AI’s time savings are disappearing into code review

The share of developers saving 10 hours a week with AI fell from 68% to 25%, according to Atlassian's 2026 State of Developer Experience report, as code review absorbs the gains. The report also found that finding information and meetings remain the biggest sources of developer friction, and that developers with a clear AI strategy are twice as likely to see reduced friction.

October 28, 2026 Estimated reading time: 2 minutes Key takeaways: - The share of developers saving 10 hours a week with AI fell from 68% to 25% , as code review eats the gains. - Finding information and meetings still cause the most developer friction. - A clear AI strategy makes reduced friction twice as likely for developers. Ask a developer whether AI https://leaddev.com/ai/best-ai-coding-assistants makes them faster and you’ll get a quick yes. Ask whether their team ships faster and the answer gets a lot more complicated. Atlassian’s 2026 State of Developer Experience report https://www.atlassian.com/teams/software-development/state-of-developer-experience-2026 puts numbers on that gap. Join LeadDev.com for free to access this content October 28, 2026