AI developer tools - little interest in many German companies

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A broad-based study by GitHub, "AI in Software Development 2024", shows that a large majority of professional developers use AI tools, but not all companies actively support this. The gap is widest in Germany in particular. One of the main advantages of AI cited by respondents is the improvement in code security.

Over 97% of the developers surveyed stated that they have already used AI tools for work for "technical support throughout the software development cycle", but only a proportion of companies encourage or allow this. This attitude of companies towards AI tools differs significantly in the four countries surveyed: 87 percent of companies in the USA explicitly promote or allow AI, 79 percent in India, 76 percent in Brazil and 59 percent in Germany, bringing up the rear. The opposite is true for companies that explicitly prohibit AI: Here, Germany leads with 14 percent, while the others average less than 10 percent.

GitHub concludes: "While developers are looking for workflow improvements, those responsible must also consider broader strategic goals and regulations."

Less private interest in Germany

Germany also lags behind when it comes to the figures on how many developers use AI not only at work, but also in their private lives. In the USA, the figure is 82 percent, in Germany only 70 percent. Almost a third of developers in Germany have not yet taken an interest in AI in their private lives.

The adoption rate is lower for companies with a complex toolchain than for those with complex software equipment. GitHub concludes: "This suggests that AI coding tools play a role in smoothing the workflow and reducing the complexity of the toolchain". However, there is also the interpretation that a complex toolchain makes the introduction of AI tools more difficult.

Security promises a key benefit - Shift Left

A study conducted by the company in May showed that GitHub Copilot increases productivity. The current survey looks for further reasons why developers use AI. 90 percent of US developers "reported a perceived improvement in code quality when using AI coding tools". This is followed by 81 percent in India, 61 percent in Brazil and 60 percent in Germany. However, only 15 percent of Germans believe that AI explicitly reduces code quality, as other studies suggest. In Brazil, the figure is as high as 19 percent, compared to just 3 percent in the USA.

Developers are in relative agreement that AI makes it easier to familiarize themselves with new languages (60 to 71 percent), and they are increasingly using it regularly for test environments (31 to 41 percent).

Almost all developers note a major advantage of AI helpers in the area of code security. A "significant improvement" was noted by 41 percent in India, 40 percent in Brazil, 38 percent in the USA and 30 percent in Germany. The figure for Germany could prove that German developers attach greater importance to security from the outset. Overall, the creators of the study see a lot of potential for a shift left towards security during the development process.

AI skills increase job opportunities

Everyone also agrees on one thing: AI skills somehow increase your own value on the job market. When asked about an increased, "significant boost", German developers are somewhat more reserved (43%) than their Indian colleagues (56%).

The study also asks what people do with the time they have gained. In Germany, "improving collaboration with colleagues" and "designing systems" came first with 47 percent each, followed by "trying out upcoming technologies" (45 percent).

2,000 people took part in the study, 500 per country. They come from various companies (86 percent without overlaps) with more than 1000 employees. The majority are developers, with a small proportion also being data scientists and software designers.

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