AI is already business as usual in software development

82% of the software professionals working in our assignments use AI tools daily, and just as many say AI has changed the way they work. AI is used across product development, from crystallizing business needs to architecture design and code review. It is also used in producing code, but that goes without saying.

A significant dividing line runs through the use of AI agents: of those who use them regularly, 96% report that their work has changed significantly, while among those who do not use agents the figure is 45%.

“There is a kind of split in the IT sector when it comes to skills as well. The number of applicants for jobs in the field has grown sharply, but at the same time demand is strong for broad, experienced professionals who multiply their productivity with modern AI tools, as the economy turns upward,” says Witted’s CEO Markus Huttunen.

According to our developers, the most common obstacles to using AI are customers’ contractual or security restrictions and the price of licenses and tokens. Each was named by 29% of respondents. The maturity or reliability of the tools, by contrast, is not seen as a significant obstacle. Only 8% mentioned it.

“Several respondents raised the same challenge: the tools and the skills exist at the individual level, but a real lift in productivity requires large changes across the whole development process. That calls for new working practices, clear rules, skills development, well-considered technical constraints on agentic development, and professional change management to put them into practice. Once those are in place, AI-driven software development is productive, high-quality and secure,” says Huttunen.

The full findings are published in AI-Assisted Development in Finland 2026.