As the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) increases, there is an outlook that more corporations will form small software engineering teams.
Market research firm Gartner said on Jul. 8 that corporations running small software engineering teams will rise from 15% this year to 60% in 2029. As AI replaces repetitive technical tasks, engineers have been able to focus on solving complex problems, leading to the emergence of "tiny teams."
Aliya Camacho, a senior analyst at Gartner, said, "Artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining the role of software engineering and reorganizing teams, reshaping software engineering in a way that expands demand for software engineers," and "the resources needed to meet demand for software and complex AI-based applications will outstrip the efficiency gains delivered by AI."
Camacho said, "Tiny teams are not a means of expense optimization but a reorganization of team structures to make the most of the capabilities and strengths of humans and AI."
The size of tiny teams varies depending on corporations and on the requirements of the feature or product under development. Analyst Camacho said, "Tiny teams currently are four to five people, but some corporations compose them with two to three people," adding, "as employees' skills and AI capabilities mature, this form will become more common." According to Gartner, tiny teams require seasoned talent, including a product manager, a user experience (UX) and agent experience (AX) designer, and at least one AI-based software engineer.
However, Gartner emphasized that this trend should not lead to halting the hiring and development of entry-level talent. In tiny teams, each member performs a wide range of roles, from understanding business goals to product design and managing AI agents, which blurs the boundaries of traditional software engineering roles.
Camacho said, "If you cut back on entry-level hiring, it can cause significant side effects, such as making it difficult to transfer skills and know-how, shrinking the internal talent pipeline, and forcing reliance on senior-level hiring," and predicted, "by 2028, corporations that rely on AI to reduce entry-level positions will ultimately create gaps in their own software engineering talent pipelines."