Generative AI and the Future of Professional Software Development: Survey Findings from Finland

Abstract

In recent years, it has become common for generative AI-based software development tools to be experimented with, adopted, and used in professional software development. To understand the effects of this generative AI transformation in the Finnish context, we conducted a survey targeting software professionals working in Finland. 163 survey responses were collected during two months, from December 2025 to February 2026. In this paper, we report a qualitative analysis of 100 respondents' perspectives on the future role of generative AI in professional software development, based on the responses to two optional open-ended questions in the survey. The results offer a practitioner-centred snapshot of how software professionals currently reason about the effects of generative AI on roles, skills, productivity, software quality, and the sustainability of expertise in the field.