---
title: "AI data 2026"
url: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data
year: 2026
chapter: "ai"
licence: "ODbL 1.0 (https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/)"
---

# AI data 2026

How are technologists using AI?

## 2.1 AI usage

### AI tool usage

83% use at least one AI tool. Coding assistants (66%) and general chat tools (63%) dominate; agents/workflows reach 26%.

Asked as: Do you currently use AI tools or AI agents in your role at work? (`AISelect`, multi select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 17,464

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| AI coding assistants or coding agents | 11,509 | 65.9% |
| General-purpose AI chat tools | 10,920 | 62.5% |
| AI agents or automated workflows | 4,582 | 26.2% |
| Internal AI tools built by my company | 3,115 | 17.8% |
| I don’t use AI tools | 3,003 | 17.2% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-select.md

### AI tool usage frequency

AI coding assistants have become habitual: 73% of their users use them daily. Internal company tools trail at 48% daily and 21% infrequently.

Asked as: How often do you use each of these AI tools or AI agents in your role at work? (`AIFreq`, scale, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 14,478

_Overall: Daily users - 77%, / Weekly = 18% / Monthly/Infreq. = 5%_

|  | Daily | Weekly | Monthly or Infrequent |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| AI coding assistants or coding agents | 73.0% | 20.1% | 6.2% |
| General-purpose AI chat tools | 65.6% | 26.8% | 7.0% |
| AI agents or automated workflows | 63.1% | 25.5% | 10.3% |
| Internal AI tools built by my company | 47.7% | 30.2% | 20.7% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-freq.md

### AI tool usage daily

Daily use is substantial, not incidental: 55% use AI for at least two hours per day, including 31% at four or more hours.

Asked as: You indicated that you use AI tools and/or agents daily. How much of your workday do you use AI tools to help you work? (`AIDaily`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 10,926

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| 4+ hours/day | 3,378 | 30.9% |
| 1-2 hours/day | 2,765 | 25.3% |
| 2-4 hours/day | 2,636 | 24.1% |
| <1 hour every day | 1,335 | 12.2% |
| <1 hour and not every day | 763 | 7.0% |
| None | 49 | 0.5% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-daily.md

### Attitudes towards AI tools

Overall sentiment is 62% favorable. It closely tracks career maturity: 53% of early career users (1-5 years exp.) are favorable, compared with 69% of experienced users (16+ years exp.). This is not proof that work experience leads to favorable attitudes, but they are certainly related.

Asked as: How would you describe your attitude toward using AI tools or agents as part of your work? (`AISentiment`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 14,428

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Very favorable | 4,564 | 31.6% |
| Somewhat favorable | 4,385 | 30.4% |
| Neutral | 2,205 | 15.3% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 2,110 | 14.6% |
| Very unfavorable | 994 | 6.9% |
| Not sure | 170 | 1.2% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-sentiment.md

## 2.2 Trust in AI and other trends

### Trust in AI tools

Trust is conditional: 48% trust AI when they can easily verify it, while only 7% trust it with important decisions. Even among early career (1-5 years exp.) users, important-decision trust is just 4%.

Asked as: How much do you trust the output from AI tools or AI agents as part of your workflow? (`AITrust`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 14,304

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| I trust it when I can easily verify the output | 6,872 | 48.0% |
| I trust it for many tasks, but not important work decisions | 2,329 | 16.3% |
| I trust it for low-risk work tasks only | 2,326 | 16.3% |
| I do not trust it for most work tasks | 1,754 | 12.3% |
| I trust it for many tasks, including important work decisions | 949 | 6.6% |
| Not sure / I do not use AI tools | 74 | 0.5% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-trust.md

### AI workflow current and expected

Adoption centers on familiar-code generation (69%), debugging/refactoring (64%), straightforward questions (59%), and tests (58%). Communications tasks have the strongest resistance: 46% do not use AI there and do not plan to.

Asked as: Which parts of your workflow are you currently integrating into AI or using AI agents to accomplish? Will they be more or less integrated over the next year? Please select one for each scenario. (`AIWork`, scale, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 12,547

