State of Agentic Coders (Q1 2026)
Where are developers in their AI adoption?
Are there still developers that don't use AI at all in their workflows? And how many developers dropped writing code entirely and let their agents do all the work?
Help answer these questions by taking this 3min survey! Let's find out what the
agentic coder spectrum looks like in the real world.
This survey was created by Nikolas Burk out of genuine curiosity. Not affiliated with any company or product. Results will be published here in March 2026. AI adoption in your development workflows
What's your current level of AI adoption for coding?
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0 = I don't use AI tools at all for coding; I write all code myself.
5 = I manage multiple AI agents in parallel that handle all coding; I focus on requirements, orchestration and review.
How detailed are the prompts/instructions you give to an agent before it starts working?
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0 = Not detailed; I just write what's in my head and let the AI figure it out.
5 = Very detailed; I create technical plans and specifications to reduce as much ambiguity as possible.
How much effort do you put into creating automated feedback loops so that AI agents can work independently?
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0 = None at all, I review all code myself; no other feedback loops are needed.
5 = Creating feedback loops and autonomous systems is the vast majority of my development work.
How intentional are you about which AI model you use?
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0 = Not intentional, I use whatever is available / default and don't think about it.
5 = I have detailed knowledge of model tradeoffs and optimize constantly based on the task at hand.
What's your go-to model for complex / reasoning-heavy tasks?
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What's your go-to model for quick / simple tasks?
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How often do you create and run custom sub-agents in your agentic coding workflows?
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5 = Custom sub-agents are an essential part of my workflow.
How autonomously do your AI agents run?
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0 = Fully supervised; I approve every step manually.
5 = Fully autonomous; agents run for hours/days while I'm away.
Which of these AI tools have been part of your core workflows in the past 3 months?
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Which of these AI tools have been part of your core workflows in the past 3 months?
What's the range of your monthly expenses for AI coding tools?
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These may be covered by you personally or by your employer.
Do you use voice input for prompting and conversations with AI tools?
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Your sentiment about AI in software development
How do you feel about the current pace of AI adoption in software development?
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How do you feel about the current pace of AI adoption in software development?
Compared to developers at your experience level, how would you describe your AI adoption?
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0 = Well behind, I'm not using tools and workflows others are.
5 = Well ahead, I'm an early adopter.
What are your biggest challenges with AI adoption?
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Have you felt pressure from any of these sources to adopt AI tools?
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Overall, do you see AI as a threat or opportunity for your future software development career?
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0 = Major threat; I'm worried about my future.
5 = Major opportunity; I'm shipping more code than ever before, the future is bright.
How many years have you been doing professional software development?
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What's your primary development domain?
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What has been your total compensation in 2025?
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Either compensation from your employer or profits as a contractor / indie dev.
Where do you primarily learn about new AI coding tools?
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Where do you primarily learn about new AI coding tools?
Leave your email address if you want to be notified about the results. It won't be used for anything else!
Results will be published here in March 2026.