State of AI-assisted Software Development 2025 (DORA Report)

The State of AI-assisted Software Development 2025 report from DORA reveals that AI’s primary role is as an amplifier, magnifying an organization’s existing strengths and weaknesses. The greatest returns on AI investment come not from the tools themselves, but from a strategic focus on the underlying organizational system.

Key Findings

AI as a Systems Problem

• Successful AI adoption is a systems problem, not a tools problem
• AI amplifies existing organizational capabilities (both good and bad)
• Greatest ROI comes from organizational system improvements, not just tools

DORA AI Capabilities Model

The 2025 research introduces a new model identifying key technical and cultural practices that amplify positive AI impacts on performance.

Critical Evaluation

• “Trust but verify” approach is essential
• Organizations need processes to critically guide, evaluate, and validate AI-generated work

Platform Engineering Impact

• Organizations that treat their platform as an internal product designed to improve developer experience see significantly greater returns
• Poor developer experience and fragmented tooling hamper AI strategy effectiveness

Value Stream Mapping

• Acts as a force multiplier for AI investments
• Provides systems-level view ensuring AI is applied to the right problems
• Turns localized productivity gains into significant organizational advantages
• Prevents creating more downstream chaos

Research Partners

• Premier Partner: IT Revolution
• Partners: GitHub, GitLab, SkillBench, Workhelix

Atomic Notes

• [[AI Adoption]]
• [[Platform Engineering]]
• [[Value Stream Mapping]]
• [[Internal Platform]]
• [[DORA]]

Source: DORA Research 2025