GitLab this week made generally available a set of generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that DevOps teams can add on to the continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) platform it provides.

Priced at $39 per user per month, the add-on for GitLab Duo Enterprise provides all the AI capabilities of GitLab Duo Pro along with tools to improve software development workflow efficiencies, proactively detect and fix security vulnerabilities, and securely enhance team collaboration.

Step 1 of 7

14%

Which of the following best describes how you currently monitor and manage systems across your hybrid cloud environment?(Required)

Multiple separate tools for different environments

Multiple separate tools for different monitoring and management functions

Single consolidated dashboard

Custom built monitoring and management solution

No full monitoring and management solution

Don’t know

How valuable would it be for your monitoring and management solution to incorporate predictive analytics to help you identify and address system issues that are critical and not waste time or effort working through all the data and “noise” that is not critical?(Required)

Extremely valuable

Moderately valuable

Somewhat valuable

Slightly valuable

Not valuable

How do you most typically address potential system issues BEFORE they impact your operations?(Required)

Automated workflows and playbooks to remediate potential issues as soon as they are detected

An orchestrated response process that leverages automation, AI, and human expertise to rapidly respond to potential issues

Advanced monitoring tools such as predictive analytics and anomaly detection to proactively identify and address potential issues

Respond to issues as they arise, using manual processes and troubleshooting techniques

A combination of automated remediation, orchestrated response, and/or proactive monitoring to address potential system issues

Don’t know

Other

What methods does your organization use to control and monitor cloud/IT spending?(Required)

Centralized procurement processes

Pre-approved budget thresholds

Automated cost monitoring tools

Department-level spending controls

Regular cost audits and reviews

Cloud cost optimization platform

Approval workflows for resource provisioning

Native financial operations tools provided by the cloud provider

No formal controls in place

Don’t know

Other

Please specify:

Which methods do you rely on most to detect security vulnerabilities in your systems?(Required)

Automated scanning tools

Manual assessments

Vendor notifications

Threat modeling (for early detection)

None of these

Don’t know

Other

Please specify:

What are the TWO most common ways you prioritize vulnerabilities to address within your environment?(Required)

Based on potential impact

Based on exploitability

Regulatory compliance requirements

Based on CVSS scores

Risk-based analysis of multiple factors

First-in-first-out approach

No formal prioritization process

Don’t know

How do you typically handle system updates and security patches?(Required)

Automated updates and patches

Manually review and apply updates and patches on a regular schedule

A combination of automation and manual review

Apply updates and patches on an as-needed basis.

Outsourced update and patch management

No defined process

Don’t know

Other

Δ

Capabilities only available in GitLab Duo Enterprise include vulnerability explanation and automated vulnerability resolution tools, root cause log analysis to resolve CI/CD bottlenecks and failures, summarization and templating tools for discussions, merge requests and code reviews, and a dashboard for tracking the impact AI is having on DevOps workflows.

David DeSanto, chief product officer at GitLab, said GitLab Duo Enterprise add-on extends the generative AI capabilities being provided by GitLab across the software development lifecycle (SDLC), including later this year additional capabilities for automating DevSecOps workflows.

The overall goal is to reduce the level of stress and toil that over time burns DevOps teams out, he added.

It’s not clear at what rate DevOps teams are embracing AI across their DevOps workflows, but a recent GitLab survey found improved productivity (51%), faster deployments (44%) and increased accuracy and security (40%) as key organizational benefits of AI.
More than three-quarters (78%) of all respondents said they are either already using, or plan in the next two years to employ, artificial intelligence (AI) to help develop software. However, more than half (55%) also conceded introducing AI into the software development lifecycle is risky, with data privacy and security being the number one concern.

In general, continued AI advances should help make DevOps more accessible to a broader range of organizations. Many midsize companies, for example, have not been able to find and retain the software engineering expertise required to implement DevOps workflows. AI tools should reduce the level of skills required to implement best DevOps workflows.

At the same time, organizations that have already adopted DevOps workflows should find it easier to manage them at scale as part of a larger platform engineering transition that is occurring, noted DeSanto. Senior engineers with the aid of AI should be able to automate more workflows without, for example, having to manually write additional scripts.

Regardless of motivation for adopting AI, the one thing that is certain is the pace at which applications are being built and deployed is only going to accelerate. Many DevOps teams may, as a result, revisit the way pipelines are constructed using legacy CI/CD platforms that were not designed for the AI era.

In the meantime, DevOps teams would be well advised to start listing the tasks that AI tools should be able to soon automate with an eye toward determining where human software engineers can now add the most value. After all, AI isn’t going to replace the need for software engineers, but it will undoubtedly change their roles within organizations as more code is automatically generated.