As a systems integrator, our approach to software development is evolving rapidly with the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. We leverage generative AI every day at GDIT in our work supporting customer missions from border security to weather forecasting.

Backed by decades of experience delivering complex solutions across intelligence, defense and national security missions, these advancements enhance, innovate and accelerate delivery across the entire software development life cycle. Here are just a few examples:

Summarizing Code From Hours to Minutes

For customers’ modernizing from a legacy to a replacement system, we’ve deployed AI to interpret and summarize code. From code snippets to entire, vast codebases, AI can read and reduce orientation time for a developer from hours to minutes, enabling them to understand what the code is intended to do quicker. This makes the developer more efficient, allowing them to familiarize themselves with an existing code base and see what needs to be updated, carried over or rewritten in the new system.

New Code Generation for 35-50% Faster Productivity

AI-assisted software development is like a developer’s co-pilot. The more tasks you use it for, the more AI learns. Given this feedback loop, AI can support new tasks faster. For both code summarization and new code generation, in our Coral Software Factory, we have demonstrated how developers can leverage AI and automation in the development process. The integration of these transformative technologies directly translate to real world mission impact, saving developers 35-50% on time spent for code generation and documentation according to a research study by McKinsey.

Testing and Troubleshooting

AI and automation also have a demonstrably positive effect on code quality and security. This accelerates the testing and troubleshooting phase because as a developer is writing code, they’re getting real-time feedback from the AI on suggestions for more efficient, standardized or secure coding approaches. Additionally, further teams working on CI/CD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery) and unit testing can use AI to write the tests and save a tremendous amount of time.

Documentation and On-Boarding

Another area where AI and automation add immense value is when teams use chat-based AI tools for knowledge management. This can reshape how organizations operate by intelligently surfacing critical information. In instances when teams have AI tools locally deployed, developers can immediately access best practices, security guidance or troubleshooting guides previously buried in disparate documents and systems. AI tools can summarize existing documents, which saves time for new staff coming on-board. Developers can ask questions like: When do I need to submit a change request, or what's the process for getting access? Instead of searching through documentation, they get an immediate answer.

Utilizing AI and automation in different facets of the software development process can save hundreds of hours and enable faster, more secure delivery. Across an entire contract or agency, this translates into significant efficiencies and cost savings. We’ve seen AI reduce sprint times by 20 to 30 percent, bring specific tasks from hours to seconds, and transform the on-boarding process from weeks to days.

What’s even more incredible is that most agencies are only beginning to leverage AI across the entire software development lifecycle. This means there is still so much potential for AI and automation to dramatically increase the speed of building applications – and expand how many can be created and deployed. It’s a true game changer for how agencies can deliver applications to meet their missions.