# AI coding race shifts from smarts to speed

> As AI models get better at routine coding tasks, companies are competing on cost and performance rather than raw intelligence.
- Title: AI coding race shifts from smarts to speed · Business Insider
- Summary: As AI models get better at routine coding tasks, companies are competing on cost and performance rather than raw intelligence. Russell Kaplan, cofounder of…
- Keywords: cognition, devin, russell kaplan, ai coding, software engineering, ai models, intelligence saturation, business, technology, coding, race, shifts
- Source: Business Insider — https://businessinsider.com/cognition-cofounder-ai-race-intelligence-saturation-2026-10
- Author: Ben Shimkus
- Published: 2026-10-20T16:56:30.131+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: cognition, devin, russell kaplan, ai coding, software engineering, ai models, intelligence saturation, business, technology
## The AI race changes direction
Russell Kaplan, president and cofounder of Cognition, says the competition for AI coding tools is shifting. For years, smarter models won. Now that is changing.
## Intelligence saturation point reached
Many software engineering tasks are now intelligence saturated, Kaplan wrote on Monday. Once any model does the task well, cost and speed are all that matter.

> Many tasks within software engineering are now 'intelligence saturated.' Once any model can do the task well, cost and speed are all that matter.
## Intelligence advantage shrinks fast
The Information reported that a ten point advantage in model intelligence now delivers just twenty percent more developer traffic, down from nearly sixty nine percent in late twenty twenty five.
## Key takeaway

Russell Kaplan, cofounder of Cognition, says many software engineering tasks have reached intelligence saturation, meaning speed and cost now matter more than model capability.