98% Say Agentic AI to Speed Software Delivery from 'Pilot Purgatory' in New Report by SoftServe and MIT Technology Review
Global study examines how agentic AI changes the future of software engineering

AUSTIN, Texas, April 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SoftServe, a digital engineering and technology services company specializing in AI, data, and cloud solutions, today released its new report, Redefining the Future of Software Engineering, which examines how agentic AI is changing the way software is designed, developed, and managed. Conducted by MIT Technology Review, the global study found nearly all respondents (98%) expect AI agents to dramatically accelerate software delivery—addressing the “pilot purgatory” time-to-market challenge—within the next two years.

Software engineering teams are no strangers to agentic AI. The study found that 79% of respondents have been using tools such as AI assistants for the past two years with coding and quality assurance cited as the greatest early benefits experienced in the first year at 44% and 38%, respectively. However, SoftServe's report reveals the same teams are now advancing toward agentic engineering across the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC). In fact, 72% of organizations expect AI agents to manage most or all software or product lifecycles end‑to‑end within the next two years, with 41% predicting it will happen within 18 months.

The research points to a broader shift toward agentic engineering, including:

• Adoption momentum is building. While half of organizations deem agentic AI a top investment priority for software engineering today, it will be the leading investment for 84% by 2029. Agentic AI is in (mostly limited) use today by 51% of software teams, and another 45% planning to adopt within the next 12 months.
• Early gains will be incremental. Over the next two years, some expect improvements from agent use to be slight (14%) or moderate (52%) at best. However, one-third (32%) have higher expectations, and 9% think the improvements will be game-changing.
• New roles are being prioritized. While the last two years saw DevOps, cloud, and full-stack engineers take priority in the hiring process, respondents say the next roles in highest demand will be AI engineers (51%), software architects (32%), and data engineers (29%), signaling a pendulum swing toward a job market for AI-native roles and software professionals who are proficient in AI.
   

The study also examines the perceived challenges organizations face with agentic AI in software engineering. While experts interviewed in the report point to change management as a major hurdle, only 12% of respondents identify it as a primary barrier to successful enterprise scaling. Instead, the bulk (44%) cite computing costs and agent integration among the biggest challenges.

This disconnect suggests organizations may be underestimating the difficulties of adoption and overestimating how quickly they can scale. But experts believe that to be more effective, companies will need to make fundamental, ground-level changes across software engineering teams, core workflows, processes, and the SDLC. Ultimately, they say, the shift to agentic engineering will be worth it.

“How AI is used in software engineering continues to accelerate and evolve from individual vibe coding to disciplined agentic engineering—already showing evidence of order of magnitude productivity gains,” said Serge Haziyev, CTO, Advanced Technologies at SoftServe. “The implication is profound for the industry, but the technology alone will not deliver the promised leap. From our perspective, the turning point for the next era of software development will come not just from technology but completely rethinking the people, processes, and tools together.”

Despite anticipated and unexpected hurdles, experts interviewed suggest agentic engineering will be ubiquitous and consequential to software management in the future as it goes beyond faster and increasingly cost-efficient software delivery and “empowers teams to dream bigger.” As mentioned in the report, removing the burden of monotony can lead engineers to more exploration of alternative approaches, faster iterations of ideas, extra learning from non-software domains, and greater critical thinking.

The survey report from SoftServe and MIT Technology Review contains interviews from the following experts: Nathaniel Barnes, Portfolio Chief Technology Officer, Hg Capital; Rick Kazman, Danny and Elsa Lui Distinguished Professor of Information Technology Management, University of Hawaii; Shashi Prabakhar, Director, Americas Partner Solutions Architect, Amazon Web Services; and Martin Vesper, Managing Director and Chief Digital Officer, Pfeifer & Langen, in addition to Haziyev.

Survey insights were drawn from 300 senior software engineering, data, and technology executives, including CIOs, CTOs, and CAIOs (Chief AI Officers). All respondents represent large enterprises across seven diverse industries and six countries. The vast majority generate $500 million or more in annual revenue, providing a clear depiction of how the world's largest companies are deploying advanced AI tools.

To learn more about the forecasted future of software engineering and agentic AI, read the full report here or visit SoftServe's website.

ABOUT SOFTSERVE
SoftServe is digital engineering and technology services company specializing in AI, data, and cloud solutions. We expand the horizon of new technologies to solve today's complex business challenges and achieve meaningful outcomes for our clients. Our boundless curiosity drives us to explore and reimagine the art of the possible. Clients confidently rely on SoftServe to architect and execute mature and innovative capabilities, such as digital engineering, data and analytics, cloud, and AI/ML.

Our global reputation is gained from more than 30 years of experience delivering superior digital solutions at exceptional speed by top-tier engineering talent to enterprise industries, including high tech, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, retail, energy, and manufacturing. Visit our website, blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (Twitter) pages for more information.

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