AI is changing software developers’ day-to-day work and raising concerns about career prospects, according to a study by Adaptavist. More than half of respondents (54%) said they felt anxious about their long-term careers, citing changes to their roles and the skills now expected rather than AI having directly replaced them.
The report found that three in five developers said their employers expect them to accomplish more with fewer resources because AI is available. More than half (55%) also reported greater pressure to work faster. Overall, 61% said software development had changed too quickly, while 31% felt the changes had harmed their careers and 46% said they had made the work less attractive.
For many respondents, development now involves managing AI agents and checking their output, rather than simply using AI tools. Some 51% said their role had shifted toward managing AI. At the same time, half said they used AI mainly to show managers they were adopting it, rather than because it was helping their work. More than one in three (37%) worried they could lose their job if they did not adopt AI.
There is a mismatch between how developers think AI should be evaluated and how they say employers measure it. Just 22% considered usage levels a valid measure of success, but 58% said simply using AI had become a key workplace metric. Respondents instead favored measures such as software quality, productivity, delivery speed and cost savings.
The study also highlighted concerns about career development. Mid-career developers were most likely to say AI was negatively affecting their progression, while 43% of junior developers believed it had reduced their opportunities to learn. Adaptavist DevOps Lead Matt Saunders said organizations should help developers build the skills and support needed to work effectively with AI throughout their careers.
Sources: TechRadar.