Cognition's Devin raises $1B but CEO says AI won't replace coders

Cognition, the two-year-old startup behind the AI coding agent Devin, just raised $1 billion at a $26 billion valuation. CEO Scott Wu, a former child programming prodigy, insists the tool is not designed to replace human coders. In an interview with TechCrunch, Wu emphasized that Devin is meant to be a “buddy” that helps engineers build more, not a replacement. The agent currently handles 89% of code commits at Cognition itself, but Wu frames this as handling tedious tasks like updating legacy software or migrating platforms. He argues that AI agents represent a new layer of abstraction, similar to how visual development environments once simplified coding from machine instructions. Wu, who started coding at nine and won national math competitions as a second-grader, says the goal is to free programmers “from a lot of the toil, so they can do much more of the creation side.” He sees Devin operating at a level between junior and mid-level engineer, and believes the same augmentative approach will extend to other industries like customer service and medicine.

Despite the “self-driving software” vision described in Cognition’s funding announcement, Wu rejects the narrative that AI will supplant human developers. He points out that most software engineers love building software—turning ideas into products—and that agents should preserve that joy. The company’s own data shows Devin committed 89% of committed code, with the rest coming from local agents in Windsurf (an acquisition). Wu likens Devin’s role to a “physical symbol” he keeps on his desk—a stuffed animal holding a computer—representing a collaborative partner. He also warns that while coding is the first domain to see this shift, “we are in for a wild ride” as agents expand into other fields. The bottom line, he insists, is that “it should always be up to the human what to do.”