Mobile release process is slowing roadmap for 94% of engineering managers

Runway’s 2026 survey of 300 mobile engineering managers finds release management is a major bottleneck, with 83% saying fixing it would speed their roadmap and 94% of those who run releases saying the same. The findings point to a growing push to invest in release tooling and process improvements as AI and approval steps add more coordination work.

Why it matters: - Release management is now a roadmap issue, not just an engineering operations problem. - Runway’s survey suggests mobile teams are losing substantial time to coordination, status tracking and approvals instead of shipping features. - The pressure is growing as AI-generated code adds more review steps and slows post-build workflows. - 84% of teams say they are likely to invest in release processes or tooling in the next 12 months.

What happened: - Runway surveyed 300 mobile engineering managers for its 2026 State of Mobile Release Management report. - 83% of all surveyed engineering managers said fixing release management would accelerate their product roadmap. - 94% of mobile engineering managers directly involved in running releases said fixing release management would accelerate their roadmap. - Among engineering managers who said they are very likely to invest in release improvement in the next 12 months, 100% said fixing release management would accelerate the roadmap.

The details: - 94% of engineering managers spend three or more hours per release cycle on status updates and stakeholder coordination. - For the engineers running the release, coordination takes an average of 48% of release time. - That time goes to chasing status, writing updates and managing stakeholders. - Runway said post-build steps like approvals and handoffs remain slow even when coding speed improves. - 44% of engineering managers now require senior reviews for AI-generated code, which adds delay. - Runway’s 2026 Decision Guide groups the findings around five choices: where release status lives, who runs the release, how leadership sees mobile risk, how AI-touched code ships, and whether to invest in process or platform work. - Runway also created a 15-item self-assessment so engineering managers can compare their teams against the 300 surveyed teams and identify the next move. - The 2026 Decision Guide: Modern Mobile Release Management for Engineering Managers is available for free here.

Between the lines: - The survey suggests product teams may underestimate how much release work is constraining mobile roadmaps. - The biggest drag appears to be coordination after the code is built, not the coding itself. - That gap gets wider as more teams add review layers for AI-assisted development. - Runway is positioning release management as a cross-functional planning issue that should be discussed with product leadership, not only engineering.

What's next: - Mobile teams that want faster roadmap execution are likely to evaluate release process changes, tooling upgrades or both. - Runway’s self-assessment is designed to help teams identify where release friction is highest and what to change first. - The survey results suggest release improvement will remain a priority over the next 12 months as more teams look to reduce manual coordination.