Pilot Your AI-Augmented Team
The metrics that actually matter when AI writes 70% of your code.
When Velocity Lies
When AI accelerates delivery, old benchmarks break. PRs per day goes up, which looks like progress — and masks quality and skill problems underneath. You need different sensors.
4 Metric Categories
Each one covers a blind spot the others miss. Together they give you a complete picture.
Delivery Health
DORAThe baseline. Automate these first.
- Deployment Frequency How often you ship to production
- Lead Time for Changes Commit to production elapsed time
- Change Failure Rate % of deploys causing incidents
- MTTR Mean time to restore after failure
Quality Signal
Where AI hides its mistakes.
- Bug Escape Rate Bugs found in prod per sprint
- PR Review Comprehension % of PRs reviewed with genuine understanding
- CI Speed P50/P90 Pipeline latency at median and 90th percentile
Product Impact
The layer most teams skip.
- Time-to-Value Days from feature start to first user value
- Feature Adoption (14-day) % of target users activating a feature within 2 weeks of release
- CSAT on Key Features User satisfaction score on high-investment areas
Human Health
SPACEWhat DORA doesn't see.
- Developer Satisfaction Quarterly CSAT survey (5 questions, anonymous)
- PR Review Time Avg hours from PR open to first review
- Burnout Signals After-hours commits, PTO utilization, qualitative check-ins
Start Small, Scale Right
The right metrics depend on your team size. Don't track what you can't act on.
5-person team
- Deployment Frequency
- Cycle Time
- Time-to-Value
- Bugs in prod/month
- Quarterly satisfaction
25-person team
- All 4 DORA (automated)
- Cycle Time per squad
- Bug Escape Rate
- AI contribution %
- Quarterly satisfaction
The 4-Question Test
For any metric you're considering tracking, run it through this checklist. Fewer than 3 "yes" answers? Drop it — it's noise, not signal.
Sources & References
Every data point on this page is traceable. Here are the primary sources.
Read the full framework in the guide
Covers implementation playbook, tooling comparison, anti-patterns, and worked examples for squads already using Claude Code daily.