AI’s impact on dev teams and what leaders must do next

Software development and DevOps

Executive insights

Al is changing the way engineering teams work, and what leaders can do to help them thrive
Appfire

Appfire

Sep 2, 2025

The Developer Thriving Framework shows how high-performing teams navigate AI disruption, without burning out.

About the guide

What happens when nearly half of your team feels their skills might not survive the AI shift? This guide digs into that question, drawing from data on 3,000+ developers. It introduces a research-backed approach to help leaders support adoption, reduce anxiety, and strengthen the culture beneath the code.

What’s inside the Developer Thriving Framework
 

  1. A model for confident AI adoption

    Not just “how-to” for tools, this framework helps leaders navigate the identity shift developers feel when work changes fast.
     
  2. Insights from 3,000+ developers across 12 industries
     
    Built from large-scale data and grounded in real team stories, this guide captures what helps or harms teams under pressure.
     
  3. Two culture patterns that predict burnout

    Learn how “contest culture” and “brilliance beliefs” quietly undermine upskilling and how to build cultures where growth wins.
     
  4. Guidance leaders can act on today

    Get practical steps to support learning, surface friction, and build developer confidence during high-change periods.

What is the Developer Thriving Framework?

The Developer Thriving Framework helps leaders support team performance during high-stakes transitions, like the move to AI-assisted coding. It centers four elements that shape sustainable productivity: agency, motivation, learning culture, and belonging.

Rather than focusing on raw output or tool usage, this approach connects how devs feel with how teams deliver, giving you a path to better outcomes and stronger morale.

Why Flow

Flow helps you build teams that thrive, not just track what they ship.

From surfacing blockers to supporting learning, Flow integrates with the systems your team already uses (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, Jira) to show where devs are struggling, scaling, or stuck.


Flow turns signals into momentum:

  • Spot anxiety before it becomes attrition
  • Uncover where contest culture is driving burnout
  • Track time spent on upskilling to support sustainable growth
  • Run better 1:1s and retros with real context
  • Connect delivery data to team health, not just output

With Flow, you get:

  • Clear reporting on delivery, collaboration, and investment
  • Trends that reveal culture friction, not just individual velocity
  • Onboarding and coaching to reinforce team habits, not just metrics

Flow helps you lead with insight and keep the human context in every engineering decision.

Great software starts with thriving teams

This guide shows how to support your developers through AI disruption by investing in what actually drives sustainable performance: agency, motivation, learning, and belonging.

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Al is changing the way engineering teams work, and what leaders can do to help them thrive

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