Over 88% of IT professionals in Bulgaria actively use artificial intelligence (AI) tools in their work. This is according to the results of a new survey by the DEV.BG Job Board, conducted between May 21 and June 25 this year among 160 professionals in the sector.
The survey shows that AI tools are no longer the future, but the present for the technological ecosystem in our country. The data shows that 60% of those employed in the sector use AI tools for writing, editing and testing code almost every day. Another 20% consult them several times a week, and 8% - several times a month. Only 12% of respondents have not yet incorporated these technologies into their work process.
The trend in Bulgaria reflects global processes. According to the annual report of the World Economic Forum (WEF), technological changes are a major driver for creating new jobs, with 88% of employers worldwide considering skills related to artificial intelligence and working with large data sets to be increasingly important.
This is also confirmed by the labor market in our country. Leading technology companies with offices in Bulgaria such as DataArt, DXC Technology, Progress, Valtech and many others are already actively seeking and hiring specialists with experience in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning, as is clear from the Job Board of Dev.bg.
The attitudes of specialists are also positive. Stack Overflow's large-scale 2024 Developer Survey, which covered over 65,000 programmers from 185 countries, shows that 70% of programmers do not consider artificial intelligence to be a threat to their work. 76% even planned to use AI tools in their software development in 2024.
The most preferred tools by industry specialists worldwide are ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot and Google Gemini.
While the IT sector is a clear leader in the field of AI – according to the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASCOM), 100% of software companies in the industry in our country have already adopted the technology – the overall picture in the country shows significant potential for growth. Data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) shows that only 6.5% of all companies in Bulgaria used AI in 2024, although this figure has doubled compared to the previous year. This clearly shows that IT specialists are the vanguard leading the digital transformation in the Bulgarian economy.
The European funding of 90 million euros for the construction of a new artificial intelligence factory in Sofia Tech Park is expected to further accelerate the development of the sector in our country, positioning our country as a regional AI hub. The project should open its doors by the end of the decade and serve both state institutions and the private sector.