Developers see a significant role for AI in the future of software development. Moreover, they appear to be delighted with that trend, as 96 percent say the technology will begin to improve their experience when developing software.
The positive attitude toward AI results from the rise of agentic AI. Developers expect it to improve their efficiency and productivity. Agentic AI offers the opportunity to be less occupied with tasks such as writing code and debugging and more with strategic work that has a greater impact.
“AI agents automate long-winded tasks such as data cleansing, integration and basic testing. Business logic that used to require explicit programming can also be simplified by integrating agents into a workflow and letting them reason about the next action. That way, developers can shift their focus from manual coding to high-value problem-solving, architecture and strategic decision-making,” said Gianni Cooreman, Director Solution Engineering Salesforce Benelux, about software development and AI agents going hand in hand.
Salesforce is itself a driving force behind the development of AI agents. The Agentforce platform was recently updated to version 2dx. This new version allows AI agents to be proactively deployed within any business process. We see the upgrade as primarily one intended for developers.
Read more: Salesforce sets new standard with Agentforce 2dx: AI agents become proactive
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Respondents did indicate a need for more opportunities to test AI agents. About half of developers (48%) say their testing processes are not ready for AI agents.
82 percent of respondents believe their organization needs to adapt infrastructure to build and deploy AI agents. The difficulty is that the data still contains too many inaccuracies for successful development.
Trend: combination with low-code
One trend the survey notes is the combination of AI agents with low-code tools. Developers surveyed believe this combination ensures that all developers, regardless of level, can build and deploy tools. 85 percent already use low-code tools for agentic AI. Nearly eight in 10 respondents also believe this trend will provide the support needed to scale AI development.
The results come from Salesforce’s State of IT report. In it, more than 2,000 software development leaders worldwide were surveyed about how AI is actively changing their work.