{"id":19586,"date":"2024-08-23T16:19:32","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T23:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/?p=19586"},"modified":"2024-08-23T16:19:33","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T23:19:33","slug":"github-developers-have-embraced-ai-tools-but-companies-are-slow-to-catch-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/2024\/08\/23\/github-developers-have-embraced-ai-tools-but-companies-are-slow-to-catch-up\/","title":{"rendered":"GitHub: Developers Have Embraced AI, but Companies Are Slow to Catch Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Software developers in the workplace have embraced artificial intelligence as an integral part of helping them do their jobs. A new study from GitHub<\/a> reveals that 97 percent of engineers are using AI coding tools at some point. However, the companies they work for have been much slower in adopting AI tools and technologies\u201440 percent indicated their employers are “actively\u201d encouraging and promoting AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite AI’s benefits in improving efficiency and productivity, many organizations are reluctant to incorporate this transformative technology. This could be because it lacks personalization, concerns over data sovereignty, or the difficulty of measuring AI\u2019s broad impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This AI adoption gap between developers and companies reflects the ongoing consumerization of IT in which new technologies are introduced through grassroots efforts. For GitHub\u2019s Chief Operating Officer Kyle Daigle<\/a>, this research is a clarion call for executives to \u201cdo the culture shift necessary to bring AI tools to their organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helping Developers Code, But Largely When Off-The-Clock<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"99
99 percent of developers say they’re using AI coding tools at work. Source: GitHub 2024 survey on AI in software development<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While this isn\u2019t the first time GitHub has surveyed the trend of AI in software development, this year is the first to have queried a global set of enterprise developers, data scientists and software designers. Two thousand were polled across four key countries: the United States, Brazil, India and Germany, with the goal of \u201cunderstanding how AI is changing, the way they work, and how their companies are changing to support AI or to find AI.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And though \u201calmost everyone\u201d says they\u2019re using AI tools, they mainly take advantage of the tech outside<\/em> their 9-to-5. On average, 24 percent say they\u2019re only using AI at work. What\u2019s more, it is likely to be unsanctioned by the organization. Between 38 and 40 percent of respondents note that their companies welcome AI, so more progress must be made. GitHub recommends firms establish \u201ca roadmap, a clear strategy, and policies\u2026to ensure wider adoption happens through building trust and driving measurable performance metrics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Software
Software developers report between 38 to 40 percent of companies are “actively encouraging” AI use. Source: GitHub 2024 survey on AI in software development<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

GitHub emphasized that the intention of its research has evolved from previous years. I\u2019m told that its 2023 survey was more about the \u201caspiration of AI” and what people thought the technology could do for us. This year, it\u2019s \u201cvery much about what AI is doing right now for people, and it\u2019s more about what they think, how they think it could do more\u2026if they got it through work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not like a hypothetical shift at the individual developer level. They are feeling it. They\u2019re living it right now. It is table stakes. And now, I think the question is, how can we cross the chasm to their employers, to also feel the opportunity that comes from adopting this AI tool deeply,\u201d Daigle continued. “And so, in just a year’ish…we’ve gone from ‘wow, I’ve used ChatGPT, and I’ve used GitHub Copilot, and I’m really excited about what it’s going to do.’ Now, it’s ‘oh, no. It’s saving me three hours. We’re all using it. My employer is not buying it for me, which is strange.’ But how can we keep moving? How can it help me write secure code? How can it help me remediate it?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Developers are finding more and more of the toil opportunities to remove. And it’s not aspirational. It’s like, ‘And the next step is…’ We have line of sight into the next level of improvement for the individual, and now we just need to help larger organizations realize that they can have this at a much grander scale.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinking Beyond Table Stakes With AI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m a developer by trade. That\u2019s what I did at GitHub up through the deal<\/a>, and then I led engineering teams focused on integrating with GitHub. Then, in 2018, I switched to the business side. I wanted a different challenge, and that\u2019s what led me to the role I\u2019m in now,\u201d Daigle told me at the start of our interview in May. At the time, he was in the midst of a customer road tour and had stepped out from a company-hosted dinner to speak with me from his hotel room in Paris, France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy heart is with developers and writing code day-to-day. But now I\u2019m taking all of the learnings of how to write good software and applying them to organizations\u2014how [they] can both use GitHub and our platform, but also more so these days, how they can adopt AI all up and then, obviously, use GitHub Copilot to drive change inside big and small organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"GitHub
