JetBrains Report Reveals CI/CD Universal Adoption, Rise of Self-Hosting, and AI's Peripheral Role

JetBrains' latest "State of CI/CD in 2026" report, drawing from multiple surveys, reveals several key shifts in the continuous integration and continuous delivery landscape. The most striking finding is the near-universal adoption of CI/CD, with 83.4% of developers now running pipelines, making it the most prevalent DevOps practice. This signifies that CI/CD is no longer a differentiator but a foundational expectation in modern software development. This widespread adoption is accompanied by a significant move towards self-hosted CI/CD solutions. The report indicates that 72.8% of organizations run their primary CI/CD system on-premises or on self-managed cloud infrastructure, with on-premises installations reaching a five-year high of 30.5%. This trend suggests that organizations are prioritizing control over their infrastructure, data security, and costs, even as cloud-native solutions continue to evolve. The desire for greater customization and compliance may be driving this preference for self-management. Despite the growing influence of AI in software development, its direct integration into CI/CD pipelines is still in its nascent stages. The report notes that while nearly half of organizations (48.8%) use AI for at least one CI/CD task, only 8% run AI-powered steps directly *inside* a build or test. Instead, AI is predominantly used for tasks *around* the pipeline, such as code review, test writing and fixing, and diagnosing build failures. This indicates that AI is currently seen as a valuable assistant for developers, enhancing efficiency and quality in related tasks, rather than a core component of the automated build and deployment process itself. The report also highlights that a significant portion of AI interaction with CI/CD tools occurs through external agents rather than built-in assistants, suggesting developers are integrating AI tools they already use into their workflows. For practitioners, these findings underscore the importance of robust, well-managed CI/CD pipelines as a standard practice. The trend towards self-hosting implies a need for expertise in managing and securing these environments, potentially increasing the demand for platform engineering roles. While AI offers clear benefits in areas like code quality and defect detection, organizations should focus on integrating AI strategically where it provides the most value, often as an augmentation to existing processes rather than a wholesale replacement. The limited in-pipeline AI adoption also suggests that the industry is still exploring how to reliably and effectively embed AI directly into critical build and deployment steps, highlighting an area for future innovation and best practice development. Teams should evaluate their specific needs and risk tolerance before adopting AI directly within their pipelines, focusing on practical applications that enhance developer experience and product quality.