According to them, senior developers are preparing for a major shift in the way they work as artificial intelligence becomes central to their workflows BairesDev’s latest Developer barometer report published today. VentureBeat obtained exclusive early analysis and the findings below are taken directly from the report.
A quarterly global survey of 501 developers and 19 project managers across 92 software initiatives found that nearly two-thirds (65%) of senior developers expect their roles to be redefined by AI in 2026.
The data highlights the transformation taking place in software development: fewer routine coding tasks, an increased focus on design and strategy, and a growing demand for AI fluency.
From programmers to strategists
Among those expecting change, 74% say they expect to move from hands-on coding to solution design.
Another 61% plan to integrate AI-generated code into their workflows, and half plan to spend more time on system strategy and architecture.
“It’s no longer about lines of code,” said Judge Erolin, chief technology officer at BairesDev, in a recent interview with VentureBeat conducted in the form of a video call. “It’s about the quality and type of code and the type of work that developers do.”
Erolin said the company is seeing developers evolve from individual contributors to systems thinkers.
“AI is great at scaffolding code and generating unit tests, saving developers about eight hours a week,” he explained. “This time can now be used for solution architecture and strategy work – areas where AI still falls short.”
The survey data reflects this change. Developers are moving toward higher-value tasks as automation takes over much of the repetitive coding once handled by junior engineers.
Erolin noted that BairesDev’s internal data reflects these findings. “We’re seeing a shift where senior engineers with AI tools are outperforming and even replacing the traditional mix of senior and junior teams,” he said.
Realism about the limits of artificial intelligence
Despite widespread enthusiasm, developers remain cautious about the reliability of AI.
More than half (56%) describe AI-generated code as “somewhat reliable,” saying it still needs to be verified for accuracy and security. Only 9% trust it enough to exploit it without human supervision.
Erolin agreed with this sentiment. “Artificial intelligence does not replace human supervision,” he said. “Even as tools improve, developers still need to understand how individual components fit into the larger system.”
He added that the biggest limitation of today’s huge language models is “context windowing” – the restricted ability to store and reason across entire systems. “Engineers need to think about architecture holistically, not just individual lines of code,” he said.
The CTO described 2025 as a turning point in the way engineers exploit AI tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude and OpenAI models. “We track what tools and models our engineers are using,” he said. “But what’s more important is how these tools impact learning, productivity and supervision.”
This moderate optimism aligns with BairesDev’s earlier optimism Developer barometer which shows that by Q3 2025, 92% of developers were already using AI-powered coding, saving an average of 7.3 hours per week.
A year of upskilling
In 2025, AI integration has already brought physical professional benefits. 74% of developers said technology had strengthened their technical skills, 50% said they had a better work-life balance, and 37% said AI tools had expanded their career options.
Erolin said the company sees artificial intelligence as “the most important application in upskilling.” Developers exploit it to “learn new technologies faster and fill knowledge gaps,” he noted. “When developers understand how artificial intelligence works and its limitations, they can use it to enhance, not replace, their critical thinking. They make better suggestions and learn more efficiently.”
Still, he warned of the potential long-term risks of the industry’s current trajectory. “If junior engineers are replaced or not hired, we will face a shortage of qualified senior engineers in ten years when current engineers retire,” Erolin said.
The Developer barometer the findings support this concern. Developers expect leaner teams, but many also fear that fewer entry-level opportunities could lead to long-term talent acquisition problems.
More productive teams, fresh priorities
Developers expect that 2026 will bring smaller, more specialized teams. 58% say automation will reduce entry-level tasks, and 63% expect fresh career paths to emerge as AI redefines team structures. 59% predict that artificial intelligence will create completely fresh, specialized roles.
According to BairesDev data, developers currently divide their time between writing code (48%), debugging (42%), and documentation (35%). Only 19% say they focus primarily on innovative problem solving and innovation – a percentage expected to augment as AI removes lower-level coding tasks.
The report also identified where developers see the fastest-growing areas in 2026: artificial intelligence/ML (67%), data analytics (46%), and cybersecurity (45%). At the same time, 63% of project managers said developers will need more training in artificial intelligence, cloud and security.
Erolin described the next generation of developers as “T-shaped engineers” – people with broad systems knowledge and deep expertise in one or more areas. “The most important developer going forward will be the T-shaped engineer,” he said. “Broad understanding, deep skill.”
Artificial intelligence as an industry standard
Fourth quarter Developer barometer sees AI not as an experiment, but as the foundation for how teams operate in 2026. Developers are moving beyond using AI as a coding shortcut and instead incorporating it into architecture, validation, and design decisions.
Erolin emphasized that BairesDev is already adapting its internal teams to this fresh reality. “Our engineers work for us full-time, and we employ them where they are needed,” he said. “Some clients need support for six months to a year, others outsource their entire development team to us.”
He said BairesDev employs “approximately 5,000 software engineers from Latin America, offering clients time zone-specific, culturally sensitive and highly fluent English-speaking talent.”
Erolin believes that as developers integrate AI more deeply into their daily work, the competitive advantage will lie with those who understand both the technology’s capabilities and its limitations. “When developers learn to collaborate with artificial intelligence rather than compete with it, that’s when there are real gains in productivity and creativity,” he said.
Background: Who is BairesDev
Founded in Buenos Aires in 2009 by Nacho De Marco and Paul Azorin, BairesDev began with a mission to connect the “top 1%” of Latin American developers with global companies looking for high-quality software solutions. The company grew from these early roots to become a premier near-shore software and staffing provider, offering everything from one-on-one developer internships to full, end-to-end project outsourcing.
Currently, BairesDev has completed over 1,200 projects in over 130 industries, serving hundreds of clients, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Adobe and Rolls-Royce. It operates on a remote model and employs over 4,000 specialists in over 40 countries, adapting its teams to North American time zones.
The company highlights three core benefits: access to elite technical talent in over 100 technologies, rapid scalability for projects, and proximity to the edge enabling real-time collaboration. It reports that customer relationships last an average of three years, with a satisfaction rate of approximately 91%.
BairesDev’s unique position – connecting Latin American talent with global enterprise clients – gives it an extremely data-rich perspective on how AI is transforming software development at scale.
Takeaway food
The Developer barometerQ4 2025 results suggest that 2026 will be a turning point in software engineering. Programmers are becoming system architects rather than mere programmers, knowledge of artificial intelligence is becoming a basic requirement, and established entry-level positions may give way to fresh, specialized positions.
As artificial intelligence pervades every stage of development – from design to testing – developers who can combine technical proficiency with strategic thinking will lead the next era of software development.