MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BairesDev® launches its first quarterly Dev Barometer – the most up-to-date survey of senior software engineers and project managers (PMs) across 100+ industries and 63 countries. The inaugural survey includes responses from 1,129 senior developers, most with 8+ years of experience, and 50 project managers (PMs) across 125 software development projects from startups to Fortune 500 companies. The Q3 2025 edition reports:
- 7.3 hours saved weekly on coding: Developers using AI tools are reclaiming nearly a full workday per week.
- 65% of developers worry about falling behind on AI skills, and are now spending almost 4 hours per week on upskilling.
- YouTube (58%) and learning on the job (66%) are the most popular ways developers are learning AI.
- Just 15% of PMs reported that they work with organizations that have structured upskilling in place. Even among PMs working with Fortune 500s, over half (53%) said they do not currently have a formal training plan in place.
“Developers are embracing AI. They’re boosting productivity, learning faster, and discovering greater purpose as they shift to high-value problem-solving. However, the survey also reveals a critical gap: while developers race ahead, many companies are lagging behind. It is time for businesses to invest in upskilling and AI integration to avoid being left out of the next wave of innovation,” said Nacho De Marco, CEO and Co-Founder of BairesDev. “The Dev Barometer gives us an unfiltered look at how tech professionals are shaping and perceiving the evolving tech landscape. We hope these real-time insights will help businesses navigate this shift with confidence.”
Developers Are Upskilling Informally – What Skills Will They Prioritize in the Coming Quarter?
To keep pace, developers dedicate an average of 4 hours per week to learning new tools and technologies. However, most of their learning is self-directed. Only 15% use formal training, and 27% use employer upskilling programs.
Regarding top skills to develop in the next three months, nearly half (44%) of developers surveyed cited AI and machine learning. This far surpassed DevOps/Cloud (7%), the next most in-demand skill.
AI Accelerates Productivity and Career Growth
The integration of AI into the coding process is driving real impact.
- One-third (33%) of developers say over a quarter of their code is now written with AI assistance.
- Nearly 9 in 10 (89%) say AI tools have improved their work, with the top three cited benefits including:
- Faster coding (65%)
- Accelerated learning (48%)
- Increased productivity (45%).
- A majority (76%) say AI makes their work more fulfilling.
- 88% also see AI as a gateway to new career paths, such as:
- Becoming AI/ML specialists (45%)
- Prompt engineering (44%)
- Automating repetitive tasks so they can focus on more ambitious technical work (62%), including architecture and creative problem-solving.
Organizations Are Still Playing Catch-Up with AI – What Holds Them Back?
When asked which technologies will most disrupt business models in the next year, developers overwhelmingly ranked generative AI (87%), AI agents (75%), and private or fine-tuned AI models (55%) as the most transformative. However, most companies remain in the early stages of AI adoption. According to project managers surveyed, 64% of the projects they are working on are still in exploratory phases, and only 3% have AI fully integrated into delivery.
- Data privacy and security concerns are cited as the greatest challenge to AI adoption by developers (64%) and second-highest among project managers (38%).
- Developers also cite legacy systems (44%) and unclear client policies (42%) as key challenges.
- The other two challenges project managers cite are unclear ROI (38%) and limited resources (36%).
Access the full report here or contact press@bairesdev.com.
About the Dev Barometer Survey
The survey was conducted in July 2025 among 1,129 developers, 56% of whom had 8+ years of experience, and 50 project managers working across 125 projects.
About BairesDev
BairesDev is an award-winning nearshore software development company trusted by 500+ clients, including Google, Pinterest, Adobe, J&J, and more. Access 4,000 senior software engineers, experienced in 100+ technologies and programming languages. Choose from three flexible engagement models: staff augmentation, software development teams, and end-to-end software outsourcing.
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