TL;DR
A 2025 study of experienced software engineers finds that AI coding agents are treated as productivity tools rather than autonomous creators. Through field observations and a larger qualitative survey, researchers report developers keep tight control over agent outputs and apply expertise-driven strategies to manage agent behavior.
What happened
Researchers examined how professional software developers integrate AI agents into real-world coding work, combining in-depth field observations (N=13) with a qualitative survey (N=99). The team investigated motivations, strategies, task fit, and sentiments toward agent use. Findings show experienced developers value agents for speeding routine tasks and enabling delegation, yet they deliberately retain responsibility for design and implementation to protect core software quality attributes. Developers reportedly use their domain expertise to shape and constrain agent behavior rather than cede control; they apply strategies that steer agent outputs and compensate for known limitations. Overall sentiment among study participants was positive about incorporating agents, conditional on the developers' ability to oversee and correct agent-produced artifacts. The authors conclude that existing software engineering practices remain central to effective agent use and point to future opportunities for improved agentic interfaces and usage guidelines.
Why it matters
- AI agents are being used as productivity aids, not as replacements, by experienced developers.
- Maintaining control over agent outputs preserves software quality attributes that professionals prioritize.
- Insights inform design of agent-focused tools and the development of best-practice guidelines for their use.
- The study highlights which tasks agents may handle well and where human oversight remains essential.
Key facts
- Study methods: field observations (13 participants) and qualitative survey (99 respondents).
- Authors: Ruanqianqian Huang, Avery Reyna, Sorin Lerner, Haijun Xia, Brian Hempel.
- Primary finding: experienced developers treat agents as complementary tools and retain control over design and implementation.
- Developers employ strategies based on their expertise to guide and constrain agent behavior.
- Participants expressed generally positive sentiment about using agents, tied to confidence in compensating for agent limitations.
- Paper suggests future work on agentic interfaces and agent-use guidelines to better support professional developers.
- Source: arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.14012, submitted 16 Dec 2025 (DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2512.14012).
What to watch next
- Development of dedicated agentic interfaces and formal guidelines to help professionals control and audit agent outputs (mentioned as a future opportunity in the paper).
- not confirmed in the source: how widely these findings generalize across different company sizes, industries, or developer experience levels beyond the study sample.
- not confirmed in the source: long-term effects of routine agent use on developer skills, team roles, or software maintenance over multiple years.
Quick glossary
- AI agent: A software component that can perform tasks or generate outputs autonomously or semi-autonomously in response to user prompts.
- Field observation: A qualitative research method where researchers watch and record how people work in their natural environment.
- Qualitative survey: A survey approach that collects descriptive, non-numeric data about participants' experiences, opinions, or practices.
- Agentic interface: A user interface designed to support interaction with autonomous agents, including controls for steering and monitoring agent behavior.
Reader FAQ
What did the study investigate?
It examined how experienced software developers use AI agents for coding, focusing on motivations, strategies, task suitability, and sentiments.
How many people were studied?
The research included 13 participants in field observations and 99 respondents in a qualitative survey.
Do developers let agents write entire applications?
The paper notes the promise that agents could produce full software from natural language, but it reports that experienced developers retain control; whether agents routinely build complete applications is not confirmed in the source.
Are agents replacing professional developers?
The study indicates agents are used as complementary productivity tools rather than replacements; broader workforce impacts are not confirmed in the source.
Computer Science > Software Engineering [Submitted on 16 Dec 2025] Professional Software Developers Don't Vibe, They Control: AI Agent Use for Coding in 2025 Ruanqianqian Huang, Avery Reyna, Sorin Lerner,…
Sources
- Prof. Software Developers Don't Vibe, They Control: AI Agent Coding Use in 2025
- Professional Software Developers Don't Vibe, They Control
- Developers remain willing but reluctant to use AI: The 2025 …
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