|  | Currently use AI or AI agents for this | Expect to use AI More or AI agents more for this | Expect to use AI or AI agents less for this | Do not use AI or AI agents for this and do not plan to | This is not part of my workflow |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Analyzing data, logs, metrics, or query results | 41.9% | 37.5% | 5.7% | 16.3% | 13.0% |
| Answering complex or ambiguous technical questions | 50.0% | 32.7% | 11.4% | 17.9% | 4.4% |
| Answering straightforward technical questions | 59.4% | 29.0% | 7.5% | 16.5% | 4.2% |
| Architecture or technical design exploration | 47.4% | 28.2% | 8.2% | 19.2% | 12.1% |
| Creating or configuring development/test environments | 28.1% | 28.8% | 6.7% | 28.7% | 17.9% |
| Debugging, troubleshooting, or refactoring code | 63.8% | 36.1% | 8.2% | 8.8% | 2.7% |
| Deploying, operating, or troubleshooting production systems | 19.9% | 23.3% | 7.4% | 36.0% | 22.0% |
| Finding or fixing security issues | 34.6% | 37.9% | 6.6% | 14.7% | 19.1% |
| Generating code in a familiar area | 69.3% | 31.2% | 7.7% | 9.0% | 2.3% |
| Generating code in an unfamiliar area | 56.0% | 33.8% | 11.0% | 12.3% | 4.3% |
| Generating visual, audio, or multimedia elements | 17.5% | 18.8% | 5.3% | 24.1% | 42.9% |
| Product, UX, or visual design | 30.3% | 25.4% | 5.0% | 15.1% | 34.6% |
| Reviewing code, pull requests, or design decisions | 40.5% | 32.4% | 8.7% | 22.6% | 10.1% |
| Searching, summarizing, or interpreting internal knowledge | 49.7% | 36.1% | 5.7% | 15.8% | 7.9% |
| Understanding or onboarding to a new codebase | 49.7% | 35.1% | 5.7% | 12.9% | 11.6% |
| Writing documentation, comments, or knowledge base content | 51.1% | 35.9% | 7.0% | 16.3% | 6.7% |
| Writing emails, messages, summaries, or other communication | 23.5% | 20.8% | 8.2% | 45.9% | 10.9% |
| Writing or improving tests | 58.1% | 35.0% | 5.6% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| Writing tickets, requirements, plans, or project updates | 27.8% | 28.0% | 7.5% | 30.5% | 17.2% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-work.md

### Next steps after receiving an AI prompt response

Most developers validate AI output by running it locally (76%), comparing it with the codebase (64%), or checking tests/security (53%). Only 10% use answers as-is.

Asked as: When you receive an AI-generated answer for a development task, what do you usually do before using it? Select all that apply. (`AIWorkNext`, multi select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 13,162

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Run it locally | 10,067 | 76.5% |
| Compare against codebase context | 8,411 | 63.9% |
| Inspect tests/security implications | 6,977 | 53.0% |
| Read official docs | 4,998 | 38.0% |
| Search Stack Overflow | 1,601 | 12.2% |
| Use as-is | 1,265 | 9.6% |
| Ask a coworker | 907 | 6.9% |
| I do not use AI tools. | 228 | 1.7% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-work-next.md

### How good are AI tools at complex tasks

Only 16% say AI handles complex tasks very well; 39% say “good, but not great.” Daily users are much more positive, while 45% of infrequent users rate performance bad or very poor.

Asked as: How well do the AI tools or AI agents you use in your development workflow handle complex tasks? (`AIComplex`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 14,341

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Very well at handling complex tasks | 2,288 | 16.0% |
| Good, but not great at handling complex tasks | 5,564 | 38.8% |
| Neither good or bad at handling complex tasks | 2,067 | 14.4% |
| Bad at handling complex tasks | 2,299 | 16.0% |
| Very poor at handling complex tasks | 1,141 | 8.0% |
| I don't use AI tools for complex tasks / I don't know | 982 | 6.9% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-complex.md

### AI tool count

Three-quarters use two to five AI products weekly. Tool proliferation exists, but only 5% use six or more.

Asked as: In a typical week, about how many distinct AI tools or AI-enabled products do you personally use for work?

Count a tool if you intentionally use its AI capability. This may include chatbots, AI search or answer tools, AI coding assistants, AI features in IDEs, autonomous AI agents, internal AI assistants, local model runtimes, or AI tools built into workplace software.

Do not count AI features you do not knowingly use. Do not count multiple models inside the same product unless you use them through separate tools or interfaces. (`AIToolCount`, free text, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 11,919

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| 0 tools | 75 | 0.6% |
| 1 tool | 2,351 | 19.7% |
| 2 tools | 4,097 | 34.4% |
| 3-5 tools | 4,823 | 40.5% |
| 6-10 tools | 450 | 3.8% |
| 11+ tools | 123 | 1.0% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-tool-count.md

## 2.3 AI agent tools

### AI agent data storage tools

Mem0 leads at 20%, but no product exceeds one-fifth of the sample, the agent-memory market remains fragmented.

