Do not count on ten hours a week saved by AI tools
In brief
According to Atlassian's 2026 developer experience report, developers reporting ten or more hours saved each week by AI fell from 68% to 26% in a year. Nearly all respondents said their organization uses AI in engineering (95% of 1,155 developers, 96% of 405 engineering leaders). Atlassian says the data is self-reported perception, not measured output.
Source : InfoQ - « Developers Reporting Double-Digit Weekly Time Savings From AI Fell From 68% to 26% »
What it changes for an SME
If you have a software or IT team, do not plan headcount or budgets on ten hours saved per person each week. According to Atlassian's self-reported 2026 survey, that share fell to 26%, 49% of developers spend four or more hours a week managing AI tools, and only 28% see clearly less friction than before AI. Treating tool usage as productivity can encourage extra use without better results: 41% of developers sometimes use AI more than necessary because they feel expected to, and only 42% of leaders say they have the right metrics. The 2025 sample was larger, the report says associations are not causal, and common obstacles such as finding information and meetings remain widespread.
What you can do
- Ask your team how many hours they spend reviewing or correcting AI output each week, not only whether they use the tools.
- Check whether AI usage volume is treated as a performance signal in your company, and stop if it is.
- Write down where AI is allowed in your delivery process, or confirm that you have no such position yet.
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