Are all developers equally productive with AI? Not quite.
Bill Doerrfeld | January 20, 2026
My
latest on LeadDev covers a report that suggests AI tends to accelerate top performers
As it turns out, the engineers seeing the biggest gains from AI were top performers all along.
A new report from GitClear and GitKraken suggests that AI doesn't create great developers so much as it amplifies the senior engineers who already know how to use it effectively.
Today, I dig into the data and sync with Bill Harding on what the year-over-year metrics show, and why headline productivity gaps can be misleading.
This is my 3rd year in a row covering studies from GitClear and Harding on the state of AI in software engineering, and the results never fail to spark some interesting takeaways!
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The constant barrage of AI layoffs is overshadowing the economic reasons behind these cuts, as well as the net-positive talent redistribution happening at large.