Asked as: Have you used any of the following tools for AI agent memory or vector databases in the past year? Do you want to use any of the following in the next 6 months? (`AIMem`, scale, optional, v2026.1)

Used · n = 1,392

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Mem0 | 279 | 20.0% |
| LangMem | 212 | 15.2% |
| Memary | 176 | 12.6% |
| Graphiti | 162 | 11.6% |
| Supermemory | 162 | 11.6% |
| Zep | 151 | 10.8% |
| Letta | 150 | 10.8% |
| Cognee | 133 | 9.6% |
| Hyperspell | 129 | 9.3% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-mem.md

### AI agent orchestration tools

LangChain leads at 30%, followed by OpenAI Agents SDK at 24%. “Terminal Use” at 19% suggests many developers favor direct, lightweight orchestration over dedicated frameworks.

Asked as: Have you used any of the following tools for AI agent orchestration or agent frameworks in the past year? Do you want to use any of the following in the next 6 months? (`AIOrch`, scale, optional, v2026.1)

Used · n = 4,400

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| LangChain | 1,329 | 30.2% |
| OpenAI Agents SDK | 1,048 | 23.8% |
| Terminal Use | 832 | 18.9% |
| LangGraph | 825 | 18.8% |
| Llama Stack | 767 | 17.4% |
| Google ADK | 617 | 14.0% |
| Hermes Agent | 449 | 10.2% |
| Vercel AI SDK | 395 | 9.0% |
| Pydantic AI | 390 | 8.9% |
| CrewAI | 242 | 5.5% |
| Semantic Kernel | 218 | 5.0% |
| AutoGen | 200 | 4.5% |
| Strands | 178 | 4.0% |
| DSPy | 159 | 3.6% |
| Mastra | 132 | 3.0% |
| Dify | 126 | 2.9% |
| Smolagents | 116 | 2.6% |
| Atomic Agents | 115 | 2.6% |
| Instructor | 106 | 2.4% |
| Agno | 105 | 2.4% |
| 21st.dev | 100 | 2.3% |
| GripTape | 91 | 2.1% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-orch.md

### AI agent observability and security

Sentry leads at 26%, ahead of LangSmith at 17%. Established monitoring products may have an advantage as AI observability converges with conventional application monitoring.

Asked as: Have you used any of the following tools for AI agent observability, prompts, or evals in the past year? Do you want to use any of the following in the next 6 months? (`AIObs`, scale, optional, v2026.1)

Used · n = 2,277

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Sentry | 592 | 26.0% |
| LangSmith | 393 | 17.3% |
| MLflow | 347 | 15.2% |
| Langfuse | 345 | 15.2% |
| Datadog LLM | 271 | 11.9% |
| Weights &amp; Biases | 244 | 10.7% |
| Arize AI | 133 | 5.8% |
| Braintrust | 132 | 5.8% |
| DeepEval | 131 | 5.8% |
| Respan | 127 | 5.6% |
| Promptfoo | 121 | 5.3% |
| Agenta | 114 | 5.0% |
| Ragas | 111 | 4.9% |
| Galileo AI | 110 | 4.8% |
| Portkey | 109 | 4.8% |
| LangWatch | 101 | 4.4% |
| Helicone | 95 | 4.2% |
| Humanloop | 93 | 4.1% |
| PromptLayer | 92 | 4.0% |
| Patronus AI | 91 | 4.0% |
| HoneyHive | 90 | 4.0% |
| Confident AI | 86 | 3.8% |
| Traceloop | 86 | 3.8% |
| Chamber | 85 | 3.7% |
| Opik | 84 | 3.7% |
| Future AGI | 80 | 3.5% |
| Sentrial | 79 | 3.5% |
| Athina AI | 78 | 3.4% |
| Lunary | 77 | 3.4% |
| Moda | 76 | 3.3% |
| Ashr | 70 | 3.1% |
| Parea AI | 69 | 3.0% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-obs.md

### AI coding agents

Claude Code (66%) and GitHub Copilot (59%) are the clear leaders.

Asked as: Have you used any of the following coding agents or assistants in the past year? Do you want to use any of the following in the next 6 months? (`AICodeAgent`, scale, optional, v2026.1)

