DevOps platform GitLab today announced that it has acquired UnReview, a machine learning-based tool that helps software teams recommend the best reviewers for when developers want to check in their latest code. GitLab, which is looking to bring more of these machine learning capabilities to its platform, will integrate UnReview's capabilities into its own code review workflow. The two companies did not disclose the price of the acquisition. "Last year we decided that the future of DevOps includes ML/AI, both within the DevOps lifecycle as well as the growth of adoption of ML/AI with our customers," David DeSanto, GitLab's senior director, Product Management – Dev & Sec, told me. He noted that when GitLab recently surveyed its customers, 75% of the teams said they are already using AI/ML.

GitLab announced this week it has acquired UnReview, a provider of a tool that employs machine learning algorithms to both identify which expert code reviewers to assign to a project based on the quality of their previous efforts and current workloads. David DeSanto, senior director for product management at GitLab, said the acquisition of UnReview is the latest step in an AI strategy that, in addition to optimizing DevOps processes, will also eventually unify machine learning operations (MLOps) and DevOps workflows. Accessed via the Dev section of the GitLab platform, UnReview will also be employed to manage the overall code review process. DeSanto said GitLab is committed to employing AI technologies to automate workflows and compressing cycle times across all stages of the DevSecOps life cycle. The goal is to not eliminate the need for DevOps teams but rather eliminate low-level tasks that conspire to hamper productivity, while at the same time improving application security, noted DeSanto.