AI Statistics 2026: The Numbers Journalists Keep Getting Wrong
Verified artificial intelligence statistics for 2026: market size, adoption, users, investment, energy and jobs. Every number dated and sourced.
Kseniia Cherepakhina 8 min read Blog · 32 posts
Research
Kseniia Cherepakhina 8 min read How Many Software Developers Are There in 2026? The Real Count
21M, 36M, 47M or 180M? Why software developer and engineer counts differ, plus US, India and world data from BLS, SlashData and GitHub.
Illia Hrybovskyi 8 min read IT Outsourcing Statistics 2026: Market Size, Growth, AI Impact
Global IT outsourcing hits $618 billion in 2026. Market size, growth, cost savings, AI impact and destination data, with primary sources.
Dennis Vorobyov 8 min read Software Engineer Salary 2026: What Developers Earn by Country
Average software engineer salary in 2026: US median $135,980 (BLS), developer pay by country, hourly rates and the AI premium, with sources you can check.
Kseniia Cherepakhina 8 min read A Production Flutter App Costs $60K to $150K, and the Shared Codebase Saves Less Than Half
A production Flutter app costs $60K–$150K for V1. One codebase saves 20–35%, not half: backend, QA and native integrations set the real price.
Dennis Vorobyov 8 min read A Real MVP Costs $40K to $100K, and Scope Decides Where You Land
MVP development cost runs $40K–$100K with a senior team, driven by user roles, money flows and platforms, and cutting scope is the cheapest way to lower it.
Kseniia Cherepakhina 7 min read AI Costs $20 a Seat per Month Until It Ships Inside Your Product
AI costs $20–30 per seat a month, $100–200 for power users, and $50–1,000 in inference for a product feature. Engineering upkeep is the biggest line.
Dennis Vorobyov 8 min read Your Android App Development Cost Is Decided by Scope, Not the Hourly Rate
Quoted Android app development cost ranges span $20k to $300k+, but scope decisions and rework, not the hourly rate, decide what you actually pay.
Dennis Vorobyov 6 min read Only 3% of Companies Have Truly Transformed with AI
Google surveyed 2,643 leaders and workers across 6 countries. Only 3% are truly transformed. 72% are still in early stages. The 5 traits that separate them.
Dennis Vorobyov 9 min read The AI Skills Gap Is Real: What 2,015 Digital Leaders Actually Report
51% of digital leaders report an AI skills shortage, the steepest rise in over 15 years. What the data means for hiring and team building.
Dennis Vorobyov 8 min read Technical Debt Eats 40% of IT Budgets. Here's What to Do About It.
McKinsey: tech debt represents 20-40% of an organization's technology estate. CAST: 61 billion days of global repair time. The numbers and the fix.
Dennis Vorobyov 7 min read The Average US Data Breach Now Costs $10.22M
IBM's 2025 Cost of a Data Breach: US average hit a record $10.22M. 16% of breaches involved attackers using AI. Supply-chain compromise costs $4.91M.
Dennis Vorobyov 7 min read 74% of Employers Can't Find Engineers. The Hiring Market in 2026.
ManpowerGroup: 74% of employers globally can't find talent, a 17-year high. 63% of CTOs call it a significant challenge. What the data shows.
Dennis Vorobyov 7 min read 94% of Companies See No Meaningful ROI from AI
McKinsey's State of AI 2025 (n=1,993): only 5.64% of firms clear a meaningful EBIT threshold from AI. 61% report zero measurable impact.
Dennis Vorobyov 8 min read Why 70% of Software Projects Blow Their Budget
McKinsey/Oxford: average 45% over budget. 17% of IT projects are 'black swans' with 200-400% overruns. Why fixed-bid makes it worse.
Dennis Vorobyov 7 min read Only 24% of Developers Are Happy at Work
Stack Overflow 2025: 24% happy, 75% complacent or unhappy. 92% plan to look for a new job within a year. Replacement cost: $150K-$250K.
Dennis Vorobyov 7 min read 80% of Federal IT Spend Goes to Maintaining Old Systems
GAO 2025: 80% of $83B federal IT budget goes to operations and maintenance. Industry spends 60-80% on legacy. 68% say legacy blocks AI adoption.
Dennis Vorobyov 7 min read $44.5 Billion in Cloud Spend Is Wasted Every Year
Harness FinOps 2025: 21% of enterprise cloud spend ($44.5B) is waste. 55% of developers say commitments are based on guesswork.
Dennis Vorobyov 6 min read Scope Creep Adds 20-40% to Outsourced Projects
PMI: 52-55% of projects experience scope creep. Deloitte: scope churn adds 20-40% to outsourced engagement costs. Why retainer models fix it.
Dennis Vorobyov 6 min read Time-to-Hire for Engineers Hits 95 Days
Time-to-hire for senior engineers: 60-120 days. Offer-acceptance rates: falling from 73% to 51%. The math favors retained teams.
Dennis Vorobyov 6 min read 22% of Engineers Report Critical Burnout
LeadDev 2025: 22% critical burnout, 24% moderate. 65% expanded responsibilities. Why AI tools aren't solving it.
Dennis Vorobyov 7 min read 62% of CTOs Can't Align IT with Business Goals
62% of CTOs struggle to align IT with business goals. The gap between business demands and engineering timelines is widening.
Dennis Vorobyov 7 min read 59% of Outsourcing Contracts Fail from Skill Mismatch
59% of IT outsourcing contracts fail from skill mismatch, not technology. Why the engagement model matters more than the code.
Dennis Vorobyov 6 min read Shadow AI Adds $670K to Your Next Data Breach
IBM 2025: shadow AI adds $670K to breach cost. 97% lack AI access controls. 38% of employees share data with unapproved AI tools.
Dennis Vorobyov 7 min read