Small businesses are the happiest adopters of Agile, with fifty-two percent saying it works “very or somewhat well” and citing that it is a “powerful productivity and organizational framework” that leads to better collaboration, improved software quality, and better business alignment.

This is according to Digital.ai’s 17th annual State of Agile report, which surveyed 788 software developers. In comparison, 43% of medium and large businesses say that Agile works very or somewhat well (a 9% difference from small businesses). 

The report found that in general only 11% of respondents using Agile are “very satisfied” with their results and 33% are “somewhat satisfied.”

Large businesses are also struggling to scale their Agile practices, citing challenges such as AI transformations, developer burnout, hybrid work environments, and changing business priorities. 

Thirty percent of respondents say they are exploring using LLMs or AI-based code assistants, whether by their development teams or actually integrating them into their services. About 22% of respondents are experimenting with AI, 17% are in the initial stages, 13% don’t believe anyone in their organization is using AI yet, and 8% have been explicitly told not to use it. 

Despite Agile not working perfectly for everyone at this point, overall it is providing benefits to the companies that have implemented it. Sixty percent of respondents said they have improved collaboration, 57% say they are more closely aligned with business needs, and 25% say they are delivering more quality software. 

“What’s clear from the data is that, when Agile works, it works – there are concrete benefits for the organizations who have gotten it right,” said Derek Holt, CEO of Digital.ai. “AI is the latest disruptive change to businesses, and like any change, it alters processes and practices that will take time to assimilate, but the enterprise goal remains the same – to satisfy the hunger to deliver business value and drive customer satisfaction. Agile still provides us with the best opportunity to manage these transitions and drive software delivery toward maximum business value.”