Chainguard Research Shows Engineers Struggle With Burnout, Maintenance, and Tool Sprawl Despite AI Gains

Software engineers spend just 16% of their week building features, despite 93% saying it's the most rewarding part of their jobs

KIRKLAND, Wash., Oct. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Chainguard, the trusted source for open source, today announced the release of its 2026 Engineering Reality Report. The in-depth survey explores how friction—repetitive maintenance, fragmented tools, and burnout—continues to weigh heavily on the developer experience, while also revealing how AI and automation ease workloads to give software engineers more time for meaningful work.

The global survey of 1,200 software engineers and technology leaders found that only one in three (33%) engineers strongly agreed that they spend the majority of their time on work that energizes them. This underscores a key truth: developer experience is about more than the processes and tools that allow engineers to work efficiently—it's about giving engineers the freedom to innovate. For technology leaders, creating that space is critical to accelerating product delivery, retaining top talent, and driving stronger business results.

The pressures on modern engineering teams

Today's software engineers are under mounting pressure to deliver new features quickly, maintain existing systems, and keep pace with a constantly shifting tool landscape. A majority of engineers (72%) said these demands make it difficult to find time to build new features, while 35% pointed to excessive workload and burnout as major obstacles to a positive work experience. This tension has made the developer experience a critical issue for organizations everywhere, with two-thirds (66%) of technology leaders reporting that they worry about retaining engineering talent. Against this backdrop, AI and automation have emerged as central to easing pressure, reducing toil, and creating space for innovation.

"At Chainguard, we believe that the experience engineers have within their organizations goes hand in hand with innovation and security," said Dustin Kirkland, SVP of Engineering at Chainguard. "When engineers are weighed down by toil and technical debt, it doesn't just slow innovation, it creates security risks. These findings confirm what we hear every day from our customers: AI and automation can transform the experience engineers have in their organizations, but only when paired with smarter tooling, seamless tool integration, and a commitment to secure software supply chains."

Tedious tasks, code maintenance, and tool sprawl continue to drain productivity

Engineers face daily friction from repetitive work, constant upkeep, and fragmented tools. These challenges not only squander morale, but also limit how much time engineers can dedicate to the innovative, energizing work they value most.

• Repetitive tasks and maintenance weigh heavily: 38% of engineers cited too many tedious tasks as a barrier to doing meaningful work, while another 38% pointed to the ongoing demands of code maintenance, such as upgrades, patches, and vulnerability management. Together, these routine tasks leave less room for creativity and innovation, contributing to a sense of stagnation among teams.
• Technical debt compounds frustration: Two-thirds of respondents (66%) said they frequently or very frequently encounter technical debt that affects their ability to deliver work effectively. This persistent backlog of fixes and patches not only slows delivery but also deepens burnout, leaving engineers feeling stuck maintaining rather than building.
• Tool sprawl undermines focus: Almost half (49%) of all respondents agreed that tool-related issues contributed to a negative developer experience. Nearly nine in ten engineers (88%) said switching between tools negatively affects their productivity, with 44% reporting significant loss of focus from constant context switching.
• Integration gaps fuel frustration: 62% of engineers said their organization's tools are not fully integrated into workflows, while 52% of technology leaders answered the same way. This misalignment highlights a disconnect between how leaders view toolchains and how engineers experience them day-to-day.

AI and automation have hit critical mass, yet skepticism remains

As organizations look for ways to ease the pressure on engineering teams, AI and automation are proving to be the most impactful levers. What began as experimentation is now becoming standard practice across core workflows, delivering measurable gains in time savings and overall morale. However, engineers and technology leaders lack some confidence in AI and lack alignment on how much their organizations encourage its use.

• Automating common engineering tasks: 65% of organizations say most common engineering tasks are mostly or fully automated, leading to a positive developer experience. These tasks range from writing code to dealing with administrative tasks like internal communication.
• Automation leads to more engaged engineers: Of the engineers who are highly leveraging automation in their day-to-day work, 94% reported spending the majority of their time on work that energizes them. Of engineers who do not automate at least half of their daily tasks, only 67% spend the majority of their time on work that energizes them.
• AI adoption is rapidly increasing, but practitioners are getting mixed signals: While 89% of respondents said AI saves them at least three hours per week, and 28% said they reclaim up to six hours, engineers' enthusiasm for using AI is tempered by mixed signals from leadership. 55% of technology leaders said their engineers are encouraged to use AI, compared to only 46% of engineers who reported feeling the same level of support.
• AI adoption risks and concerns: Despite the momentum around AI, engineers are not fully confident in the technology. Over 40% of respondents cited accountability, security, and privacy as barriers to wider adoption, underscoring the trust gap that still exists. Many also pointed to the rise of "shadow AI" – the use of unapproved tools trying to save time – as a risk factor within their organizations.

Engineers want to build, not just maintain

At the heart of the findings is a consistent message: engineers want more time to innovate. Writing code, designing systems, and building new features are viewed as the most rewarding parts of the job, with 93% of engineers saying these activities energize them. Yet, in reality, engineers spend just 16% of their week on this kind of work, far less than they—and their leaders— believe is ideal. This misalignment has consequences beyond job satisfaction and retention risks. When maintenance and repetitive tasks dominate, innovation slows.

Both engineers and technology leaders agree that shifting the balance toward building is critical for business growth. With greater use of AI, automation, and better-integrated tools, organizations have a clear opportunity to help their engineers unlock innovation and strengthen their competitive advantage.

Methodology

The 2026 Engineering Reality Report was conducted in partnership with a third-party research firm in August 2025. The survey captured 1,200 responses from 600 software engineers and 600 senior technology leaders across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France, representing a range of industries, organization sizes and revenue, and seniority levels. There were 400 respondents from the United States, 400 from the United Kingdom, 200 from Germany, and 200 from France. Each region's respondents were split evenly between software engineers and technology leaders: 200 software engineers and 200 technology leaders from the United States, 100 software engineers and 100 technology leaders from Germany, etc.

Download the 2026 Engineering Reality Report at https://www.chainguard.dev/2026-engineering-reality-report  

About Chainguard

Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk. Its customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Snap Inc., and Snowflake. Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital. For more information, visit: https://www.chainguard.dev/

SOURCE Chainguard