Burnout Will Go Up, and We’re Doing It to Ourselves with Nathen Harvey

Why It Matters

If organizations push agentic AI without addressing task design and work rhythms, they risk increasing developer burnout and reducing productivity; leaders should manage agent use to protect focus and culture.

Summary

Nathen Harvey says recent 2025 survey data show AI adoption itself wasn’t strongly linked to developer burnout, but rising use of agentic workflows could change that. About 64% of respondents had never used agentic workflows last year, a share Harvey expects to fall as firms deploy more agents. He warns agentic systems promote rapid context-switching and perceived multitasking—behaviors developers have long resisted because they break flow and harm focus. That shift, he argues, will likely worsen burnout and degrade well-being outcomes.

Original Description

DORA’s 2025 research found no strong connection between AI adoption and burnout, but program leader Nathen Harvey thinks that's about to change, and the reason is agentic workflows. Last year, 64% of respondents had never worked with one, but he expects that number to drop. Agentic workflows actively incentivize developers to run multiple tasks in parallel, which means constant context switching—exactly the thing developers have complained about for years. The irony isn't lost on Nathen: Engineers spent a decade fighting for deep focus time, and now they're voluntarily managing 16 agents at once. AI-induced burnout is coming, and we’re doing it to ourselves.

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