Gitlab: How Agentic AI Could Unlock an Economic Boost
GitLab quantifies the economic impact of AI on UK software development at £5.12bn (US$7bn) annually.
The company’s research, conducted with polling firm The Harris Poll, surveyed 253 UK C-level executives to assess how AI adoption affects revenue and productivity in their organisations.
The study finds companies implementing AI-enabled software innovation report revenue increases of 53% alongside developer productivity gains of 54%.
GitLab’s analysis also shows UK developers save an average of 417 hours per year through automated routine tasks.
When applied across the UK’s 465,000-strong developer workforce, these time savings translate to the multi-billion pound economic opportunity.
Software innovation is changing from a technical department concern to boardroom priority, with 89% of surveyed executives classifying AI-driven software development as core to business strategy.
Meanwhile, board support for innovation initiatives reaches 90% of companies – and 78% are willing to allocate more than half their IT budgets to software-driven growth.
“AI-fuelled software innovation is an undeniable source of competitive advantage and economic impact, with 89% of executives in the UK saying that it’s now a core business priority,” says Louise Fellows, Vice President of UK at GitLab.
Why security worries shadow agentic AI adoption plans
However, the research identifies tension between AI adoption and risk management.
Agentic AI systems are new challenges for enterprise security frameworks that many organisations are struggling to address.
The study finds that security concerns affect 74% of executives, with 61% specifically worried about cyberattacks and 51% expressing data privacy concerns.
These fears are prompting 57% of organisations to implement governance frameworks aligned with regulatory requirements, deploying third-party audits and internal AI policies to manage emerging risks.
Despite these worries, adoption momentum continues unabated.
86% of executives expect agentic AI to become industry standard within three years, creating pressure for organisations to balance rapid implementation with adequate safeguards.
“The companies pulling ahead are the ones blending AI with human expertise, leveraging agentic AI with intention, aligning software strategy with business value and building guardrails to innovate responsibly,” Louise says.
Human creativity remains essential despite AI advances
The research also reveals unanimous agreement among executives that human creativity, strategic vision and collaboration remain essential to software success.
Current development workflows allocate 75% of work to human developers, with AI contributing just 25% of the effort.
Furthermore, 72% of executives believe ideal human contribution should represent at least half of development work – suggesting AI serves a complementary rather than replacement role in software teams.
This finding challenges assumptions about AI displacing human developers entirely.
Additionally, skills development emerges as a critical priority, with 89% of executives emphasising employee training for AI collaboration.
38% identify developer upskilling as AI’s most valuable benefit to their organisations.
Now, companies are measuring return on investment (ROI) beyond simple cost savings.
Enhanced problem-solving capabilities drive ROI calculations for 46% of firms, while 44% cite faster time-to-market and improved customer experience as key benefits.
“When 86% of executives expect agentic AI to become the industry standard within three years, developers who can think systematically about human-AI workflows will be indispensable,” says Emilio Salvador, GitLab’s Vice President of Strategy and Developer Relations.
The research suggests developer roles will evolve toward AI orchestration rather than individual coding tasks, requiring new competencies in managing human-AI collaboration.
“The research reveals that 100% of UK executives think that human contributions are valuable for software development, with creativity and strategic vision as the most desired human inputs,” Louise says.
“To be clear, this is not about AI replacing developers. It’s about elevating human capabilities.”
