5x or 50x – why buying an AI license isn’t enough
You may be wondering whether using AI tools in software development brings real added value. We looked into the results of one of our consultants’ long-term client projects, and they were eye-opening. Not because AI adds value in software development, but because of how much AI tools can boost the work of a true professional.
Here’s the critical point that many people get wrong: it’s not enough to acquire an AI license and put the tool into use. That’s a start, of course, but it doesn’t produce results on its own. The multifold improvement in productivity comes from how the model is integrated into the everyday reality of development work.
The analysis highlighted three separate projects in which a developer used the same language model, but with very different results. In a modern Laravel project, productivity was as much as 20–50 times higher per individual feature. In an old legacy monolith, the benefit was smaller, but still clearly significant. Overall, the developer estimated being roughly five times faster than without AI tools.
The benefit depends on the environment and capabilities
Our developer leveraged three key things:
RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation). The AI reads the project’s documentation, architecture, and coding conventions before generating anything. This lets us onboard the AI to understand the system instead of having it guess. This way, we can significantly reduce hallucination.
Explicit rules. The development team has written guidelines that tell the AI how things are done in this project. They cover folder structures, coding standards, and architectural patterns. It’s like onboarding a new developer, but it can be done instantly and all at once.
MCP tools. MCP, or Model Context Protocol, is a standard developed by Anthropic that seamlessly connects AI models (such as Claude) to external tools, databases, and APIs. It means the AI doesn’t just write code, but works directly with other systems. It reads databases, performs operations, and integrates into the production environment. New MCP tools can be built in minutes.
MCP solves the problem where even the most advanced AI model is effectively isolated from a company’s systems. Previously, every connection had to be built separately. MCP is like a shared plug – once it’s in use, new connections are created in a fraction of the time.
What does this mean for pricing and resourcing?
Here lies the question that public discussion doesn’t always dare to raise: if a developer is 5–50x faster, what follows from that? Should a consulting firm bill less, or should the client need smaller teams?
Our view is that an AI-native developer produces more business value in the same amount of time. The client gets more results – not just more lines of code.
A developer who knows how to build context, write AI rules, and leverage MCP integrations doesn’t simply write code faster. They operate on a different level than before, and this amounts to an entirely different role. For now, the client is the one who gets more for the same money. I’m comparing this, of course, to the time before AI tools. Consultants’ hourly billing rates may have risen by a few euros, but in the big picture, the client is the one who benefits most from the situation.
What does this mean for the client?
Based on the analysis, another opportunity also emerged – one we’ve already noticed with our other consultants as well: our consultants can help clients analyze their other systems, identify automation opportunities, and adopt AI-assisted workflows more broadly. This is consulting that wasn’t on the table before, and it delivers value to the client on top of traditional development work.
This is the shift now happening faster than we were able to imagine before. AI doesn’t replace developers, but developers who know how to use AI tools and language models correctly do things others can’t. And they are also the ones whose expertise is most sought after among our clients.
That’s why we at Identio have made AI part of our strategy. We see it as a key driver of growth, and every one of our consultants must master these tools and workflows. We invest in our consultants’ AI expertise regardless of whether their current client projects allow the use of AI tools. This way, we can ensure we’re able to offer our clients the best possible expertise for leveraging AI.
What’s next?
If you’re interested in what AI-native development could mean for your projects or your team, let’s talk. We’re happy to give an honest assessment of where AI could genuinely be useful in your project. And naturally, we can also tell you what kinds of environments and situations it shouldn’t be used in.
Identio is a technology company specializing in consulting. We use AI tools in our work, and every one of our consultants knows how to use them effectively in their own work. Our promise is that our consultants deliver value from day one.