News
AI is Speeding Up Coding, but Not Improving Engineering Outcomes
Most enterprise engineering teams are now using AI tools in production, but a new report from Faros suggests many are not seeing corresponding gains in overall team performance because they have not adapted how software development is organized.
The Faros 2026 AI engineering report ("The Acceleration Whiplash") found that while AI is accelerating individual developer productivity, it does not automatically improve broader outcomes, such as product quality or delivery speed. The report highlights a gap between faster code generation and measurable gains at the team level.
“Software engineering with AI is a categorically different system from anything engineering organizations have run before,” said Neely Dunlap, a content strategist at Faros who focuses on AI and software engineering.
The report examines how AI is reshaping development workflows and asks what it means to operate software engineering systems built around AI. It concludes that many organizations treat AI as a standalone tool rather than rethinking processes throughout the full development lifecycle.
Faros said developers are writing and shipping code faster with AI assistance, contributing to individual-level productivity gains. The tools in use range from integrated development environment assistants and chat-based systems to autonomous agents and specialized tools for code review and testing.
However, the report found that these gains do not consistently translate into improved team performance. Faster coding does not necessarily lead to better products or shorter delivery cycles, according to the findings.
The company also said that many organizations lack clear visibility into how AI affects their operations. This has created blind spots in understanding where AI delivers value and where it may introduce new inefficiencies or risks.
The report suggests that organizations may need to invest not only in AI tools but also in engineering talent and workflow changes to realize broader benefits.