AI adoption is widespread, but developer confidence is still catching up, Agoda report finds 

AI adoption is widespread, but developer confidence is still catching up, Agoda report finds 

SINGAPORE, Feb. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Developers across Southeast Asia and India are using AI at scale, but confidence in its reliability has yet to fully mature, according to findings from Agoda’s AI Developer Report 2025. While AI has become a regular part of software development workflows, many engineers remain cautious, treating it as an accelerator rather than a dependable substitute for human judgment. AI adoption is now widespread across the region. Nearly nine in ten developers say they use AI on a weekly basis, and most report clear productivity gains. However, confidence has not kept pace with usage. 

Only 43% believe AI can currently perform at the level of a mid-level engineer, highlighting a persistent gap between adoption and confidence. In fact, several major markets show skepticism above the regional average, like Thailand (48%), India (47%), the Philippines (45%), and Singapore (44%).

Within these markets, confidence erodes further for a subset of developers who say they do not think it is possible for AI to match a mid-level developer in quality today. This view is most pronounced in the Philippines (11%), followed by Singapore (7%), Vietnam (7%), Thailand (7%), and India (5%), showing that for many developers, the trust gap extends beyond temporary hesitation.

Inconsistent output remains the primary concern. Seventy-nine percent of developers cite unreliable results as the biggest barrier to deeper AI integration, outweighing concerns related to access, cost, or tooling. This challenge is most acute in markets such as the Philippines (88%) and Thailand (84%), where concerns about output reliability are highest. Even in more mature AI markets like Singapore (77%) and Malaysia (73%), inconsistent results continue to temper confidence and reinforce the need for human oversight.

In response, developers have adapted their workflows to maintain quality. Two-thirds report they always review AI-generated code before merging, and many routinely rework outputs until they meet production standards.

Instead of reducing accountability, the Report finds that AI use has increased the emphasis on review and human oversight. Verification and ownership have become more prominent in daily development work, with engineers retaining responsibility for final outcomes. Confidence, for now, is conditional, built through repetition, testing, and experience rather than assumed by default.