Developer Enablement Briefing — June 20, 2025

Executive briefing: Stack Overflow published the 2025 Developer Survey on June 20, 2025, aggregating responses from 86,000 developers across 185 countries. The survey shows Python overtaking JavaScript as the most commonly used language (59% of respondents) and 82% of professional developers integrating AI assistants into workflows. GitHub’s Octoverse 2024 report corroborates the trend, noting a 65% year-over-year increase in AI-assisted pull requests and rapid adoption of Rust and Go in cloud-native repos.

Key industry signals

Language shifts. Stack Overflow reports Python, JavaScript, and TypeScript as the top three languages, with Rust breaking into the top ten for the first time.
AI tooling mainstream. 54% of respondents cite productivity gains from AI code completion, while 42% raise concerns about security review debt.
Collaboration velocity. GitHub observed organisations using code search and Copilot shipping 55% more pull requests per developer in 2024.

Control alignment

Secure SDLC. Update secure coding standards to cover Python and AI-assisted workflows, referencing OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications.
Toolchain governance. Ensure AI coding assistants meet data-handling and auditability requirements before enabling in regulated repositories.

Detection and response priorities

Implement guardrails that scan AI-generated code for secret leakage, dependency risks, and insecure patterns prior to merge.
Monitor repository analytics for spikes in AI-assisted contributions that could signal review fatigue or quality drift.

Enablement moves

Launch targeted enablement on Python, Rust, and AI tooling for platform and SRE teams to match adoption trends.
Capture survey metrics in developer experience scorecards shared with engineering leadership and HR to inform hiring and upskilling plans.

Sources

Zeph Tech arms platform teams with survey-backed priorities for language support, tooling governance, and AI adoption.