Goldman Sachs Boosts Productivity 300% With AI Software Engineer Devin

Goldman Sachs is pioneering a significant shift in its technological infrastructure by integrating an autonomous software engineer developed by artificial intelligence startup Cognition. This AI software engineer, named Devin, is set to join the investment bank's team of 12,000 human developers. According to Goldman Sachs' technology chief Marco Argenti, Devin represents a major advancement in Wall Street's adoption of AI technology, capable of executing complex multi-step programming tasks with minimal human intervention.

Goldman Sachs plans to initially deploy hundreds of these AI coders, with the potential to scale up to thousands depending on the specific use cases. The AI system is expected to significantly boost worker productivity, potentially increasing it by three to four times compared to previous AI tools. This move is part of a broader trend in corporate America, where AI is increasingly being integrated into various aspects of business operations.

Devin gained recognition in technology circles last year when Cognition claimed it had created the world's first AI software engineer. Demo videos showcased the program operating as a full-stack engineer, completing multi-step assignments that traditionally required human developers. Argenti highlighted that Goldman Sachs will start augmenting its workforce with Devin, who will handle routine tasks such as updating internal code to newer programming languages, thereby freeing up human developers for more complex tasks.

The deployment of Devin marks a significant acceleration in AI adoption on Wall Street. Just last year, firms like JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley were rolling out basic cognitive assistants based on OpenAI models, which helped employees with simple tasks like summarizing documents or writing emails. Now, agentic AI programs like Devin can build entire applications and execute complex programming jobs, representing a leap forward in AI capabilities.

Argenti described the speed of AI adoption across corporate America as "dizzying." Tech giants including Microsoft and Alphabet report that AI already produces about 30% of the code on some projects. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff mentioned that AI handles as much as 50% of the work at his company. At Goldman Sachs, this more powerful form of AI has the potential to boost worker productivity by up to three or four times the rate of previous AI tools.

Goldman Sachs is the first major financial institution to use Devin, according to Cognition. The startup was founded in late 2023 by three engineers and reportedly includes champion coders on its staff. Cognition doubled its valuation to nearly $4 billion in March, just one year after Devin's release. The company counts prominent venture capitalists and Palantir co-founders Peter Thiel and Joe Lonsdale among its investors. Goldman Sachs does not own a stake in Cognition.

The bank's move to integrate AI could spark concerns about job cuts resulting from AI implementation. Executives at various companies have become more candid about AI's impact on hiring plans. Argenti envisions a "hybrid workforce" where humans and AI coexist, with engineers expected to describe problems coherently and convert them into prompts, then supervise the work of AI agents. While software development lends itself naturally to reinforcement learning used to train AI systems, other banking roles aren't far from automation.

Argenti believes that the successful implementation of AI in software development will serve as a proof point to expand AI implementation to other areas within the bank. This initiative by Goldman Sachs represents a pivotal moment in Wall Street's AI transformation, moving beyond simple assistants to autonomous systems capable of complex programming tasks. The deployment of Devin signals broader changes coming to the financial industry as AI technology advances rapidly.