The software development landscape is rapidly transforming, driven by emerging technologies and evolving practices.

According to a recent GitLab study, 65% of Australian respondents are shipping software at least twice as quickly year over year, and nearly a fifth of them release software five times as fast. Keeping pace with these changes is critical to maintaining a competitive edge.

Here are five trends changing the game:

1. Embedded Systems Development is a Significant Focus

With nearly every device now powered by software, embedded systems and IoT development are outpacing traditional server-side software.

DevSecOps principles and tools can help businesses of all sizes develop secure software by embedding security into every step of the development process.

This shift is helping developers address the unique challenges of embedded systems development, such as hardware-in-the-loop testing and integrating software updates with diverse and constrained hardware environments. 

A DevSecOps process is well-suited to address these challenges. Thus, software teams are evolving their practices and tools to accommodate growth in IoT and embedded systems development. 

2. Platform Engineering is Relieving Much of the Burden on Developers 

Businesses, especially SMBs, often face stretched resources, with developers juggling multiple roles like orchestrating and maintaining tools, managing development processes, and adapting to fast-changing needs.

Organisations are overcoming these challenges by adopting integrated development platforms that handle operational and security tasks at the portfolio level. These platforms are widely used to relieve the burden on developers. 

Integrating development, security, and operations into a unified process has been an important transition to reduce silos among teams, but doing so created significant complexity.

The shift left movement correctly identified the need to involve security earlier in critical processes, but it also unnecessarily burdened engineers.  

We are starting to see a significant shift: Everything beyond application development is being abstracted to the portfolio level through centralised platforms, marking the decoupling of ‘development’ from ‘everything else.’

3. The ROI of AI-Based Software Development Tools is Now Easier to Quantify  

While many organisations are exploring AI, quantifying its ROI remains a challenge. According to GitLab’s study, 62% of Australian respondents are already using AI in the software development lifecycle, yet 60% of business leaders in Australia said they are unhappy with their current developer productivity measurement methods.

By focusing on tangible outcomes, such as time saved in testing or improvements in documentation, businesses can justify investments and refine AI strategies. 

4. Gen AI is Making Large-Scale App Modernisation Viable for the First Time  

App modernisation has long been a goal, but the cost of updating applications has been a significant barrier. Generative AI is making wide-scale app modernisation a reality.

AI lowers the cost and complexity of re-architecting and updating older systems, making it feasible to see a meaningful ROI from modernisation projects in as little as one year. 

This shift is particularly beneficial for organisations that want to modernise critical, yet often neglected, internal systems that keep them operational. 

5. AI-Powered Vulnerability Remediation is a Game-Changer  

While developers already work at breakneck speed, technical debt is a persistent issue. The most worrying consequence of this debt is vulnerabilities that can creep into code and go unnoticed or unfixed.

Developers are beginning to expand their use of AI in software development to significantly reduce technical debt and increase the security of their code. 

Technical debt often occurs when developers choose an easy or quick solution instead of a better approach that takes longer. Vulnerabilities result when the code is poorly structured, not sufficiently reviewed, or when testing is rushed or incomplete. 

Developers are tackling this head-on using AI-powered tools to assist with coding. These tools can automatically identify, explain, and even fix vulnerabilities in the code they write.

While these fixes will need to be reviewed and approved by humans, they can make development faster and highlight problems that make code less secure.

The result is more time for developers to focus on other important work while improving overall software security. 

How Australian Businesses Can Adapt

To succeed in the rapidly evolving software development landscape, Australian organisations must stay agile and invest in tools that drive efficiency, security, and innovation.

By adopting an integrated platform, implementing DevSecOps practices, and leveraging AI for modernisation and vulnerability remediation, Australian companies can accelerate development cycles, reduce technical debt, and deliver more secure and reliable software.

These strategies are crucial not just to keep pace with the global market but to lead the way in the future of software development