I do not personally use Story Points in my estimates because I know that everyone outside of development will translate them to time and I want to do that for them.

But, consider this claim: Adopting GitHub Copilot will increase productivity by 20%. I actually believe that to be true, but can you show it with Points? No, you cannot.

Here’s how it should go

1. You do 10 sprints, you see that you have a steady state velocity of 100 Points
2. You introduce GitHub Copilot
3. Maybe for 2 sprints, you see velocity go up because developers over-estimate their stories. Let’s say it’s 120 now. Better report that quick, because …
4. Then, devs start to adjust their estimates and velocity goes back to where it was.

Productivity went up, but velocity should stay constant because points are just time. You don’t get more time because of productivity gains.

If you see sustained velocity improvements (without changing the number of team members), then I would suspect gaming or a misunderstanding of how points are supposed to work.

Points and Velocity are best for front-line managers to understand what is going on with their teams and to size sprints. They should not be reported outside of the team, because they will be misunderstood and misapplied.