Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping software development at major tech companies, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealing that between 20% and 30% of code in the company’s repositories is currently generated by AI tools.
Speaking during a fireside chat with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at Meta’s LlamaCon conference, Nadella shed light on how AI is becoming a core contributor to Microsoft’s development workflows. He noted that Microsoft is increasingly relying on AI not just for coding but also for quality assurance.
“The agents we have for reviewing code; that usage has increased,” Nadella said, adding that the performance of AI-generated code differs depending on the programming language. While Python showed strong results, C++ remained a challenge. “C Sharp is pretty good but C++ is not that great. Python is fantastic,” he noted.
When asked about the role of AI in Meta’s software development, Zuckerberg did not provide a specific figure but shared that the company is prioritizing AI-driven engineering to support the development of its Llama models.
“Our bet is that probably half the development is done by AI as opposed to people and that will just kind of increase from there,” Zuckerberg said.
Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott has previously projected that AI will be responsible for generating 95% of all code within the next five years. Speaking on the 20VC podcast, Scott emphasized that human developers will still play a vital role.
“Very little is going to be — line by line — human-written code,” he said, but added that AI will “raise everyone’s level,” making it easier for non-experts to create functional software.
The comments from two of tech’s biggest leaders point to a future where AI not only augments but significantly drives software creation, making development faster, more accessible, and increasingly automated.
