Gold Sachs Tests AI Agent Devin as a Virtual Employee
▼ Summary
– Goldman Sachs will adopt Cognition’s AI coding agent Devin, starting with hundreds of instances and potentially scaling to thousands.
– The bank’s CIO, Marco Argenti, described Devin as a new “employee” to augment its workforce of 12,000 human developers.
– Despite the financial sector’s conservative reputation, Goldman Sachs has been using developer copilots internally since at least 2024.
– Devin initially faced criticism for struggling with complex tasks but has since improved, with version 2.1 performing best on large codebases.
– Devin will not replace human developers but will work under supervision in a “hybrid” model to boost productivity.
Goldman Sachs is taking a bold step into the future of finance by integrating AI coding assistant Devin into its workforce. The banking giant’s CIO, Marco Argenti, recently confirmed plans to deploy hundreds, and potentially thousands, of Devin instances to support its team of 12,000 human developers. This move signals a strategic shift toward AI-augmented productivity in an industry often perceived as resistant to rapid technological change.
While Goldman Sachs has quietly used developer copilots internally since 2024, adopting Devin marks a more ambitious experiment. The AI agent, created by startup Cognition, made waves last year for its coding capabilities but faced skepticism after early tests revealed limitations with intricate programming tasks. The latest iteration, Devin 2.1, reportedly excels when given extensive codebases, allowing it to operate with greater contextual understanding.
Argenti emphasized that Devin isn’t replacing human talent but acting as a collaborative tool. Under the bank’s “hybrid” model, each AI instance will work alongside engineers, aiming to streamline workflows rather than eliminate jobs. For Goldman Sachs, the priority lies in boosting efficiency, proving that even in high-stakes finance, human-AI partnerships could redefine how complex problems get solved.
The financial sector rarely embraces unproven tech, yet Goldman’s willingness to scale Devin suggests confidence in its potential. If successful, this pilot could set a precedent for how Wall Street balances innovation with the irreplaceable expertise of its workforce.
(Source: TechCrunch)
