The Intelligent Software Development Era

A global survey of 3,000+ DevSecOps practitioners reveals the skills, tools, and strategies that can make or break a team’s ability to deliver more secure software faster with AI in 2026 and beyond.

  • AI is reshaping roles — but humans are still essential

    Top ways DevSecOps professionals expect their role to change:

    1. Becoming AI prompt engineers and code reviewers
    2. Primarily managing AI agents instead of coding
    3. Accelerating career growth for junior developers
    63

    83% of DevSecOps professionals think AI will significantly change their roles within the next five years

    56

    76% agree that as coding gets easier with AI, there will be more engineers

    68

    88% agree there are essential human qualities, such as creativity and innovation, that agentic AI will never fully replace

  • DevSecOps teams are looking for deeper AI-human partnerships

    23

    43% of DevSecOps professionals favor a 50/50 split between human and AI contributions in software development

    40

    60% currently have AI contributing ¼ or less to software development

    62

    82% say using agentic AI would make me more satisfied at their job overall

    17

    37% - The percentage of daily tasks they’d trust AI to handle without human review

  • Toolchain sprawl and inefficient processes are holding teams back

    Top factors limiting collaboration in the SDLC:

    • Lack of cross-functional communication
    • Lack of knowledge sharing
    • Different tools used across teams
    29

    49% of DevSecOps teams are using more than 5 AI tools

    33

    53% of DevSecOps teams are using more than 5 security tools

    7hrs/week lost

    7 hours - How much time DevSecOps professional lose per week due to inefficient processes

  • The AI skills gap is widening

    Top AI skills needed for 2026 and beyond:

    • Using AI to process data for security analysis
    • Using AI to automate security practices
    • Mitigating security challenges posed by AI systems
    48

    68% of DevSecOps professionals their organization places the burden of upskilling on them, without providing time, resources, or funding

    67

    87% believe that software engineers who adopt AI are future-proofing their careers

    51

    71% say they don’t have enough time in the workday for learning and development

  • Get the report

    The report dives into the survey data on:

    • How AI is reshaping roles and creating the need for more engineers (not fewer)
    • The ideal split between human and AI contributions in software development
    • How many hours teams are losing to inefficient processes
    • The AI skills DevSecOps teams need in 2026 — and the challenges in the way