GitLab Survey Reveals the "AI Paradox," Faster Coding Creates New Bottlenecks Requiring Platform Solutions

New research shows organizations lose 7 hours per team member weekly to AI-related inefficiencies, as 85% recognize platform engineering as essential to unlock productivity gains

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--– ALL REMOTE — GitLab Inc., the most comprehensive, intelligent DevSecOps platform, today released its annual Global DevSecOps report, The Intelligent Software Development Era: How AI will redefine DevSecOps in 2026 and beyond. Conducted by The Harris Poll, the study surveyed 3,266 DevSecOps professionals across IT operations, IT security, and software development.

The findings reveal what GitLab calls the 'AI Paradox.' While AI accelerates coding, fragmented toolchains and new compliance complexities are creating bottlenecks that cost teams nearly a full workday per team member each week. Organizations face a critical inflection point: 82% now deploy to production at least weekly, yet productivity barriers from tool sprawl (60% use more than five tools for software development; 49% use more than five AI tools) prevent them from fully capitalizing on AI's potential speed advantages.

The solution lies in platform engineering approaches that can address the interconnected requirements of AI orchestration, governance, and compliance. This need for integrated platforms comes as AI fundamentally reshapes team structures. With 76% of respondents believing that as coding gets easier with AI, there will be more engineers rather than fewer, amplifying the challenge of managing AI-generated code at scale.

Key findings:

The “AI Paradox” requires new operational frameworks

• DevSecOps professionals lose 7 hours per week to inefficient processes, with collaboration barriers such as a lack of cross-functional communication, limited knowledge sharing, and different tools used across teams
• 60% use more than 5 tools for software development
• 49% use more than 5 AI tools
• 85% agree that agentic AI will be most successful when implemented in a platform engineering approach

AI is reshaping roles, creating more engineers (not fewer), and increasing the pressure to upskill

• 76% agree that as coding gets easier with AI, there will be more engineers
• 87% believe that software engineers who adopt AI are future-proofing their careers
• 83% think AI will significantly change their roles within the next five years
• 87% wish their organizations invested more in helping them upskill

As AI readiness nears universal levels, human oversight remains essential

• 97% are using or planning to use AI in the software development lifecycle
• Only 37% would trust AI to handle daily work tasks without human review
• 73% have experienced problems with code created by "vibe coding" (using natural language prompts without understanding how code works)
• 88% agree there are essential human qualities, such as creativity and innovation, that agentic AI will never fully replace

Widespread AI implementation creates compliance complexities that demand human expertise today and point toward a future where compliance is built directly into code

• 70% agree that AI is making compliance management more challenging for their organizations
• 76% find that currently, more compliance issues are discovered after deployment than during the development process
• 43% believe that implementing AI for security/compliance is the top skill required for career advancement, ahead of using AI for code generation, and fluency in programming languages
• 82% predict that by 2027, compliance will be built into code and automatically applied

"This survey illustrates what we call the 'AI Paradox,’ where coding is faster than ever, yet the lack of quality, security, and speed across the software lifecycle is causing friction on the road to innovation," said Manav Khurana, chief product and marketing officer at GitLab. "Toolchain fragmentation has created bottlenecks for developers, and AI agents are amplifying the issue. Organizations need a new framework to match the speed of software development in the age of AI, one that provides intelligent orchestration across the entire software lifecycle while addressing the interconnected requirements of AI orchestration, governance, and compliance that individual point tools simply cannot solve."

About GitLab

GitLab is the most comprehensive, intelligent DevSecOps platform for software innovation. GitLab enables organizations to increase developer productivity, improve operational efficiency, reduce security and compliance risk, and accelerate digital transformation. More than 50 million registered users and more than 50% of the Fortune 100 trust GitLab to ship better, more secure software faster.