Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has been committed to the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence within his company from the start. After decades of decline, he highlights its central importance to the technology ecosystem. He’s been outspoken about his discontent with the engineering community for not hopping on the AI revolution train. He firmly stated that he’s prepared to use the nuclear option – firing people – on those who won’t change.
As we detailed here, Armstrong is creating a culture where smart, innovative thinking can flourish. He hosts monthly ideation meetings, where collaborative teams research creative applications of AI. First off, during these sessions, engineers are encouraged to let loose and just share their creative ideas. They chat about how to use AI to improve productivity and efficiency.
He just got more fiery on getting AI done when he found out a few engineers didn’t subscribe to the AI assistant. To his surprise, he found out that they hadn’t actually tested what it could do either. Not surprisingly he decried this abrogation of initiative as shocking and that it called for a “heavy-handed approach.” Armstrong led the charge to address the situation, requiring every engineer to be up to speed with AI by the end of the week. He underscored that leveraging AI is not a “nice to have” at Coinbase.
“I said, ‘AI is important. We need you to all learn it and at least onboard. You don’t have to use it every day yet until we do some training, but at least onboard by the end of the week. And if not, I’m hosting a meeting on Saturday with everybody who hasn’t done it and I’d like to meet with you to understand why.’” – Brian Armstrong
Armstrong came to Saturday’s meeting ready, looking for lessons from those who had not yet dove into the AI world. He was interested in hearing why they were shying away from it. He said that other engineers had simply failed to provide good explanations for their opposition to the technology.
The need for this initiative is especially acute as the entire industry shifts toward the integration of AI into transportation. Already, Stripe’s co-founder and president, Collison, has voiced his concerns on our dangerous reliance on AI-generated code. He challenges how far businesses should rely on these technologies. His lifelong programming experience makes his case against it even more compelling.
After losing a powerful engineer to the power of generative AI, Armstrong has made AI training a top priority for Coinbase. He believes that a thorough understanding of AI is essential for keeping pace with industry advancements and staying competitive.