A recent survey by Zapier revealed that 34% of people building software with AI tools have no formal programming background. This trend is changing the way companies approach software development, as non-traditional builders are creating high-stakes work projects with AI, even with little to no coding experience.

Key Findings

The survey, which included 818 U.S. employees who have built or deployed tools with AI coding apps, found that non-traditional builders typically use AI tools to create basic apps with broad use cases. Most commonly, they are making tools for internal use, such as dashboards to analyze customer complaints.

Despite the lack of formal programming background, many non-traditional builders are able to create working tools in less than a day. In fact, 30% of non-traditional builders go from initial idea to a working tool in under 24 hours. Additionally, 49% of non-traditional builders have shipped four or more tools in the last year, and 56% are making something that customers or the general public will see.

The survey also found that non-traditional builders are running into challenges such as code errors or bugs, security and data privacy concerns, and incorrect or unusable outputs. However, many non-traditional builders are finding success, with 20% saying their AI skills helped them land a promotion or raise recently.

Implications

The rise of non-traditional builders is changing the way companies approach software development. As AI tools become more accessible, companies are seeing the benefits of having non-technical employees create software. In fact, 40% of non-traditional builders say their work using AI tools has helped them add more value to their organization.

Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.