A growing reliance on AI-powered coding assistants is reshaping how DevOps teams operate, for better or worse.
According to Forrester’s 2024 cybersecurity, risk, and privacy predictions, AI coding assistants are becoming integral to boosting productivity. However, a cautionary note accompanies this technological shift, as Forrester warns of potential pitfalls that could lead to cybersecurity breaches.
Forrester predicts that the combination of inconsistent compliance and governance practices, coupled with the simultaneous experimentation of multiple AI-coding assistants by DevOps teams, may result in flawed code.
AI-generated code is expected to be responsible for at least three publicly-admitted breaches in 2024, posing significant challenges to cybersecurity efforts. Forrester also highlights the emerging threat of AI code flaws contributing to API security risks, raising concerns among cybersecurity experts.
The adoption of AI-coding assistants is already well underway, with 49 percent of business and technology professionals acknowledging their organisations’ adoption. Gartner, a leading research and advisory company, also predicts a substantial increase in the use of these assistants.
By 2028, Gartner forecasts that 75 percent of enterprise software engineers will incorporate AI coding assistants into their workflows—a significant leap from the less than 10 percent reported in early 2023.
The pressure to deliver a high volume of code within tight timelines has led to the widespread use of multiple AI-coding assistants across DevOps teams. This trend has given rise to a new phenomenon termed ‘Shadow IT,’ where teams experiment with different assistants to determine optimal performance for specific tasks.
Shadow IT comes with its own challenges as enterprises struggle to keep pace with the demand for new AI-coding tools approved for corporate-wide use.
As the DevOps landscape continues to evolve, the integration of AI-coding assistants offers both unprecedented efficiency and potential risks. Striking the right balance between innovation and cybersecurity will be crucial for organisations.
(Photo by Ricardo Cruz on Unsplash)
See also: Wallarm highlights disturbing trends in API security threats
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