As businesses accelerate AI development, two-thirds of organisations face a significant risk of software outages in the coming year due to prioritising speed over quality. According to a new report by testing and quality engineering firm Tricentis, nearly half (45%) of teams are focused on increasing delivery speed, while only 13% are prioritising software quality. […]
As businesses accelerate AI development, two-thirds of organisations face a significant risk of software outages in the coming year due to prioritising speed over quality.
According to a new report by testing and quality engineering firm Tricentis, nearly half (45%) of teams are focused on increasing delivery speed, while only 13% are prioritising software quality.
As a result, 66% of global organisations are at high risk of experiencing a software outage within the next 12 months. Alarmingly, over 60% admit to deploying code without fully testing it.
The report, which surveyed more than 2,700 DevOps and quality assurance leaders and software developers worldwide, included input from CIOs, CTOs, and VPs of engineering across sectors such as public services, energy and utilities, manufacturing, and financial services.
Nearly half (46%) of organisations report feeling pressured to shorten release cycles, and 40% say they have accidentally released untested code.
This puts companies at risk of security breaches, compliance failures, and increasing technical debt, maintenance costs, and customer churn, the report states.
The public and manufacturing sectors are particularly vulnerable, with nearly 70% of organisations in these industries facing high outage risk.
More than 40% of respondents estimate that poor software quality costs them over $1 million annually. Yet, communication gaps between software development and quality assurance teams (33%), along with a disconnect between leadership and engineering teams (28%), prove to be barriers in improving quality.
On a more optimistic note, most respondents (84%) believe AI will help teams meet tight delivery deadlines. Over 80% expressed excitement about the potential for AI agents to take over repetitive tasks.
McDonald’s, Sainsbury’s, and Tesco say IT outages were “unrelated”
An overwhelming 90% of CIOs, CTOs, and delivery teams are confident in AI’s ability to autonomously make software release decisions, and almost 100% see value in autonomous testing for quality assurance.
“Recent software outages caused by unchecked code changes underscore how vital high-quality software is to the broader organisational ecosystem,” said Kevin Thompson, CEO of Tricentis.
“As AI evolves, tech leaders must define what quality means for their organisation, finding the right balance between speed, quality, and cost through comprehensive testing strategies to drive better business outcomes.”
Andrew Power, head of UKI at Tricentis, added that the growing risk of software outages in the UK, now higher than the global average, is increasing the urgency for engineering teams to improve their development processes.
He noted that agentic AI offers a significant opportunity to boost productivity and software quality. By adopting autonomous testing and AI-led delivery tools, organisations can meet tight deadlines without compromising reliability.
