Our data collected in April–June 2025 shows that 85% of developers now use at least one AI tool for coding and development activities. This presence of AI is redefining what both technical leaders and developers expect.

The adoption of generative AI tools is already seen as an important move. Tech managers ranked it among the top three organizational measures for improving developer experience and productivity, alongside internal training and improvement of development processes.

Developers have a clear sense of how they want AI to reshape their jobs. When asked how they expect their workflows to change over the next 1–3 years, developers pointed to a shift – not a full automation of their work, but a rebalancing of where their time goes.

Many expect AI to speed up learning (47%), take over repetitive or boilerplate tasks (44%), and generate initial drafts of code (42%). Developers also see AI as a way to spend more time on meaningful work like problem-solving and high-level design (39%).

Developers already know where they want to leverage AI.

These are signals worth paying attention to if we want to enhance DevEx and productivity in the AI era.

In 2025, we asked both developers and technical managers a similar question, this time about how much technical and non-technical factors influence developer productivity. Both groups rated non-technical factors as slightly more influential for developer productivity (managers: 89% vs. 85%; developers: 89% vs. 84%).

When it comes to measuring developer productivity and experience, two of the most recognized frameworks are DORA and SPACE. These frameworks provide a structured approach toward developer productivity and experience.

In 2024, we asked tech managers who are involved in efforts to improve DevEx and developer productivity within their companies which specific elements of these frameworks (i.e. metrics), if any, they use to evaluate developer productivity and experience.

When it comes to measuring productivity, developers report a variety of methods being used in their companies.

At the top of the list in 2025 are:

Activity logs (such as tracking code commits and pull requests) follow closely, with 23% of developers saying this method is used in their companies.

When it comes to measuring satisfaction with development tools, the picture is far from perfect. Almost half (49%) of developers told us there are issues here: 33% say their satisfaction isn’t measured at all, and another 16% don’t know whether it’s being measured.

The top three methods for measuring DevEx – when it is measured at all – are:

Most developers are generally OK with these assessments. When we asked developers in 2024 how they felt about having their productivity measured, 42% said they were comfortable with it, and 40% had a neutral attitude. However, 18% admitted some discomfort with the idea.

Developers feel even more comfortable about the fact that their satisfaction with development tools is assessed. Over half of respondents (57%) said they felt comfortable about their satisfaction being measured, and 39% felt neutral about it.

The data makes one thing clear: Developers are mostly comfortable with having their productivity and experience assessed.

This kind of evaluation seems to be becoming a standard practice in the tech industry. Fear of making developers uncomfortable or eliciting negative emotions should not stop companies from measuring developer productivity and experience.

Almost two thirds of developers either do not believe that the metrics used to measure their productivity reflect their productivity and contribution accurately (36%) or are unsure about it (30%).

This lack of confidence extends to how this data is used in decision-making processes. In 2024, we asked developers how aware they were of the decisions being made based on their productivity assessments.

Only 22% of developers said they’re fully aware of how their productivity data is being used and are regularly and clearly informed about it.

A further 32% are mostly aware, meaning they have a general idea but are missing the full picture. For the rest, awareness drops off, with 46% having a limited understanding or being completely unaware of how their data is being used.

When we asked developers what could make them feel more comfortable with how their productivity is measured, this is what they told us they want:

Other concerns included the fairness of the process, how results are used in decision-making, and who is responsible for measurement. Developers want this process to be thoughtful, purposeful, and empowering.

Building on our discussions of the metrics and the methods used to measure developer experience, we return to the question of whether organizations actually measure their developers’ satisfaction with their tools. While this metric is a vital component of DevEx, almost half of all developers report it’s missing or unknown in their companies. Specifically, 33% say tool satisfaction isn’t measured at all, and another 16% aren’t sure. Without this visibility, teams have little chance to spot pain points or take systematic action.

As mentioned earlier, quantifying developer satisfaction is generally well-received and rarely seems to spark discomfort.

Company size seems to play a role in the adoption of measurement practices, with larger organizations more likely to measure DevEx and developer productivity than medium and small-sized companies.

In larger organizations with over 1,000 employees, only 30% of the surveyed tech managers stated that their companies do not measure DevEx or developer productivity. For medium-sized companies (50 to 1,000 employees), this number increases to 34%, and again to 41% in smaller companies with fewer than 50 employees.

In 2024, the frequency of productivity assessments conducted among developers shows a wide spread from company to company. Quarterly (25%), monthly (18%), and weekly (17%) productivity assessments are the top practices.

It’s a bit of a different story for satisfaction with tools, which is the core component of DevEx, where things are shifting. In 2024, more than half of developers (53%) said their satisfaction with development tools was measured at irregular intervals. But in 2025, that number dropped significantly to 29%, with more teams adopting structured measurement practices – monthly, quarterly, and annually. Quarterly (28%), monthly (18%), and weekly (9%) assessments became more common.

Who is actually responsible for tracking DevEx and developer productivity? Our data paints a clear picture: In most companies, regardless of size, team leads take (or are expected to take) ownership of these efforts (see other job roles in the chart).

According to our 2025 data, 56% of the surveyed individual contributors (ICs) and a half of technical managers of various positions (including productivity engineers, DevEx experts, team leads, etc.) agree that team leads are the primary drivers of DevEx and developer productivity measurement. Interestingly, this is true for companies of all sizes. The choice looks logical – team leads work closely with developers and know their teams’ workflows, challenges, and pain points.

Among developers and technical managers in large companies, 22% and 23%, respectively, identified platform engineering teams as responsible for DevEx efforts. 25% and 22%, respectively, pointed to dedicated specialist roles.

Among developers, 30% feel that measuring their own productivity and experience falls solely on their shoulders. This figure rises to 38% in small companies, suggesting that smaller organizations are especially prone to leaving developers to fend for themselves.