In a groundbreaking move, Goldman Sachs is piloting its first autonomous coder, marking a significant milestone in the adoption of artificial intelligence on Wall Street. The bank is testing an autonomous software engineer from artificial intelligence startup Cognition, which is expected to soon join the ranks of the firm's 12,000 human developers. According to Goldman tech chief Marco Argenti, the program, named Devin, will be supervised by human employees and will handle jobs that engineers often consider drudgery, such as updating internal code to newer programming languages.
The introduction of Devin, which became known in technology circles last year as the world's first AI software engineer, signals a major shift in the corporate world's adoption of AI. Demo videos have shown the program operating as a full-stack engineer, completing multi-step assignments with minimal intervention. Argenti envisions a future where humans and AI coexist, with Devin initially being used to augment the workforce and potentially expanding to thousands of instances, depending on the use cases. This move is expected to boost worker productivity by up to three or four times the rate of previous AI tools.
The adoption of agentic AI, which refers to programs like Devin that can execute complex multi-step jobs, has the potential to revolutionize the way companies operate. Tech giants such as Microsoft and Alphabet have already reported that AI is producing around 30% of the code on some projects, while Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has stated that AI handles as much as 50% of the work at his company. At Goldman Sachs, Devin's capabilities are expected to have a significant impact, with Argenti noting that the program's ability to handle complex tasks will free up human engineers to focus on higher-value work.
The use of Devin also raises questions about the potential impact on jobs, with some estimates suggesting that banks around the world could cut as many as 200,000 jobs in the next three to five years as they implement AI. However, Argenti believes that the introduction of AI will lead to a "hybrid workforce" where humans and AI work together, with humans providing the creative vision and AI handling the more mundane tasks. As companies continue to adopt AI, it is likely that we will see a significant shift in the way work is performed, with AI augmenting human capabilities and leading to increased productivity and efficiency.
The partnership between Goldman Sachs and Cognition is also notable, with the startup's valuation doubling to nearly $4 billion in March. Cognition's founders, a trio of engineers, have reportedly stocked the company with champion coders, and the company counts prominent venture capitalists such as Peter Thiel and Joe Lonsdale among its investors. As AI continues to transform the corporate world, it is likely that we will see more partnerships and collaborations between companies and startups, leading to the development of new and innovative technologies.
In conclusion, the introduction of Devin at Goldman Sachs marks a significant milestone in the adoption of AI on Wall Street, with the potential to revolutionize the way companies operate and increase productivity. As AI continues to evolve and improve, it is likely that we will see a major shift in the way work is performed, with humans and AI working together to achieve greater efficiency and innovation. With its "hybrid workforce" vision, Goldman Sachs is at the forefront of this revolution, and it will be interesting to see how other companies follow suit in the coming years.
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