# Scott Wu

> Scott Wu is the co-founder and CEO of Cognition, the AI company behind Devin - widely recognized as the world's first autonomous AI software engineer. A three-time International Olympiad in Informatics gold medalist from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Wu started coding at age 9, interned at a fintech startup as a high schooler alongside future Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, briefly attended Harvard, then spent five years building Lunchclub as CTO before co-founding Cognition in 2023 with fellow competitive programming champions. Under his leadership, Cognition grew from a 10-person apartment startup to a $10.2 billion company with over 200 employees, acquired Windsurf in July 2025, and raised $675 million in total funding - with Devin's annualized revenue surging from $1 million to $73 million in under a year.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Cognition
- **Organizations:** Cognition, Lunchclub, Addepar
- **From:** Louisiana, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** High School Diploma, Baton Rouge Magnet High School, Attended (dropped out after two years), Harvard University
- **Known for:** Three gold medals at the International Olympiad in Informatics (2012, 2013, 2014); first place overall in 2014, Mathcounts Individual National Champion representing Louisiana (2011), ICPC gold medal with Harvard team (2016, third place overall)

## Career timeline

- **2009** — Learned to code at age 9 in Louisiana
- **2011** — Won Mathcounts Individual Champion, representing Louisiana (8th grade)
- **2012** — Won IOI gold medal (first of three consecutive)
- **2013** — Won IOI gold medal (second)
- **2014** — Won IOI gold medal, placing first overall
- **2014** — Interned at Addepar as a high schooler alongside Alexandr Wang (future Scale AI founder)
- **2015** — Enrolled at Harvard University; began competitive programming at collegiate level
- **2016** — Harvard team won ICPC gold medal, placing third overall
- **2017** — Dropped out of Harvard; co-founded Lunchclub as CTO
- **2017** — Placed third in Topcoder Open Algorithm
- **2020** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 for co-founding Lunchclub
- **2021** — Placed third in Google Code Jam
- **2022** — Left Lunchclub after five years
- **2023** — Co-founded Cognition in January with Steven Hao (CTO) and Walden Yan (CPO)
- **2024-03** — Launched Devin, the world's first autonomous AI software engineer, to worldwide attention
- **2024-03** — Cognition raised $21M from Peter Thiel's Founders Fund at $350M valuation
- **2024-04** — Cognition raised $175M Series B led by Founders Fund at $2B valuation
- **2025-03** — Cognition reached $4B valuation after funding round led by Joe Lonsdale's 8VC
- **2025-07** — Cognition acquired Windsurf (agentic IDE) - deal closed in 72 hours
- **2025-09** — Cognition raised $400M at $10.2B valuation; total funding reached $675M+

## Achievements

- Three gold medals at the International Olympiad in Informatics (2012, 2013, 2014); first place overall in 2014
- Mathcounts Individual National Champion representing Louisiana (2011)
- ICPC gold medal with Harvard team (2016, third place overall)
- Codeforces Legendary Grandmaster, peak rating 3350
- Third place, Google Code Jam (2021)
- Forbes 30 Under 30 (2020) for co-founding Lunchclub
- Co-founded Cognition, which reached a $10.2B valuation by September 2025
- Grew Devin's ARR from $1M (September 2024) to $73M (June 2025)
- Acquired Windsurf in July 2025, doubling combined ARR to ~$155M
- Assembled a founding team with 10 collective IOI gold medals

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — Cognition raised $400M at a $10.2B valuation, bringing total funding to $675M+
- **2025-07** — Cognition acquired Windsurf (agentic IDE) for ~$250M, closing the deal in 72 hours
- **2025-07** — Combined Devin + Windsurf ARR reached approximately $155M
- **2025-05** — Scott Wu posted publicly about Cognition's extreme performance culture, offering buyouts to those uncomfortable with the pace
- **2025-03** — Cognition reached $4B valuation after funding round led by Joe Lonsdale's 8VC
- **2025-01** — Cognition celebrated its 2-year anniversary on January 3rd

## Links

- Website: https://cognition.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-wu-8b94ab96
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/ScottWu46

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/scott-wu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-11