# Will AI replace developers? Updated October 2026 Software developers score 59 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 79%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 14% outright, and 7% stays with people. - **14%** AI can do it - **79%** AI helps - **7%** Needs a person High exposure Higher than 89% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 17 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 13 and leaves 2 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Prepare reports or correspondence concerning project specifications, activities, or status. Status reports and specification write-ups are routine writing AI handles well. | 78% AI can do it | | Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements. Querying, transforming and retrieving data is routine digital work AI scripts handle. | 68% AI can do it | | Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures, programming, or documentation. AI drafts test cases, validation scripts and docs; engineer directs and approves. | 65% AI helps | | Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance. Coding assistants draft most fixes; developer still verifies hardware and integration. | 65% AI helps | | Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system. AI can analyze requirements and draft installation plans; humans decide on changes. | 50% AI helps | [See what AI can take on across an IT team](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/it/) ## How software developers compare All occupations (923) Computer and mathematical (36) **Software developers score 59**, marked by the dark line. Each dot is a score, darker where more occupations share it. The short marks show the averages, 37 for all occupations and 60 for computer and mathematical. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $135,980 a year, May 2025 People employed 1.7 million in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +10.2% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Verify AI-drafted code and fixes against Amazon EC2 deployments - Design and tune Amazon DynamoDB data models - Build AJAX front-end features and debug browser integration - Lead requirements meetings with customers and project managers - Hold the AWS Certified Developer Associate credential ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Computer hardware engineers51 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/computer-hardware-engineers/) - [Computer network architects55 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/computer-network-architects/) - [Blockchain engineers58 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/blockchain-engineers/) - [IT managers50 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/it-managers/) - [Project managers53 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/project-managers/) ## Questions about software developers and AI Will devops be replaced by AI? Partly. About 5 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly writing status reports and specification write-ups, and querying, transforming and retrieving data. What stays with people is the requirements meetings, design tradeoffs and final approval of code that ships. Will AI take over computer science jobs? AI can already do 14% of the task time in computer science and speeds up another 79%. People still do 7% of it. The US has 1.7 million software developer jobs, with a projected change of +10.2% from 2024 to 2034. Which software developer tasks is AI taking over? Status reports and specification write-ups carry the highest exposure, at 78, because AI drafts routine writing well. Data querying, transformation and retrieval follows at 68, since AI scripts handle that digital work. Test case drafting and code fixes, at 65, are largely drafted by coding assistants while the developer verifies the result. Which software developer tasks stay human? Supervising programmers and assigning their work scores lowest, at 14 and 15, because it depends on accountability and interpersonal judgement. Consulting customers on proposals, project status and technical issues scores 30, since live conversation carries the outcome and AI only drafts supporting material. Feasibility decisions on time and cost constraints, at 35, still need human judgement over the tradeoffs. How can software developers stay valuable? Focus on the steps that need a person to sign off, namely verifying generated code, designing data models and leading requirements meetings. Test AI-drafted fixes against Amazon EC2 deployments, design Amazon DynamoDB data models, and set feasibility limits with stakeholders before any estimate goes out. ## Related jobs - [Systems analysts59 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/systems-analysts/) - [Software testers64 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/software-testers/) - [Programmers66 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/programmers/) - [Database administrators60 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/database-administrators/) ## Next steps for software developers - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your actual tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV and see which of your tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Cement masons score lowest, at 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Radiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Cement masons need little prior training and score 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**For natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we publish, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 occupation groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.