Think about that for a second. We’re talking about two surveys conducted during the same year, of the same profession and examining largely the same underlying AI models from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. How can two developer surveys report such fundamentally different realities?
DORA: AI is an amplifier
The mystery of the 37-point trust gap isn’t about the AI. It’s about the operational environment AI is surrounded with (more on that in the next section). As the DORA report notes in its executive summary, the main takeaway is: AI is an amplifier. Put bluntly, “the central question for technology leaders is no longer if they should adopt AI, but how to realize its value.”
DORA didn’t just measure AI adoption. They measured the organizational capabilities that determine whether AI helps or destroys your team’s velocity. And they found seven specific capabilities that separate the 70% confidence group in their survey from the 33% in the Stack Overflow results.
