Tools such as Anthropic Claude Code or OpenAI Codex have changed the face of software development, and all the signs are that this investment is set to increase further. But is paying a monthly subscription (and perhaps additional usage fees) cost-effective?
What changed
But is paying a monthly subscription (and perhaps additional usage fees) cost-effective? Will the increasing level of investment in AI-generated software prove to be worthwhile?
Price and bundle value
That’s a question several economists from the US National Bureau of Economic Research have attempted to answser, at least indirectly. Their paper, snappily entitled The Macroeconomic Effect Of AI: Sizing The Software Engineering Channel , attempts to calculate how much AI has increased the productivity of software engineers in enterprises outside the software and semiconductor industries by looking at their share prices.
AI features that change the value
And the answer? “From November 2022 to December 2025, AI increased the market’s expected present value of software engineering productivity by the equivalent of a permanent 32. 6% productivity increase.
Who should pay attention
That’s not to say that your software engineers will be that much more productive, but it’s a starting point for allocating budget between AI tool use and payroll.
Patrick Tech Media take
Patrick Tech Media reads this kind of move as a real utility race: the package that removes steps, bundles tools, and lowers hidden cost usually wins longer than the launch buzz. Patrick Tech Media will keep checking Computerworld to see whether the value holds once the rollout broadens.
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