AI and engineering velocity: A longitudinal analysis

Many leaders feel their organizations are falling behind in the race to unlock AI-driven engineering velocity. Vendor marketing and social media set expectations at 3x or even 10x improvements. When leaders see more modest results, they assume something is wrong.

To provide a clear, objective picture of how AI is impacting engineering velocity, DX analyzed PR throughput from November 2024 to February 2026 across a sample of more than 400 companies where AI adoption rose sharply. During the study period, AI tool usage increased by an average of 65%, while median PR throughput increased by an average 7.76%.

For most organizations, a 5–15% throughput gain is what the current generation of AI coding tools is delivering.

To understand why gains are more modest than expected, we conducted qualitative interviews with developers across our sample. This report lays out the themes we identified; it also discusses the nuances of measuring AI’s impact, and provides an action plan for leaders to unlock additional gains from their investment.

Ultimately, this report offers a more grounded view of AI’s impact on engineering work: one that can help leaders reset expectations internally and take a more systematic approach to getting more out of their AI investments.