# AI coding's bigger payoff may be expanding what people can build

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/ai-codings-bigger-payoff-may-be-expanding-what-people-can/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

- Speaker: [Scott Wu](https://realalpha.app/builders/scott-wu/) · Scott Wu is cofounder and CEO of Cognition. · Co-founded Cognition, the company behind Devin, an autonomous software engineer; three-time IOI gold medalist.
- Host: [Molly O'Shea](https://realalpha.app/people/molly-oshea/) · Founder, Sourcery · Ex-Upfront Ventures investor; has interviewed Alex Karp and Palmer Luckey.
- Show: Sourcery
- Episode: [Inside the Fastest-Growing Category in AI: Scott Wu, CEO of $26B Cognition](https://realalpha.app/v/y1XxtvYll4s/), Jul 27, 2026
- Moment: 37:13 to 39:55 of the episode (3 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/ai-codings-bigger-payoff-may-be-expanding-what-people-can/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/y1XxtvYll4s/?t=2233

## Quote

> “the real unlock like, is **not in efficiency, but in capacity**, right?”
> — [Scott Wu](https://realalpha.app/builders/scott-wu/) at [38:32](https://realalpha.app/v/y1XxtvYll4s/?t=2312) · Sourcery

## Takeaways

1. Wu sees capacity, not efficiency, as the larger unlock.
2. He expects software to be generated for specific, one-off needs.
3. Self-driving software could make more digital experiences possible.

## About this segment

Scott Wu argues AI coding's biggest effect may be expanding what people can build, not just making existing work faster. He expects one-off and self-driving software to make more digital experiences possible.

From “Inside the Fastest-Growing Category in AI: Scott Wu, CEO of $26B Cognition”, Jul 27, 2026. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/y1XxtvYll4s/)

## Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

[37:17](https://realalpha.app/v/y1XxtvYll4s/?t=2237) What do you think the biggest question people should be asking right now that they're not? You know, it's kind of interesting. I think there's actually an important question to ask about what we would do with abundance. And maybe, like, I don't actually know what went down in all the industrial revolution. You know, I wasn't there. Really? Yeah, I wasn't there. What? but but so i assumed that there was some phase where it was kind of everyone was farming they were and then there was a point where it's kind of like oh wow we can actually just like mass produce and obviously in the time since then you know we have all like there's different things that we all want there's things that we care about there's like self-expression there's there's all this kind of like you know knowledge work and so on that's that's come about since then and i think

[38:05](https://realalpha.app/v/y1XxtvYll4s/?t=2285) there was like a middle period obviously where it was kind of like the abundance was there but but it was like figuring out those things i kind of think we're about to enter something like that you know in ai and i see this the reason the reason i i say that is because um you know with software obviously the first thing that people think about is okay like how can i be more efficient you know it's like all this work that i'm doing now i can do that work in a third of the time and it's true like you can it's amazing it's really cool right and obviously that's that's worth a lot already and that means you could do you know but but but i think the the real unlock like, is not in efficiency, but in capacity, right?

[38:43](https://realalpha.app/v/y1XxtvYll4s/?t=2323) It's like, what can we do if we can build so much more, right? And obviously, I mean, we gave the example of, okay, maybe the DMV is going to actually work, you know, in the post-software abundance, or maybe, you know, all of your logging into your bank account or checking your medical records, like, all of those would be, like, really smooth product experiences. But I actually think there's just so many more things, like, you know, software is eating the world.

[39:03](https://realalpha.app/v/y1XxtvYll4s/?t=2343) It's a famous line, obviously. it was true already you know here's how we'll look back on this in 2031 or something you know it's like it was true already back when you had to go and manually write every single piece of software every every line of code that was going to run and yet still it was correct for software to eat the world and to turn all these processes and software imagine how good it is and how much more you can do where you can just generate software on the fly to go do anything like single use software is going to exist like self-driving software is going to exist right so like anything that you want to go do or want to turn into reality like probably involves doing you know that anything that involves using a computer in some form is ultimately some kind of software and and when all the software drives itself like what do you want to do what do you

[39:48](https://realalpha.app/v/y1XxtvYll4s/?t=2388) want to create and so like that's that's the first thing that comes to my mind honestly it's like