Introducing Our Software Development Automation Maturity Model
As software development becomes more complex, organizations face a critical question: how far have we actually come in automating the process of building software? Not deployment, not testing—but the act of designing and writing the code itself.
To answer that, we at Innova IT have developed a practical and forward-looking maturity model that helps assess how advanced your organization is in automating software development. This isn’t based on theoretical ideals or vendor hype. It’s based on our own journey building model-driven tools and platforms, and asking hard questions about what real automation means.
Why a Maturity Model?
Most maturity models focus on DevOps, deployment frequency, or organizational culture. Those are valuable, but they overlook the core of software: code. We wanted to focus on the process of actually producing the software—from blank canvas to working solution.
Our model spans from completely manual development to futuristic, goal-driven autonomous systems. It helps teams understand:
- Where they are now
- What the next step looks like
- How automation and human reasoning should work together
The Stages at a Glance
Here is a summary of the core stages (0–7) in our model:
| Stage | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Unstructured | Everyone codes everything by hand. No standards, no patterns, no shared approaches. High variability. |
| 1 | Verbal Alignment | Teams agree informally on naming, folder structure, and conventions—but nothing is written down. |
| 2 | Documented Conventions | Standards are written: naming, architecture, style guides. These guide code reviews and onboarding. |
| 3 | Reusable Snippets & Templates | Developers reuse shared snippets and copy/paste patterns. Scaffolding begins, but is ad hoc. |
| 4 | Internal Tooling | Teams build generators, CLI tools, or templates to reduce boilerplate. Frameworks become opinionated. |
| 5 | Platformized Code Generation | Internal platforms generate large portions of applications: layers, APIs, or UI modules. Less hand-coding. |
| 6 | Model-Driven Development | Systems are built by modeling data, workflows, and logic. Code is generated from metadata or visual designers. This is where our own tools operate. |
| 7 | Fully Structured Development Process | All development happens inside structured tooling. Developers follow governed processes. Architecture, testing, and code generation are unified into a seamless pipeline. |
Going Beyond: The Futuristic Stages (8+)
We also explore speculative stages such as:
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Intent-based development (AI interprets goals, not just models)
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Autonomous software evolution (systems refactor and improve themselves)
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Goal-aligned adaptive ecosystems (entire systems interact, negotiate, and evolve together)
These stages help you think long-term: where the industry might go, and how to design tools that grow into that vision.
Why We Built This
We created this model to:
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Assess ourselves
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Plan our roadmap
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Help others benchmark where they are
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Clarify how tools, automation, and human judgment should coexist
It’s not about removing developers. It’s about removing friction—so that developers can focus on better architecture, simpler models, and better alignment with business goals.
Where Are You on the Ladder?
Every team is somewhere on this ladder. Most are between Stage 2 and 5. If you're using low-code tools or model-driven platforms, you might be approaching Stage 6. Few reach Stage 7 because it requires a high degree of process discipline and architectural automation.
This model isn’t just a map. It’s an invitation: to rethink how your team creates software, and to build toward a future where automation and human creativity truly work together.