Report
Introduction
A year ago, the AI conversation was about speed: who was adopting it, how fast, and whether it was ethical. This year, it's about cost.
Speed is no longer in question. Perforce's 2026 State of DevOps Report found that 72% of enterprises at high-maturity organizations now report that AI is deeply embedded in their processes. This expansion is exactly why the cost conversation is surfacing now, as organizations are investing heavily in AI and leadership is now asking what that investment is actually buying.
That question doesn't have a simple answer, and it's the tension at the center of this year's report. Teams told us AI is saving them real time in some workflows while raising real concerns about job security, output quality, and where human judgment still fits in. The 2026 State of Real-Time Workflows Report: Game Technology & Beyond follows both threads across three sections: where AI is paying off, where it's straining teams, and where game technology is quietly becoming infrastructure far beyond the games it was built for.
Key Findings
AI adoption is no longer the story—AI impact, and its cost is.
50% of respondents report job insecurity or fears of role redundancy. Nearly the same share, 49%, cite poorly produced or inaccurate AI-generated content. 48% report ethical or compliance concerns, and 36% say AI has reduced creativity or human input in their workflows. The conversation has moved from, "How fast can we adopt" to, "What is this costing us?"
The industries adopting AI most aggressively are also seeing the greatest gains.
Media & Entertainment and Automotive & Manufacturing respondents report the highest levels of AI usage and workflow acceleration. M&E led adoption in last year's report, where 86% of respondents already leveraged generative AI. The results are clear: AI is delivering its strongest measurable productivity gains in the industries that have integrated it most.
Version control systems and game engines are the industry's quiet infrastructure, and their reach keeps expanding.
Version control adoption hit 94% this year, up from 86% in 2025. Game engines are following the same trajectory, with use cases extending well beyond gaming and this year's data showing the clearest cross-vertical penetration to date.
On behalf of our entire team at Perforce, a special thanks to everyone who contributed to the survey and provided insight into the changes we’re seeing across every industry. We look forward to the conversations and ideas that will be sparked from this year’s report.
Brent Schiestl
Senior Director of Product Management
Perforce Software
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