85% of Developers Use AI: What the JetBrains 2025 Survey Reveals
Hello HaWkers, the State of Developer Ecosystem 2025 survey by JetBrains has been released and the numbers are impressive. 85% of developers already use AI regularly at work.
Let's analyze the data and understand what this means for your career.
The AI Landscape in Development
Massive Adoption
The JetBrains 2025 survey confirms what many suspected: AI is no longer optional for developers.
Main numbers:
- 85% of developers use AI tools regularly
- 62% use at least one AI code assistant
- 81.4% use ChatGPT (largest enterprise tech adoption ever recorded)
- 1 in 5 saves 8+ hours per week with AI
ChatGPT with 81.4% usage represents the fastest enterprise technology adoption ever recorded.
Time Savings With AI
Hours Saved
The survey reveals significant time savings for those who use AI.
Savings distribution:
| Weekly Savings | Percentage of Devs |
|---|---|
| 0 hours | 10% |
| 1-2 hours | 35% |
| 3-4 hours | 25% |
| 5-7 hours | 15% |
| 8+ hours | 20% |
Almost 9 out of 10 developers save at least one hour per week using AI tools, and 1 in 5 saves 8 hours or more - the equivalent of an entire workday.
Tasks Where AI Helps Most
Usefulness ranking:
| Task | Perceived Usefulness |
|---|---|
| Code generation | 92% |
| Debugging | 78% |
| Documentation | 75% |
| Code review | 68% |
| Testing | 65% |
| Architecture | 45% |
Most Used Tools
ChatGPT Leads Absolutely
Adoption ranking:
| Tool | Usage Among Devs |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 81.4% |
| GitHub Copilot | 45% |
| Claude | 28% |
| Cursor IDE | 17.9% |
| Codeium | 12% |
| Amazon CodeWhisperer | 8% |
| Others | 15% |
Why ChatGPT Dominates
Success factors:
- First to arrive: First-mover advantage
- Versatility: Not just code
- Free tier: Accessible to everyone
- Robust API: Easy integration
- Strong brand: Synonymous with AI
GitHub Copilot: The Specialist
Why 45% use it:
- Native IDE integration
- Automatic code context
- Real-time suggestions
- Accessible price ($10/month)
- GitHub ecosystem
Impact On Languages
TypeScript: The AI Language
The survey shows an interesting correlation between AI and TypeScript.
Growth data:
- TypeScript grew +66% YoY in contributors
- Surpassed Python on GitHub by ~42k contributors
- Now the most used language on GitHub
TypeScript grew over 1 million contributors in 2025, driven by frameworks that start projects in TypeScript by default and by AI-assisted development that benefits from stricter type systems.
Why AI Favors TypeScript
Technical reasons:
- Explicit types: AI understands code better
- Superior autocomplete: More precise suggestions
- Write-time errors: Fewer AI bugs
- Inline documentation: Types are documentation
- Safe refactoring: AI can refactor with confidence
The rise of typed languages suggests AI isn't just changing coding speed, but also influencing which languages teams trust to take AI-generated code to production.
Change in Productivity Metrics
New Ways to Measure
The survey indicates that traditional metrics are changing.
Evolving metrics:
| Old Metric | New Metric |
|---|---|
| Lines of code | Value delivered |
| Commits/day | Problems solved |
| PRs merged | Product impact |
| Bugs fixed | Bugs prevented |
Developer Experience
New priorities:
- Developer satisfaction
- Flow state (time in productive zone)
- Cognitive load (mental burden)
- Onboarding time (ramp-up time)
- Tool satisfaction
The Developer Who Doesn't Use AI
The 15% Minority
The survey also reveals why some developers still don't use AI.
Cited reasons:
| Reason | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Privacy concerns | 35% |
| Company policy | 28% |
| Don't see value | 18% |
| Insufficient quality | 12% |
| Cost | 7% |
Risks of Falling Behind
Potential impacts:
- Lower productivity: 8h/week difference
- Reduced competitiveness: Others deliver faster
- Missed opportunities: Jobs require AI skills
- Technical stagnation: Not keeping up with evolution
- Burnout: Excessive manual work
With 85% of professionals using AI, falling behind on this trend can limit your employability.
Vibe Coding: New Trend
What the Survey Reveals
The survey highlights a new trend called "vibe coding".
Definition:
A notable trend in 2025 was "vibe coding" - a developer workflow that starts with an idea and jumps straight to a running proof-of-concept, often in a single night, driven by AI autocomplete and copy-paste cloud tooling.
Vibe Coding Characteristics
How it works:
- Idea emerges
- AI generates initial structure
- Fast iteration
- Instant deploy
- Functional prototype in hours
Industry Impact
Observed changes:
- 10x faster prototyping
- More experimentation
- Accelerated idea validation
- Lower entry barriers
- More agile startups
GitHub: 180 Million Developers
Explosive Growth
The GitHub Octoverse 2025 report complements JetBrains data.
Impressive numbers:
- 180 million+ developers on GitHub
- 36 million new developers in 2025
- 1 new dev per second joining
- India: 5.2 million new devs (14% of total)
Implications For the Market
What it means:
- More competition: More devs in the market
- Globalization: Talent from everywhere
- Open source grows: More contributors
- Specialization matters: Differentiation is key
- AI is differentiator: Those who use it stand out
What Companies Expect
Mandatory AI Skills
The survey shows companies already expect AI proficiency.
Employer expectations:
| Skill | Importance |
|---|---|
| Using code assistants | 85% |
| Basic prompt engineering | 72% |
| Evaluating AI output | 68% |
| Integrating AI in workflow | 60% |
| Understanding limitations | 55% |
What Hasn't Changed
Fundamental skills still matter:
- Programming logic
- System architecture
- Critical code review
- Deep debugging
- Clear communication
AI amplifies existing skills. Without solid fundamentals, AI output is hard to evaluate and correct.
Preparing For 2026
Skills to Develop
Immediate priorities:
- Prompt engineering: Communicating with AI efficiently
- AI code review: Evaluating suggestions critically
- TypeScript: AI's preferred language
- System design: AI doesn't replace architecture
- Modern tools: Cursor, Copilot, Claude
Required Mindset
Valued attitudes:
- Curiosity about new tools
- Willingness to experiment
- Healthy skepticism (don't accept everything)
- Continuous learning
- Human-AI collaboration
Learning Resources
Where to start:
## Free
- GitHub Copilot Free Tier
- ChatGPT (free version)
- Claude.ai (free version)
- Official documentation
## Paid that are worth it
- GitHub Copilot Pro ($10/month)
- Claude Pro ($20/month)
- Cursor Pro ($20/month)Conclusion
The JetBrains 2025 survey confirms: AI is already mainstream in software development. With 85% adoption and average savings of 4+ hours weekly, not using AI is a competitive disadvantage.
For developers, the message is clear: adopt AI as a tool, not a replacement. Combine automation with solid fundamentals. AI amplifies your skills - the better your fundamentals, the better the result.
The coming years will belong to those who know how to collaborate efficiently with AI. Start now.
If you want to understand more about AI tools for development, I recommend checking out the article about Claude Code vs GitHub Copilot where we compare the main code agents.
Let's go! 🦅
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