setting up effective software teams. The focus should be on what genuinely generates value. Exciting times lie ahead!” 

*also including 20 in-depth interviews conducted with selected industry, partners, software professionals and startups