How good are AI tools at complex tasks — AI data 2026 | Stack Overflow Developer Survey

Developer Survey 2026

Question

How well do the AI tools or AI agents you use in your development workflow handle complex tasks?

single select
Optional
v2026.1

Data

	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%

Use this data

Citation

Response data is released under the ODbL 1.0, which asks that you attribute it.

Stack Exchange Inc. (2026). “How good are AI tools at complex tasks”. Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2026. Licensed under ODbL 1.0. https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-complex

JSON

Structured for code, with the question, the year and the source url alongside the numbers.

{
  "question": "How good are AI tools at complex tasks",
  "dataId": "AIComplex",
  "asked": "How well do the AI tools or AI agents you use in your development workflow handle complex tasks?",
  "year": "2026",
  "url": "https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-complex",
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    "name": "All Respondents",
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  },
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  "data": [
    {
      "response": "Very well at handling complex tasks",
      "count": 2288,
      "pct": 0.16
    },
    {
      "response": "Good, but not great at handling complex tasks",
      "count": 5564,
      "pct": 0.388
    },
    {
      "response": "Neither good or bad at handling complex tasks",
      "count": 2067,
      "pct": 0.144
    },
    {
      "response": "Bad at handling complex tasks",
      "count": 2299,
      "pct": 0.16
    },
    {
      "response": "Very poor at handling complex tasks",
      "count": 1141,
      "pct": 0.08
    },
    {
      "response": "I don't use AI tools for complex tasks / I don't know",
      "count": 982,
      "pct": 0.069
    }
  ]
}

Markdown

A formatted table, ready to paste into a document, an issue or a prompt.

|  | 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% |

Spreadsheet

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