A study by OutSystems, titled "Navigating Agentic AI & Generative AI in Software Development: Human-Agent Collaboration is Here," has revealed that APAC leads agentic AI implementation in software development lifecycle (SDLC) at 60%, ahead of North America (50%) and Europe (40%).
It's a global trend: 93% of organisations are already developing or planning to develop their custom AI agents.
"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.
Gains in software development
In collaboration with CIO Dive and KPMG, the study of 550 global software executives has revealed that over two-thirds reported increased developer productivity and improved software quality, characterised by fewer bugs. Over half (62%) reported improved scalability of development efforts, and 60% reported enhanced testing and quality assurance (QA) efficiency.
"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," says Michael Harper, managing director at KPMG LLP.
APAC insights
In APAC, the most popular use cases of agentic AI are code reviews and quality assurance (67%) and automation of internal business processes (61%). 73% of APAC organisations plan to increase their AI investments by 11% or more over the coming year.
Seventy-eight per cent of respondents are actively building their custom AI agents, and two-thirds are creating bespoke AI solutions, outpacing other regions in in-house development.
"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," Martin said.
