We are pleased to share that a new peer-reviewed study has been accepted for publication in Information and Software Technology. Authored by Dr. Kai-Kristian Kemell, Dr. Matti Saarikallio, Prof. Anh Nguyen-Duc, and Prof. Pekka Abrahamsson, the article investigates how generative AI tools are currently being adopted in software organizations.
Despite the promise of transformation, is GenAI fundamentally reshaping software engineering—or is it still just assisting individual developers?
To explore this, the researchers conducted a multiple case study across seven European software companies, including both startups and large enterprises. The study draws on 15 interviews and longitudinal observations over eight months, offering a rare, grounded perspective on what’s actually happening inside development teams.
The paper outlines:
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25 concrete industry use cases for generative AI tools
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12 observed benefits—from productivity gains to flow retention
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10 adoption and usage challenges, spanning privacy concerns, prompting difficulties, and integration hurdles
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Insights from both organizational and individual user perspectives
While the tools are in widespread exploratory use, the study suggests that truly process-level or transformational adoption remains limited. Most usage today is personal, assistive, and still evolving.