# Survey Shows AI‑Generated Code Shifts Work to Debugging and Comprehension

> Engineers report longer debugging hours and a knowledge gap as AI coding agents speed up code creation.

Oossa · 2026-10-07 · https://oossa.com/en/survey-shows-ai-generated-code-shifts-work-to-debugging-and-comprehension

An independent survey by Coleman Parkes for Undo asked 300 senior engineers working on mission‑critical C/C++ systems about AI coding agents. The respondents said AI speeds up code writing but pushes the hardest work to debugging and understanding the code. Teams now spend 16.9 hours a week debugging, about 42 % of their time, versus 9.8 hours writing code. About 35 % of AI‑generated code goes to production before the team fully grasps it, and 80 % say agents struggle with complex problems.

## The facts

- 300 senior engineering leaders surveyed
- 16.9 hours/week spent debugging (42 % of a work week)

## Why it matters

For engineering managers, the shift means AI tools may not speed up releases and require more resources for code review and debugging.

## Sources & references

1. [Survey Finds AI-Generated Code Increases Debugging and Failure Rates and Creates a Comprehension Gap](https://www.infoq.com/news/2026/10/survey-complex-codebases-agents/?utm_campaign=infoq_content&utm_source=infoq&utm_medium=feed&utm_term=AI%2C+ML+%26+Data+Engineering) – InfoQ, 2026-10-07

Last updated: 2026-10-07