Organisations are increasingly using agentic coding tools to build software in-house in lieu of purchasing it, according to a McKinsey report titled “The state of AI in 2026”.

Nearly a third of respondents (32 per cent) report that their organisations have decided against buying one or more software products or features because they could be built internally with agentic coding tools.

The trend spans several sectors, with technology companies leading the shift away from external software procurement. Across industries, 41 per cent of respondents in the technology sector report forgoing software purchases in favour of internal development using AI coding tools.

This is followed closely by healthcare payers and providers at 39 per cent, while both professional services and energy and materials stand at 38 per cent.

Financial institutions register 36 per cent, media and telecom at 34 per cent, and pharmaceuticals and medical products at 33 per cent.

Lower rates appear in sectors such as insurance at 19 per cent and the public and social sector at 17 per cent.

McKinsey Senior Partner Lieven Van der Veken said, “Not only are larger organisations scaling AI faster, but many are beginning to take greater ownership of their technology and change agendas. Until recently, many leaders assumed that AI was beyond the capabilities of their own technology teams, and that moving quickly meant securing the right external partnership.”

Van der Veken added, “Now, the tone is changing. Leaders are asking what their organisations need to build AI tools themselves. The rise of software coding agents and in-house development is one clear sign of this broader shift.”

The report noted that enterprises are progressing beyond the initial phase of AI experimentation. As per the report, nearly nine in ten respondents report regular use of AI in at least one business function. Overall enterprise-scale adoption expanded over the past year, with 44 per cent of respondents reporting that AI is scaling across their organisation, compared to 38 per cent previously.

Furthermore, the proportion of organisations deploying AI across three or more functions grew from 51 per cent to 56 per cent.

Addressing this strategic evolution, Van der Veken said, “This, of course, does not mean companies should build everything themselves or turn away from forging partnerships. It means that leading organisations are engaging partners from a position of agency.”

He stated, “The organisations moving fastest are becoming more deliberate about where to buy, where to build, and where to develop enough internal capability to integrate and scale what works. They are also treating operating costs as a design constraint, not an afterthought, and making the deeper changes in workflows required for value realisation.”

Adoption patterns show larger enterprises outpacing smaller firms in deploying AI capabilities. Fifty-four per cent of respondents from organisations generating at least USD 1 billion in annual revenue report scaling AI enterprise-wide, compared to one-third of smaller organisations.

Larger enterprises also registered faster momentum in adopting agentic AI, with the share scaling agents in one or more functions increasing from 27 per cent to 40 per cent, while smaller organisations remained flat at 22 per cent.