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How Trimble uses GitHub

Trimble, a hardware and software solution provider based in Colorado, USA, saved 1,000 hours of developer time per day by adopting GitHub Copilot. With 90% of Trimble's 2,000+ developers now using the AI peer programmer, the organization has dramatically accelerated development cycles and improved code quality.

The challenge

Trimble's engineering team faced growing inefficiencies. Repetitive tasks, fragmented knowledge, and constant context-switching made it harder to maintain momentum and deliver value quickly.

The solution

By incorporating GitHub Copilot into day-to-day development practices, Trimble's engineering organization accelerated development, boosted code quality, and increased productivity and time to value.

Jeff Doolittle, Distinguished Engineer and Principal Architect at Trimble, recognized the importance of finding a solution that could support collaboration and scale AI adoption. "We want to help developers reach that flow state," Doolittle said. "Copilot helps reduce the cognitive burden. If a developer is trying to remember how to do something and then the answer is right at their fingertips, that's fantastic."

GitHub Copilot's out-of-the-box integrations removed the need for custom IDE configurations, which sped up the adoption process.

Adoption strategy

Trimble's rollout focused on making Copilot adoption seamless, secure, and developer-friendly:

  • Launched targeted pilot programs
  • Provided comprehensive training on prompt engineering
  • Focused on compliance, data protection, and security

The pilot exceeded expectations. "We did a pilot of GitHub Copilot that just exploded across our development community," Doolittle said. "The floodgates really opened wide with the onset of Copilot."

Results

Since adopting Copilot, Trimble's developers have dramatically increased their output:

  • Developers now build five web components per day, up from one per week
  • Each developer saves 30 minutes daily on average
  • Developers no longer spend time on repetitive tasks like fixing boilerplate and error-prone code, allowing them to focus on more interesting, engaging work that leads to higher quality systems
  • Week-long tasks have been transformed into hours of work

"That's a year of development saved—every single day. It's incredible," Doolittle said.

Expanding the ecosystem

Trimble didn't stop with Copilot alone. By integrating capabilities like GitHub Actions, the team simplified processes, improved developer satisfaction, and elevated code quality.

"Embracing GitHub as an AI-native ecosystem is where the magic really happens," Doolittle said. "When all the tools and components come together, they enhance developer experience, boost developer productivity, and speed up value delivery to our customers."