Perforce Survey Finds AI Productivity Gains Shadowed by Compliance Concerns and Job Security

Perforce's 2026 State of Real-Time Workflows Survey examines how real-time technology and generative AI are reshaping developer workflows across industries and geographical regions.

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Perforce Software, the modern DevOps Tech Stack that ensures AI governance, today announced the release of its annual State of Real-Time Workflows Report: Game Technology & Beyond produced in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Based on a global survey of more than 600 practitioners, the report examines how generative AI is dramatically increasing the volume of digital assets that organizations must manage. Together with real-time technology tools to help teams quickly create and iterate production-quality 3D content, the survey results demonstrate how generative AI and other technologies are reshaping workflows across game development, media and entertainment, and automotive and manufacturing.

In particular, using AI has driven strong productivity gains in media and entertainment, and automotive and manufacturing, while also introducing concerns about job security, content quality, ethics and compliance (particularly with limited visibility into AI-generated code and code changes) are demonstrated across every sector and region.

Global AI Adoption Trends

• Job insecurity tops the list of AI-related concerns worldwide, at 50%. Concerns over content quality (49%), compliance (48%), and reduced creativity (36%) follow close behind.
• Media & Entertainment and Automotive & Manufacturing respondents lead in both AI usage and measurable payoff. 48% of Media & Entertainment and 41% of Automotive & Manufacturing respondents saw productivity climb 11–50% after adopting AI.
• APAC reports the strongest AI-driven acceleration worldwide, at 74%, while concerns over AI-driven job loss runs deepest in LATAM (83%) and NORAM (56%).
  
  
  
  "AI is making teams faster, but faster doesn't necessarily mean better," said Brent Schiestl, Senior Director of Product Management at Perforce. "The same industries seeing some of the biggest productivity gains are also worried about compliance and content quality. As AI drives an explosion in digital assets, the competitive advantage won't come from creating more content; it will come from knowing where that content came from, how it changed, and whether you can trust it."

Game Technology Trends

The report also dives into the growing influence of game technology, including real-time 3D technology moving well past its gaming roots, and a shift in infrastructure setups.

• Version control adoption hit 94% this year, up from 86% in 2025.
• Game engines are following the same trajectory, with use of cases continuing to expand across industries.
• Game engines are now core to Media and Entertainment production infrastructure. 55% of Media & Entertainment respondents use game engines for film and television, and 32% use them for VFX.
• Hybrid cloud-and-on-premises server setups nearly tripled since 2025. 27% of respondents now run a hybrid model, up from 10% in 2025 and 16% in 2024, overtaking cloud-only and on-prem-only as the top setup.

Together, the findings show that generative AI, version control, and game engines are now deeply embedded into organizational workflows across industries. This shift doesn't come without a price, though: the sectors moving fastest are also facing concerns, with 55% of Media and Entertainment Respondents concerned over poorly produced content and 37% of Automotive and Manufacturing respondents citing difficulty in integrating AI tools into their workflows.

The 2026 State of Real-Time Workflows Report: Game Technology & Beyond will be released in three sections over the coming month. Section One, covering real-time workflows and 3D technology trends, is available now.

Section Two will cover AI trends and challenges, with industry breakouts on Automotive and Aerospace & Defense. Section Three will cover Media & Entertainment respondent trends, including digital creation tools.

About Perforce 

Perforce delivers a DevOps Tech Stack for teams building and running high-stakes software systems and revenue-critical applications, where failure is not an option. As a trusted partner helping organizations govern software delivery for AI, Perforce solutions enforce guardrails across code, quality, infrastructure, and data—enabling innovation without introducing risk. With customers in over 80 countries—including more than 75% of the Fortune 100 and 50% of the Global 500—Perforce is trusted by the world's most innovative teams to build, test, secure, and deliver critical software at scale.

Media Contacts

PERFORCE GLOBAL 

Maxine Ambrose 

Ambrose Communications 

Ph: +44 118 324 1040

perforcepr@ambrosecomms.com 

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SOURCE Perforce Software