AI · Peer-reviewed empirical study or research synthesis
The Effects of Generative AI on High-Skilled Work: Evidence from Three Field Experiments with Software Developers
Management Science (Articles in Advance) · 2026
Summary
Pooling the experiments, AI access increased completed tasks by 26.08% (SE 10.3%); less-experienced developers adopted more and had larger gains, while individual experiments were noisy and heterogeneous. Founder-use interpretation: Strong evidence for testing AI-assisted engineering productivity, not a promise of proportional headcount or SaaS growth; run a controlled rollout with quality, security, rework, and customer outcomes.
For your marketing
Possible founder application
Strong evidence for testing AI-assisted engineering productivity, not a promise of proportional headcount or SaaS growth; run a controlled rollout with quality, security, rework, and customer outcomes.
Reported result
What the study found
Pooling the experiments, AI access increased completed tasks by 26.08% (SE 10.3%); less-experienced developers adopted more and had larger gains, while individual experiments were noisy and heterogeneous.
Research question
What the authors investigated
What effect did access to generative AI have on software developers’ task completion in three company field experiments?
Design
Three randomized field experiments run in ordinary business operations at Microsoft, Accenture, and an anonymous Fortune 100 company; 4,867 software developers received randomized access or no access to an AI coding assistant.
Sample and setting
Three randomized field experiments run in ordinary business operations at Microsoft, Accenture, and an anonymous Fortune 100 company; 4,867 software developers received randomized access or no access to an AI coding assistant.
Scope and transfer
Limitations to keep in view
Company-specific coding assistant, firms, tasks, and outcome metric limit external validity; pooled estimate masks variation and does not establish effects on product quality, revenue, or long-run retention.
Research sources
Publisher article page directly retrieved with Firecrawl (reference 01a122bc-9e6a-738d-9df6-6070598d013e). The annotation follows the retrieved title/abstract or landing-page record; full methods and correction notices were not independently reviewed.