The rise of agentic AI in software sevelopment

In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, a new report from OutSystems alongside CIO Dive and KPMG reveals a significant trend among software leaders towards prioritizing agentic AI initiatives. According to the study, 93% of organizations are either adopting or planning to develop custom AI agents.

The document, Navigating Agentic AI & Generative AI in Software Development: Human-Agent Collaboration is Here, delves into how AI is interwoven through the software development lifecycle (SDLC). The study thus pivots on understanding how AI is reshaping business landscapes radically.

Present-day IT leaders face constant pressure to deliver tangible business value. The advent of agentic AI eases this burden by addressing struggles born from traditional tech approaches, such as data silos and fragmentation. With agentic AI, businesses can automate large-scale processes, creating hyper-personalized digital experiences. This positioning AI becomes indispensable in shaping an organization’s strategic future.

Additionally, these intelligent agents offer seamless enterprise-wide data access while ensuring a high standard of compliance, security, and governance. Such transformation enables business leaders to contribute more creatively and strategically, as AI agents adeptly handle routine tasks.

The OutSystems report, based on survey data from 550 software executives, highlights profound shifts in software development:

• Over two-thirds of respondents reported increased developer productivity and improved software quality, marked by fewer bugs.
• 62% noted enhanced development scalability.
• Exploration and initial implementations of AI tools within enterprise settings have sparked ambitions for workforce transformation and innovation.

In the next two years, as industries integrate more agentic AI solutions, software executives predict the emergence of specialized new roles.

Another noteworthy trend involves deploying AI tools for customer service. About 49% of the respondents are considering AI agents to optimize customer interactions.

Conversely, sectors like product development and sales are witnessing a more measured approach in integrating AI agents.

Ultimately, while adopting AI yields undeniable benefits, it introduces new governance and security challenges as well. The presence of AI-driven automation necessitates vigilant oversight to mitigate concerns over transparency, decision-making reliability, and burgeoning technical debt.

“A lot of organizations started with pilots a year ago or even prior to that, but now they’re starting to see real efficiency gains in areas like code generation and application testing,” says Michael Harper, Managing Director at KPMG LLP. “Those activities are giving organizations more confidence in using these tools and helping them to move forward.”