Forrester’s clients continue to inquire about trends in software development. So in Forrester’s Developer Survey, 2025, we asked software developers from around the world about their technology adoption, drivers of adoption, and use of development technologies. In this data-driven report, we highlight some critical insights from this survey. Development leaders can use this report to understand the current state and trajectory of enterprise software development.

In 2027, AI will continue to reshape technology budgets and introduce volatility as spending becomes consumption based and harder to forecast. Budgets are growing in cloud, data, and AI but are increasingly constrained by rising costs and uneven investment patterns. Leaders must balance aggressive AI investment with disciplined cost management and smarter allocation decisions. This report helps technology leaders navigate these trade-offs by outlining how to prioritize core foundations, avoid unnecessary spend, and experiment strategically to capture value and manage AI cost volatility.

Modern software development, leveraging AI, has accelerated beyond the capabilities of traditional software development lifecycle (SDLC) approaches. Today’s leading organizations operate through an agentic development cycle that integrates planning, design, build, test, and delivery — all accelerated by AI, cloud‑native engineering, and continuous testing. This report provides technology leaders with a deep dive into the key components of Forrester’s Agentic Software Development (ASD) Model.

Modern software delivery now relies on an agentic software development lifecycle (SDLC) that strengthens traditional development stages with AI-enhanced coding, autonomous testing, and optimized delivery. Integrating agentic capabilities helps development teams move faster, improve quality, and stay aligned to business value. Read this report to understand how an agentic SDLC elevates speed, reliability, and business impact.

You can use DevOps platforms to manage and standardize the application build process; control and automate application deployment; and understand, secure, and improve the software development lifecycle (SDLC). But to realize these benefits, you’ll first have to select from a diverse set of vendors that vary by size, type of offering, geography, and use case differentiation. DevOps and platform team professionals should use this report to understand the value they can expect from a DevOps platform vendor, learn how vendors differ, and investigate options by size and market focus.

If you’ve got a product that’s aimed at developers but consider developer relations as solely a marketing function, you’re making a mistake. You might find: Competitors appear to have insights that your marketing team misses. Your products lack key features compared to others on the market while you spend time building things that your metrics […]

At Red Hat Summit 2026, the company outlined its ambition to become the central control layer for hybrid AI environments spanning infrastructure, models, and agents. While the vision is increasingly supported by product direction, enterprises must critically assess how to turn it into practical architectures and measurable outcomes.

Forrester’s top 10 emerging technologies for 2026 describe broad categories. The 10 additional emerging technologies described in this report drill into many of our top 10, providing more specific capabilities emerging in tools and platforms. They span AI-infused experiences, such as AI browsers and personal AI devices, and physical automation through aerial drones, humanoid robots, and world models. Finally, quantum security and battery energy storage systems help shore up infrastructure stress points in the security and energy domains. This report explains what each technology is, where it connects to our top 10, and what business value it offers.

Developer relations (DevRel) is a strategic capability for any organization whose growth depends on developers. Too many companies mistake it for marketing, but when they do, their products drift from developer needs, developer trust erodes, and buying influence quietly disappears. Building a strong and credible DevRel team means getting the right combination of technical ability, communications skills, and business knowledge. This report details how DevRel can provide value throughout the organization, distinguishes roles that are sometimes confused with DevRel, and provides a four-step framework to build a strong and credible DevRel team.

Atlassian’s Team ’26 event highlighted how AI, agents, context, and workflows are reshaping enterprise work.