Developers say AI use is driven by management pressure

Adaptavist has published research suggesting that half of developers use artificial intelligence mainly to show management they are adopting it. The survey covered 1,000 developers across five countries.

The findings point to a gap between companies' AI rollout strategies and how developers experience those policies at work. The research found that 52% of respondents use AI more often than necessary to meet organisational expectations, while 47% said they are judged on how much they use AI rather than on the quality of their work.

AI use is also becoming more formalised in performance management. According to the survey, 58% of developers said AI use is becoming a formal performance metric or key performance indicator, and 37% worry they could lose their job if they do not use AI.

Those figures come as companies continue to invest in AI tools and seek evidence that staff are using them. The results suggest that, for many software developers, pressure to adopt the technology is being felt as a workplace demand rather than a choice about how to improve output.

Career pressure

The research also found that 60% of developers are being asked to do more with fewer resources because of AI expectations. More than half, 54%, said those expectations have increased anxiety about their long-term career prospects.

That concern spans experience levels. Adaptavist found that 52% of early-career developers, 54% of mid-career developers and 57% of experienced developers reported increased career anxiety linked to AI.

The pressure appeared stronger among those who said AI use was being forced on them. In that group, 61% reported increased career anxiety, compared with 54% overall, and 36% said the anxiety was hurting their performance at work.

The findings also indicate a broader shift in how developers view the profession. Some 43% said software development is becoming a less attractive career, while 37% said AI is making the job more stressful.

Workplace impact

Job enjoyment is also being affected. Overall, 40% of developers said AI is making software development less enjoyable, rising to 52% among women.

At the same time, respondents were clear about what they value in their working environment. The survey found that 85% said having time to solve problems properly, rather than constantly working to deadlines, is critical to a good developer experience. A further 72% said good developer experience is more important than ever in the AI era.

For some respondents, dissatisfaction has hardened into opposition to the technology itself. The research found that 41% would remove AI agents from the workforce entirely if given the choice, and 33% said they would rid the world of AI altogether.

That sentiment was stronger among more established staff. Among mid-career and experienced developers, the figures rose to 44% for removing AI agents from the workforce and 40% for wanting to rid the world of AI.

Adaptavist said the results show developer experience is being overlooked as businesses focus on AI adoption targets. It warned that measuring and managing AI use in this way risks weakening engagement among technical staff.

Matt Saunders, DevOps lead at The Adaptavist Group, said there is a difference between introducing AI tools and creating working conditions in which developers can use them effectively.

"A good developer experience is critical not only to the wellbeing of developers themselves, but to organisational growth and innovation. It therefore must not be undermined by adoption targets, usage metrics, or a culture that rewards being seen to use AI over actually using it well. Together, they are creating fertile ground for an exodus, one KPI at a time.

"Organisations that want to hold onto engineering talent need to stop measuring AI adoption and start measuring its outcomes, and give developers the time, autonomy and support to use the technology in ways that genuinely improve their work, rather than simply prove they are using it."