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Perforce's 2026 Platform Engineering Report: Key Findings

On July 8, 2026, Perforce Software released its well-anticipated State of DevOps Report focusing on Platform Engineering. This comprehensive report surveyed 820 technology professionals worldwide and provided critical insights into how platform engineering practices influence AI integration in organizational frameworks. The findings reveal a significant trend: 73% of organizations with advanced platform engineering capabilities identify their maturity as a major factor contributing to AI success. In stark contrast, only 44% of those with less matured practices reported similar results.

As companies strive to evolve AI from simple experimental applications to robust production-ready solutions, many are currently grappling with how to translate initial productivity gains into sustainable operational advantages. The report indicates that while 66% of organizations are currently utilizing AI in their infrastructure workflows, a mere 31% can report fully autonomous AI functions, suggesting that many are still at the beginning of effectively operationalizing AI at a larger scale.

Governance Challenges in AI Adoption

One of the major hurdles highlighted in the report is the ongoing struggle within enterprises, especially those in highly regulated industries, related to visibility, traceability, and governance of AI systems. As AI adoption accelerates, the role of platform engineering teams has become crucial in finding a balance between speed and necessary control measures. Remarkably, 94% of organizations with structured governance frameworks express trust in AI, compared to just 51% of companies relying on ad hoc methods. This highlights the essential need for a well-defined, platform-driven governance structure to ensure responsible scaling of AI.

Insights into Strong Governance Automation

The report makes a compelling case for the link between platform engineering maturity and effective governance outcomes, positioning platform teams as indispensable allies in fostering responsible AI adoption. The data shows striking results:

• - 79% of organizations with mature platforms have robust governance automation, while only 14% of less mature organizations can claim the same.
• - 81% express high confidence in AI output for critical workflows, contrasting sharply with 48% of less mature peers.
• - Organizations that have fully standardized their internal developer platforms report an impressive 92% confidence in AI outputs.

Ron Hoffner, VP of Product Management at Perforce, encapsulated the essence of these findings by stating, "The data underscores that trust in AI is not accidental. It is engineered through governance, automation, and standardized workflows. AI just made the consequences of ignoring them impossible to hide." His comments reinforce that those organizations applying rigorous engineering principles to their AI initiatives are likely to gain a competitive edge.

The Role of Internal Developer Platforms

Delving deeper, the report also emphasizes the value of fully standardized internal developer platforms (IDPs), which not only streamline operations but further enhance governance efforts. Key takeaways include:

• - 44% of organizations with mature IDPs manage AI workflows autonomously, compared to just 26% operating AI on a trial basis.
• - 52% have fully automated audit trails, with corresponding improvements in policy-as-code and compliance reporting.

These standardized platforms help teams embed governance deeply into workflows, promoting consistency and transparency amid burgeoning AI-driven changes in infrastructure operations.

Additional Insights From the Report

Additional findings from the report reveal that:

• - 66% of organizations are already implementing AI in their infrastructure and configuration workflows, which include provisioning, drift detection, and compliance management.
• - Organizations characterized by platform maturity are nearly twice as likely to execute AI workflows autonomously compared to those still in experimental phases.

The complete State of Platform Engineering Report 2026 is now accessible. This document is an addition to the long-standing State of DevOps Report, published annually since 2013, and has garnered insights from countless DevOps professionals globally, showcasing the trends, priorities, and challenges surrounding DevOps and Platform Engineering adoption.

About Perforce

Perforce Software provides a comprehensive DevOps Tech Stack tailored for teams engaged in the development and management of high-stakes software systems and applications, where errors are not an option. Known for their commitment to aiding organizations in governing software delivery for AI, Perforce solutions enforce rigid guardrails across coding, quality assurance, infrastructure, and data management, promoting innovation without compromising security. Trusting Perforce are clients in over 80 countries, including 75% of the Fortune 100 and 50% of the Global 500, making them a go-to partner for the world's most pioneering teams to build, test, secure, and deliver critical software at scale.