Used · n = 12,255

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Claude Code | 8,030 | 65.5% |
| GitHub Copilot | 7,196 | 58.7% |
| OpenAI Codex | 3,620 | 29.5% |
| Cursor | 3,127 | 25.5% |
| Google Antigravity | 1,956 | 16.0% |
| Gemini Code Assist | 1,789 | 14.6% |
| Open Code | 1,662 | 13.6% |
| JetBrains AI | 1,569 | 12.8% |
| Windsurf | 796 | 6.5% |
| Warp | 641 | 5.2% |
| Cline | 551 | 4.5% |
| Pi | 535 | 4.4% |
| Amazon Q Developer | 476 | 3.9% |
| Continue | 466 | 3.8% |
| Mistral Vibe | 393 | 3.2% |
| Kilo Code | 392 | 3.2% |
| Devin | 360 | 2.9% |
| Google Jules | 307 | 2.5% |
| Replit Agent | 285 | 2.3% |
| Tabnine | 257 | 2.1% |
| Aider | 256 | 2.1% |
| Codium (Qodo) | 206 | 1.7% |
| BLACKBOX AI | 202 | 1.6% |
| Supermaven | 158 | 1.3% |
| Trae | 154 | 1.3% |
| Augment Code | 145 | 1.2% |
| Sourcegraph Cody | 114 | 0.9% |
| Emdash | 85 | 0.7% |
| Approxima | 69 | 0.6% |
| ECA | 68 | 0.6% |
| Sweep | 68 | 0.6% |
| Kavia AI | 63 | 0.5% |
| Syntropy | 63 | 0.5% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-code-agent.md

### AI-no-code agents

Lovable leads at 38%, with Replit and v0 near 28%.

Asked as: Have you used any of the following no-code agent builder tools in the past year? Do you want to use any of the following in the next 6 months? (`AINoCode`, scale, optional, v2026.1)

Used · n = 2,219

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Lovable | 850 | 38.3% |
| Replit | 629 | 28.3% |
| v0 | 611 | 27.5% |
| Bolt.new | 381 | 17.2% |
| Base44 | 250 | 11.3% |
| Langflow | 174 | 7.8% |
| Stack AI | 159 | 7.2% |
| Flowise | 92 | 4.1% |
| Voiceflow | 92 | 4.1% |
| Create | 91 | 4.1% |
| Glue | 85 | 3.8% |
| Rivet | 78 | 3.5% |
| Botpress | 77 | 3.5% |
| Relevance AI | 72 | 3.2% |
| Sparkles | 68 | 3.1% |
| Wordware | 67 | 3.0% |
| Marblism | 65 | 2.9% |
| Pickaxe | 61 | 2.7% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-no-code.md

### AI agent automation tools

Make (39%) and n8n (33%) lead Zapier (18%). Developer-oriented automation appears to be shifting toward flexible, composable platforms.

Asked as: Have you used any of the following workflow automation tools in the past year? Do you want to use any of the following in the next 6 months? (`AIAutomate`, scale, optional, v2026.1)

Used · n = 4,173

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Make | 1,625 | 38.9% |
| n8n | 1,364 | 32.7% |
| Zapier | 771 | 18.5% |
| Temporal | 249 | 6.0% |
| Prefect | 125 | 3.0% |
| Trigger.dev | 100 | 2.4% |
| Inngest | 96 | 2.3% |
| Gumloop | 93 | 2.2% |
| Relay.app | 92 | 2.2% |
| DBOS | 89 | 2.1% |
| Activepieces | 82 | 2.0% |
| Bubble Lab | 79 | 1.9% |
| Cofia | 69 | 1.7% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-automate.md

## 2.4 AI at work

### AI impact in different work functions

AI is considered useful or very useful for implementation (75%), debugging (73%), documentation (66%), and review (64%).

Asked as: When using AI tools or AI agents at work, how useful has AI proven itself for the task or activity? Select one answer for each. (`AIImpact`, scale, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 12,734

|  | Not applicable | No strong opinion | More impractical than useful, not useful | Useful | Very useful |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Architecture exploration | 12.6% | 18.9% | 9.4% | 34.4% | 24.7% |
| Communication | 18.8% | 23.6% | 22.6% | 21.8% | 13.2% |
| Debugging/refactoring | 4.8% | 13.7% | 8.8% | 38.1% | 34.5% |
| Design | 17.2% | 19.3% | 14.3% | 30.7% | 18.5% |
| Documentation | 10.1% | 14.6% | 9.6% | 30.4% | 35.3% |
| Implementation | 3.9% | 12.5% | 9.0% | 40.3% | 34.3% |
| Review | 10.0% | 16.7% | 8.8% | 37.2% | 27.3% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-impact.md

### Satisfaction with AI tools

AI most improves satisfaction with debugging (66%), documentation (61%), and implementation (60%). Implementation is also most polarizing: 20% report decreased satisfaction.

