Posted by Mumbai: A new report from AI-powered application development platform OutSystems reveals that 93% of global software executives are either building or planning to build custom AI agents, signaling a major shift in how enterprises approach software development.
The report, Navigating Agentic AI & Generative AI in Software Development, developed with CIO Dive and KPMG, surveyed 550 software executives across the U.S, U.K, Japan, France, Canada, Australia, India and Germany. It highlights growing momentum around “agentic AI”—intelligent agents that can perform autonomous tasks and support human teams.
“The software development lifecycle is undergoing a significant transformation as organisations increase AI investments to maintain their competitive edge. Blending AI with development tools enables IT leaders to manage this shift effectively and securely,” said Woodson Martin, CEO of OutSystems.
“In a near future, AI agents acting as highly specialised teams will continuously monitor business needs, identify opportunities, and proactively refine software solutions, allowing developers and business leaders to play a more creative role and focus on strategic priorities,” added Martin.
This report underscores how AI advancements are reshaping traditional roles and unlocking opportunities for innovation and collaboration between humans and technology, according to Martin.
Accelerating Efficiency and Innovation
According to the study, 46% of organisations have already integrated agentic AI into their workflows, with another 28% piloting deployments. AI agents are primarily being used to boost efficiency in customer support, with 49% of respondents prioritising them for that use case. Other areas like product development, sales, supply chain, HR, and finance are also seeing experimentation.
Executives cited several key benefits of AI adoption including improved developer productivity and software quality, greater scalability of development efforts and faster testing and QA processes. More than half of the software executives said AI helps them improve customer experience (56%), automate repetitive tasks (55%), and shorten development timelines (54%).
AI’s Workforce Impact
The study also highlights how AI is reshaping the tech workforce. Nearly 70% of executives expect the rise of specialised roles such as AI governance leads, prompt engineers, and agent architects. Another 63% said substantial upskilling or reskilling will be needed to adapt existing teams.
“A lot of organisations started with pilots a year ago or even prior to that, but now they’re starting to see real efficiency gains in areas like code generation and application testing,” said Michael Harper, MD – KPMG LLP. “Those activities are giving organisations more confidence in using these tools and helping them to move forward.”
Challenges Ahead
Despite the promise of AI, concerns remain. Around 64% of respondents cited challenges with governance, transparency, and security, while 44% flagged “AI sprawl” and technical debt as emerging risks. Still, with nearly every software leader planning to deploy custom AI agents. OutSystems’ findings suggest agentic AI is set to play a central role in future enterprise software strategies.