What do software developers think about the automation of their work and its limits? Findings from a large-scale international survey

Martin Krzywdzinski

Discussion Papers, Research Group Globalization, Work, and Production from WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Abstract: This paper investigates how software developers perceive the current and future automation of their work in the context of rapidly advancing generative and agentic AI. While existing research has primarily focused on productivity effects of specific AI coding tools in experimental settings, less is known about the broader organization of software-development work, the limits of automation, and developers' own expectations regarding labor-market outcomes. The paper addresses four research questions: the current level of automation across software-development tasks and occupations; expectations regarding future automation and its drivers; structural limits to automation; and perceived implications for job security, employability, and income. The analysis draws on an original survey of 1,731 software developers from eleven countries and six professional subgroups. The findings show that software development is currently characterized by moderate automation across all task domains, with humans still central to planning, coordination, and problem-solving. Respondents expect substantial increases in automation over the next five years, driven primarily by generative and agentic AI. However, the study also identifies important limits to automation: as automation increases, remaining tasks become less standardized, while problem-solving and collaboration demands persist. Finally, most developers remain cautiously optimistic about their labor-market prospects, although workers already operating in highly automated environments express significantly greater concerns about future job security.

Keywords: automation; artificial intelligence; skills; work organization; software development; programming (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J22 J24 J44 L86 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ain and nep-lma
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