One tech company CEO says AI has not yet changed the makeup of the workforce.
“We’re seeing significant productivity gains with AI right now, and we’re well north of half the code, and probably close to two-thirds of the code is now being written by AI,” DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said on an earnings call Wednesday. “But that alone doesn’t provide a clear picture of how workflows and team settings should change.”
Xu, who co-founded the delivery app in 2013, said the company is considering how the team structure and headcount will change as productivity increases. But two other things take precedence.
“The number one priority for us right now is definitely making sure we can integrate all of our teams into a single technology stack,” he said. “Our second priority is to make sure that everyone in the company, not just our engineers, is as AI-enabled as anyone else.”
Xu said that while DoorDash is delivering features and projects faster, customers are demanding much higher standards from the company.
“Our productivity is increasing. We’re shipping more code. But the ultimate question I have is: Are we actually delivering better outcomes to our customers?” he said.
Mr. Xu’s remarks differ from what many leaders are saying about technology this year.
Across the tech industry, executives are touting the productivity gains from AI, saying between 50% and 90% of code is generated by AI. AI is increasingly being cited as a reason for layoffs.
March, Australian-American software company Atlassian announces 1,600 job cuts It employs approximately 10% of the world’s workforce.
“It would be disingenuous to suggest that AI won’t change the mix of skills we need or the number of roles we need in any given field. In fact, it does,” CEO Mike Cannon-Brooks said in a message to employees.
on tuesday, Announcement by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong The company plans to cut 14% of its workforce, or about 700 people.
In a post on X, Armstrong shared an email he allegedly sent to employees. He cited two factors for the reduction: market fluctuations and changes in work styles due to AI.
“Over the past year, I’ve seen engineers use AI to ship work in days that previously took teams weeks,” Armstrong said. He added: “The pace of what is possible with small, focused teams has changed dramatically.”