While I'm no fan of xml, I've found ant to actually be quite usable (at least for java projects).
I've used it in several projects so far & although it did require the occasional tinkering it wasn't even close to being as big of a time sink as autotools were.
That's largely because Java aims for cross-platform compatibility. It doesn't have to deal with nearly the rats' nest the autotools do. Note that I still think they suck and would probably use CMake if in the futuer I find myself working on a C or C++ project of any size.
I've used it in several projects so far & although it did require the occasional tinkering it wasn't even close to being as big of a time sink as autotools were.