A report conducted by Harris Polls for GitHub found that artificial intelligence (AI) is having a big impact on software development in the telecom sector.
“The Intelligent Software Development Era: How AI Will Redefine DevSecOps in Telecommunications” includes views of 480 DevSecOp — development security, operations — professionals in the United States and nine other countries in Europe and the Asia Pacific region.
“AI is reshaping the fabric of DevSecOps in telecommunications,” the report reads. “Telcos are under intense pressure to modernize network infrastructure and offer profitable digital services. They’re expected to transform into software-driven technology companies, yet still ensure security, reliability, and customer trust as they adopt AI and work to accelerate innovation. This balancing act — between speed, security, and new skill sets — is defining a pivotal moment for the next era of DevSecOps in telecommunications.”
Highlights of the report:
- Readiness to adopt AI is near universal, but DevSecOps professionals have rising concerns: 97% report already using AI software development or plan to use it in the future and 94% have data privacy concerns about using AI tools.
- As AI democratizes coding, collaboration is more critical than ever: 76% of DevSec Ops professionals agree that as AI makes coding easier, there will be more engineers, not fewer. Ninety-four percent have experienced factors limiting collaboration in the software development lifecycle.
- DevSecOps teams are looking for deeper AI-human partnerships: 81% of DevSecOps professionals feel that using agentic AI would make them more satisfied with their job overall and 46% favor a 50/50 split between human and AI contributions in software development.
- Toolchains continue to expand in the AI era: 65% of DevSecOps teams report that they use more than five tools for software development and 55% use more than five
AI tools for software development. Thirty-eight percent of DevSecOps professionals use AI tools at work that aren’t officially approved by their organizations. AI is changing just about everything.
In October, IFS released a report that said there is an “invisible revolution” in which the focus is shifting from productivity-led AI experimentation to “embedded, operational AI across core business processes.” The report warned of an “execution gap,” in which companies moved into AI faster than their team members can upskill.
