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Introduction

AI is everywhere — from chatbots to code completion — but who is actually using it in their development work?

The Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025 gathered over 49,000 responses from developers worldwide. In this post, I zoom in on one key question:

👉 Which types of developers are adopting AI tools, and what factors matter most?

Business Questions & Takeaways

1. What is the current rate of AI adoption?

A striking 78.5% of developers already use AI tools in their workflow. Only 21.5% have not adopted yet.

2. What are the demographics of AI adopters?

• Age: The largest group of adopters is 25–34 years old (33.8%), followed by 35–44 (28.7%). Adoption declines after 55.

• Education: Most AI adopters hold a Bachelor’s (42.5%) or Master’s degree (27.7%).

3. What is the employment status and work setup of AI adopters?

• 72.4% are employed full-time, with freelancers (14.1%) and students (8.1%) making up the rest.

• 33.2% work fully remote, while the majority split between hybrid and in-person roles.