Report: AI coding productivity gains cancelled out by other friction points that slow developers down

AI adoption is saving developers a significant amount of time, but several friction points still exist throughout the software development life cycle that developers are still losing time to.

According to Atlassian’s 2025 State of Developer Experience report, 99% of developers are saving time by using AI, and 68% save at least 10 hours a week. For the survey, Atlassian gathered responses from 3,500 developers from the US, Australia, France, Germany, the UK, and India in March of this year.

This year’s results are a big change from last year, when a majority of survey respondents had yet to see any productivity gains. 

Of the developers saving time with AI, the top four ways they are reallocating their time include improving code quality, developing new features, improving engineering culture, and developing documentation. 

Jellyfish also recently released its 2025 State of Engineering Management report, where it found that 90% of development teams are using AI coding tools, and 62% believe they are seeing at least a 25% increase in developer velocity because of those tools.

Jellyfish’s co-founder and CEO Andrew Lau said that the productivity gains detailed in the report haven’t been in line with the 10x productivity increases that had been predicted.

“AI adoption in software engineering is no longer optional, but unlocking its full value demands more than access,” he said. “It requires intentional measurement, structured enablement, and cultural investment. This is not a tooling upgrade – it’s an organizational transformation.”

Atlassian also noted that developers only spend 16% of their time coding, and much of the current investment in AI is in AI coding assistants. “Coding is not a friction point for developers, which is why coding assistants can enhance the experience without improving it,” the company wrote in a blog post. 

This year’s survey found that a significant amount of time is being lost to non-coding tasks. Fifty percent of respondents reported losing over 10 hours per week, 40% lose six to 10 hours, and 10% lose less than five hours. 

“So we’re right back where we started, with developers saving 10 hours a week using AI and losing 10 hours a week to inefficiencies. Improving the developer experience requires a systematic approach to understanding and resolving developer friction points,” Atlassian wrote.

According to the survey results, the top time wasters are finding information, adopting new technology, and context switching between tools. 

Making matters worse, 63% of respondents believe that leaders don’t understand their pain points, an increase from last year when only 44% felt the same. Atlassian believes this may be caused by leaders accepting the time savings achieved through AI without addressing underlying issues. 

Atlassian recommends that leaders use data to uncover obstacles, and listen to engineering teams closely about their concerns surrounding roadblocks, unclear requirements, or heavy workloads. 

“Developers are closest to the work and often see problems first. But those insights only help if they’re clearly communicated – with specific examples, measurable impact, and business context. Leaders need to invite and act on this input through retrospectives, surveys, and skip-level meetings that foster open dialogue,” the company wrote in the report.

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