GitHub Chief Operating Officer Kyle Daigle. Photo credit: GitHub<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Daigle has a good perspective of the situation as a developer and executive. He shares that companies unwilling to embrace AI are already receiving \u201csome of the latent benefits\u201d of their software developers using these tools, such as ChatGPT. But they\u2019re not taking full advantage of AI to \u201cdeliver the developers from toil and let them unlock that collaboration that we hear from developers so much and focus on that\u2026innovation and creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, with AI, developers can avoid mundane and repetitive tasks and instead shift their focus on being creative and working better with their colleagues and customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just enough to get the [AI] tools into the hands of developers. There\u2019s also a culture shift that needs to happen for organizations to get the full potential of AI,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daigle believes AI tools are \u201cmagnifying the existing culture of an organization.\u201d \u201cIf you have an engineering culture that\u2019s incredibly strong and really focused on solving the hardest parts of the problems\u2026then Copilots [is] really just going to speed you up there. If you have a company in an engineering culture that\u2019s\u2026focused on\u2026getting to the next step, you\u2019re not going to get as much of the value out of the AI moment that we\u2019re in for those companies because AI requires you to solve the bigger problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argued that companies that embrace AI and bring it to their teams \u201cwith such fervor\u201d will have a competitive advantage. Whether that\u2019s simply giving developers what they\u2019re looking for, developing faster, or rapidly bringing products to market, \u201cthe companies that don\u2019t adopt these tools, that don\u2019t\u2026drive for that next digital transformation culture change moment, are ultimately the ones that are going to be left behind as employees inevitably\u2026jump to the companies that have the better and best tools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AI Adoption Tale of Four Countries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Why did GitHub survey developers specifically from the U.S., Brazil, Germany, and India? And does AI adoption vary country-to-country?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daigle explained that GitHub wanted a cross-section of countries \u201csemi-representative of the region they\u2019re located in.\u201d The U.S. was selected for obvious reasons. As for Germany, it was picked to represent the EU, India was to cover the \u201cbroader, expanding [Asia-Pacific] region, and Brazil for South America and the Latin American region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Daigle, the U.S. \u201chas the highest, the quickest amount of adoption from a company\u2019s perspective.\u201d German developers are \u201cmuch slower to adopt,\u201d likely because they\u2019re not using the tools outside of work. \u201cPlaces that are still these enormous centers of economic change, particularly for the [European Union], have their developers using [AI] tools, but they\u2019re not adopting them. They\u2019re not rolling them out. They\u2019re still stuck in the era of pre-AI tools where we can demonstrably show these hours and hours of improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the U.S. is the leader in AI, the study suggests India remains competitive. \u201cIn a country that\u2019s producing more software developers per capita than most, India will overtake the United States and the number of software developers on GitHub in the next few years. Part of that is because they are adopting these tools.\u201d Daigle says India is producing more code, especially with open source. He adds that even though the economic incentives of India and the U.S. are different, \u201cthey still seem to be adopting the tools very regularly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GitHub\u2019s survey highlights one \u201cproblem\u201d in AI: the infrastructure. As Daigle notes, this is a significant difference between the four countries. Brazil comes ahead of the U.S. because it has more cloud-based subscription developer tools than any other country. Daigle found this interesting because one might assume that the U.S. would lead here. Germany trails in this area, but that\u2019s because of its policy for data sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using AI to Raise One’s Developer Profile<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Software
