Cognition CEO Says AI Tools Aim to Make Engineers 10 Times More Efficient

Cognition CEO Scott Wu said the company wants its AI tools to make software engineers 10 times more efficient, an ambition he tied to the prospect of more software being built as developers use AI agents for engineering tasks.

Wu made the remarks in a May 27, 2026, interview. He estimated that 30 million to 35 million people work as software engineers worldwide.

Cognition makes Devin, an AI agent designed to handle software engineering tasks. Wu has presented Devin as a tool to help developers take on more work. The stated aim does not establish that Devin has made engineers 10 times more productive, and no customer-wide productivity gains or effects on hiring were quantified.

In May, Cognition said it had raised over $1 billion, valued the company at $26 billion and reported a $492 million annualized revenue run rate. In September, the company announced a Series E of more than $2 billion at a $48 billion valuation and said its run-rate revenue was nearly $900 million.