Asked as: When using AI tools or AI agents at work, which of the following have increased or decreased your usual satisfaction with completing the task? Select one answer for each. (`AISat`, scale, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 12,125

|  | Greatly decreased | Somewhat decreased | No change | Somewhat improved | Greatly improved |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Architecture exploration | 4.5% | 4.8% | 35.8% | 31.9% | 22.9% |
| Communication | 10.0% | 7.9% | 49.5% | 19.2% | 13.5% |
| Debugging/refactoring | 4.3% | 6.2% | 23.4% | 35.7% | 30.4% |
| Design | 5.8% | 7.3% | 39.4% | 28.7% | 18.9% |
| Documentation | 4.6% | 5.2% | 29.6% | 27.9% | 32.7% |
| Implementation | 8.2% | 11.7% | 19.9% | 33.6% | 26.5% |
| Review | 5.3% | 6.6% | 32.8% | 32.3% | 23.0% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-sat.md

### Did you switch AI tools in the past year?

Two-thirds switched tools during the year. Output quality is the largest reason at 25%, well ahead of integration (7%), cost (6%), security (2%), or model access (2%).

Asked as: In the past year, have you switched from one AI tool to another for work? If yes, what was the primary reason? (`AIToolSwitch`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 13,144

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| No | 4,423 | 33.7% |
| Yes — better output quality | 3,305 | 25.1% |
| Yes — my organization required or recommended a different tool | 1,394 | 10.6% |
| Yes — better integration with my workflow or development environment | 975 | 7.4% |
| Yes — lower cost | 835 | 6.4% |
| Yes — better support for agents, automation, or coding workflows | 487 | 3.7% |
| Yes — another reason (write in) | 466 | 3.6% |
| Yes — the previous tool became too expensive, limited, or unavailable | 433 | 3.3% |
| Yes — better security, privacy, or compliance | 283 | 2.2% |
| Yes — access to a preferred model or provider | 280 | 2.1% |
| Yes — for a specific feature | 179 | 1.4% |
| Not applicable — I do not use AI tools for work | 84 | 0.6% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-tool-switch.md

### AI memory retention

54% want personal control of AI memory; only 15% prefer centralized organizational control. Another 14% reject retained memory entirely.

Asked as: When AI tools remember things about your work, who should control that memory? (`AIRetain`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 12,825

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Just me | 6,877 | 53.6% |
| My organization centrally | 1,891 | 14.7% |
| I do not want AI to retain memory | 1,821 | 14.2% |
| My team | 1,420 | 11.1% |
| Not sure | 816 | 6.4% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-retain.md

### AI at work

Organizational maturity is uneven. AI is optional and individual-led for 30%; only 24% report approved tools and guidance.

Asked as: Which of the following best describes how AI tools or agents are used at your organization today? (`AIUse`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 13,167

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| AI use is mostly optional and left up to individuals | 3,915 | 29.7% |
| My organization provides approved AI tools and guidance for how to use them | 3,154 | 24.0% |
| Some teams actively encourage AI use, but practices vary across the organization | 2,097 | 15.9% |
| My organization expects some employees to use AI tools for certain types of work | 1,507 | 11.5% |
| My organization measures or evaluates AI use as part of employee or team performance | 1,344 | 10.2% |
| My organization does not currently use AI tools or agents for work | 804 | 6.1% |
| Not sure | 346 | 2.6% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-use.md

### AI avoidance

59% intentionally avoid AI for some reason. Skill loss/job replacement (17%) exceeds ethical (15%), privacy/security (13%), environmental (8%), or training concerns (3%).

Asked as: Do you try to avoid using AI tools or agents at work or school? Select the option below that most accurately reflects your reasoning. (`AIAvoid`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 13,857

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| I do not avoid using AI at work or school | 5,728 | 41.3% |
| Concern over losing job skills or training an AI to replace you | 2,367 | 17.1% |
| Moral or ethical concerns | 2,108 | 15.2% |
| Issues with privacy or security | 1,802 | 13.0% |
| Environmental concerns | 1,129 | 8.2% |
| Other, please specify: | 369 | 2.7% |
| Difficulty or lack of training | 354 | 2.6% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-avoid.md

### Vetting new AI tools

Half of organizations have standardized on one or a few approved tools, while 30% are decentralized or actively experimenting. Only 4% are building internal tools/models.

Asked as: Which of the following best describes how your organization currently approaches AI tools or models? (`AITry`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 12,637

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| We use a few approved tools or models | 4,138 | 32.8% |
| We mostly use one approved tool or model | 2,345 | 18.6% |
| Different teams choose their own tools or models | 2,186 | 17.3% |
| We are trying multiple tools or models before deciding what to use longer-term | 1,576 | 12.5% |
| We are not using AI tools or models in a meaningful way | 1,197 | 9.5% |
| Not sure | 649 | 5.1% |
| We are building internal tools or models | 546 | 4.3% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-try.md