Letter from the Authors

Platform engineering is taking on a different level of importance as AI becomes more deeply embedded in how organizations build, operate, and govern software at scale. 

The State of DevOps Report: Platform Engineering Edition 2026 brings together insights from 820 global practitioners, decision makers, and influencers to explore how platform engineering is evolving in response to AI, governance demands, and the growing complexity of modern environments. What the data reveals is that AI tends to extend the realities that already exist within an organization, accelerating progress where strong foundations are in place and surfacing risk where consistency, governance, and control have not kept pace.  

That tension is visible across the findings. A majority of organizations are already applying AI within infrastructure workflows, yet only a smaller portion have reached the level of autonomy where those capabilities operate reliably and consistently at scale. The organizations making the most meaningful gains are embedding governance, policy enforcement, and auditability directly into the platform, where trust in AI rises sharply. 

By reading the 2026 report in full, you will gain a clear view of how leading organizations are aligning their platform, governance, and operating models to scale AI with confidence, where the most common breakdowns occur, and which practices are shaping measurable progress in trust, compliance, and operational maturity. The insights are intended to help you assess your own environment and identify the next steps that will strengthen resilience as AI becomes more central to how your teams deliver. 

Sincerely,  

Robin Tatam, Ron Hoffner, and Nico Krüger