Press Releases

Dortmund |

adesso Study: GenAI Boosts Developer Productivity by 21 Per Cent – but Only for Half of Companies

Generative AI has arrived in German software development. Whether companies benefit from it, however, depends neither on the technology nor on the budget, but on how structured they are in their approach. This is the conclusion of the special report on software development. It is part of the GenAI Impact Report spearheaded by IT service provider adesso, which surveyed 500 executives in Germany.

59 per cent of companies surveyed are already working with agent-based systems that independently generate, test and optimise code. On average, they report a 21 per cent increase in productivity. However, there is considerable variation behind this average: as the wide-ranging GenAI Impact Report Germany 2026 shows, organisational maturity determines who benefits and who does not. A third of companies with a low level of AI maturity see no measurable return. Those who adopt a structured approach and set up early-stage initiatives with clear processes achieve tangible results in 93 per cent of cases. The difference lies not in the tools, but in the organisational approach.

According to the ‘Software Development’ special report in the ‘adesso GenAI Impact Report’, many companies are already seeing substantial productivity gains in the field of software engineering through the use of generative AI. (Source: adesso SE)

“The question is no longer whether AI is used in software development, but whether companies are creating the conditions to benefit from it,” says Benedikt Bonnmann, member of the Executive Board of adesso SE. “What we see in our projects and what the study confirms is that those who factor in governance, clear processes and the right guidelines achieve measurably more. This creates the basis for truly scaling agent-driven development. Those who ignore this are not investing sustainably.”

Benedikt Bonnmann ist Mitglied des Vorstands der adesso SE. (Quelle: adesso SE)

Governance as an Enabler, Not a Hindrance

The findings on governance are particularly revealing: 49 per cent of companies have no or only a few guidelines for the use of AI in software development. Companies without clear rules are three times less likely to carry out pilot projects than companies with guidelines. Governance is often viewed as a bureaucratic hurdle, but in practice it proves to be a prerequisite for speed.

The biggest obstacles cited by companies confirm this pattern: at 38 per cent, compliance and security top the list, followed by a lack of skills (34 per cent) and a lack of acceptance (25 per cent). Technical factors such as toolchain complexity or legacy architectures, by contrast, play a secondary role. The technology is ready, but the organisation often lags behind.

The biggest challenges in using GenAI in software development do not lie in the technical implementation. Rather, the biggest hurdles are governance and organisation. (Source: adesso SE)

The Blind Spot: Young Talent and Job Profiles

The study also highlights a long-term consequence that has scarcely been discussed so far. Almost one in three companies is hiring fewer junior developers than two to three years ago. Generative AI is taking over routine tasks – the very tasks through which career starters have traditionally acquired their basic skills. With fewer junior staff, the pool of experienced professionals will also shrink in the long term. At the same time, requirements are shifting: 48 per cent of companies increasingly see their developers’ role as centring on architecture and code review, whilst 38 per cent cite prompt engineering as a new core competence. Taken together, these developments pose questions for training programmes to which there are currently no answers.

The full special report on software development for the GenAI Impact Report 2026 is now available for download.

Press service

Materials for media reports

With our press service, we provide you with various materials that complement our corporate news or serve as background information.

To the press service

Do you have any questions?

Do you have any questions about our press service or a specific request? Please contact us.