Software developers say AI can help meet customer requirements. Source: GitHub 2024 survey on AI in software development<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though this survey provides a snapshot of developer attitudes toward AI, the intended audience is the companies these engineers work for. It\u2019s a subtle plea urging the sanctioning of AI usage in the workplace with the belief that the technology can improve the quality and security of their programming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GitHub\u2019s survey reveals optimism from most respondents (61 percent in Germany to a high of 73 percent in the U.S.) about AI coding tools helping to improve their ability to meet customer requirements. Those levels vary based on a company\u2019s stance on AI use. Developers also believe using AI tools will eliminate software vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Software
Software developers claim AI will improve code security. Source: GitHub 2024 survey on AI in software development<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Using AI tools at work can also improve one\u2019s professional standing. After all, gaining proficiency in AI coding tools in the workplace lends developers credibility compared to side projects or non-work efforts. Therefore, if companies encourage AI tool use, these engineers can show their worth and demonstrate they\u2019re a real asset, raising their financial value and productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GitHub: Leader in AI Code Assistants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Daigle claims that GitHub\u2019s survey is product agnostic. But it\u2019s not hard to believe there\u2019s a hint of product placement in the research. After all, GitHub is a popular developer environment filled with code repositories, and the power of Microsoft\u2019s AI is baked into it. The company recently reported more than 1.8 million paid seats<\/a> for GitHub Copilot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, GitHub isn\u2019t the only service offering an AI coding assistant. The market is getting increasingly crowded with Amazon CodeWhisperer, Oracle Code Assist, Anysphere, Cognition\u2019s Devin, and others. Analyst firm Gartner recently published its Magic Quadrant chart for AI Code Assistants<\/a>, revealing that the Microsoft-owned firm was labeled a Leader\u2014a high honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gartner's
Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for AI Code Assistants (August 19, 2024). Image credit: Gartner<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, regardless of the undertones, Daigle wants to convey that companies must embrace AI tools to remain competitive in the long term. It\u2019s been established that there\u2019s a developer affinity towards AI, and the tech benefits those in the field. Organizations that recognize that AI is important and have experienced ChatGPT but don\u2019t accept its use by their workforce are doing their firms a disservice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just going to be enough to be able to write code,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s also going to be about how we solve some of the hardest problems that weren\u2019t economically viable before because now you can do it faster, more productively, and ultimately keep your developers happy, which we think will have a longer-term impact for those companies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25b6\ufe0f Read more about GitHub’s 2024 AI in Software Development survey<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Software developers in the workplace have embraced artificial intelligence as an integral part of helping them do their jobs. A new study from GitHub reveals that 97 percent of engineers are using AI coding tools at some point. However, the companies they work for have been much slower in adopting AI tools and technologies\u201440 percent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3627,7,10,3837,20],"tags":[204,3813,4148,3771,4161,3786,4162,3600,3688,3695,4158,785,787,4151,789,3818,4157,4160,4152,4153,4154,4155,4156,4159],"class_list":["post-19586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence","category-developer-news","category-enterprise","category-genai","category-analysis","tag-ai","tag-ai-and-business","tag-ai-coding-assistant","tag-ai-developer-platform","tag-ai-in-software-development","tag-ai-news","tag-ai-research","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificial-intelligence-landscape","tag-artificial-intelligence-technology-companies","tag-coding-assistants","tag-developer-platform","tag-developer-tools","tag-developer-workflow","tag-developers","tag-enterprise-ai","tag-enterprise-developers","tag-gartner-magic-quadrant-ai-coding-assistants","tag-github","tag-github-copilot","tag-github-developers","tag-github-survey","tag-kyle-daigle","tag-microsoft-github"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/adobe-firefly-robot-human-tug-of-war-960x540-1.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pev3KX-55U","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19586"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19633,"href":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19586\/revisions\/19633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelettertwo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}