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As AI-powered instruments unfold by means of enterprise software program stacks, the fast development of the AI coding platform Windsurf is turning into a case research of what occurs when builders undertake agentic tooling at scale.
In a session at at the moment’s VB Rework 2025 convention, CEO and co-founder Varun Mohan mentioned how Windsurf’s built-in growth atmosphere (IDE) surpassed a million builders inside 4 months of launch. Extra notably, the platform now writes over half of the code dedicated by its person base.
The dialog, moderated by VentureBeat CEO Matt Marshall, opened with a short however pointed disclaimer: Mohan couldn’t touch upon OpenAI’s extensively reported potential acquisition of Windsurf.
The difficulty has drawn consideration following a Wall Avenue Journal report detailing a brewing standoff between OpenAI and Microsoft over the phrases of that deal and broader tensions inside their multi-billion-dollar partnership. In line with the WSJ, OpenAI seeks to accumulate Windsurf with out giving Microsoft entry to its mental property— a difficulty that might reshape the enterprise AI coding panorama.
With that context put aside, the session centered on Windsurf’s know-how, enterprise traction, and imaginative and prescient for agentic growth.
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Windsurf’s IDE is constructed round what the corporate calls a “mind-meld” loop—a shared undertaking state between people and AI that allows full coding flows moderately than autocomplete options. With this setup, brokers can carry out multi-file refactors, write check suites, and even launch UI adjustments when a pull request is initiated.
Mohan emphasised that coding help can’t cease at code era. “Solely about 20 to 30% of a developer’s time is spent writing code. The remainder is debugging, reviewing, and testing. To really help, an AI system wants entry to all these knowledge sources,” he defined.
Windsurf lately embedded a browser inside its IDE, permitting brokers to check adjustments, learn logs, and work together with stay interfaces straight—very like a human engineer would.
Safety and management by design
As AI begins to take part in enterprise growth cycles actively, Windsurf’s emphasis on built-in safety has confirmed important. “We use a hybrid mannequin for enterprise deployments—not one of the personalised knowledge is saved exterior the person’s tenant. Safety is core, particularly with options like our built-in browser agent,” stated Mohan.
These capabilities have already made Windsurf a viable choice for regulated industries. Its brokers are deployed on huge codebases, together with these at JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.
Mohan added that as AI turns into extra accessible throughout roles, safety will turn out to be a gating issue for productiveness. “If everybody at an organization will contribute to know-how indirectly, the lacking piece is safety. You don’t need a one-off system constructed by a non-technical person destroying one other service,” he stated.
Small groups, fast testing
Internally, Windsurf organizes into lean squads of three or 4 engineers, every centered on testing a slender set of product hypotheses.
“There’s a perception that one-person billion-dollar firms are the longer term. However in actuality, extra folks will let you develop quicker and construct higher merchandise. The bottom line is organizing into small, centered groups that check hypotheses in parallel,” Mohan defined.
This mannequin has helped the corporate iterate shortly in an area the place foundational AI fashions—and person wants—evolve at breakneck pace.
Personalization at scale
Windsurf’s greatest optimization at enterprise scale isn’t quicker token era or smaller fashions—it’s relevance. “At scale, the most important optimization is personalization. Deeply understanding the codebase permits the agent to make maintainable, large-scale adjustments that mirror person intent,” stated Mohan.
Relatively than relying solely on general-purpose code era, Windsurf’s system learns every buyer’s stack’s construction, model, and preferences.
Constructing for future fashions
Trying ahead, Windsurf is designing its platform to stay adaptable because the capabilities of underlying AI fashions proceed to develop.
“Each step-function enchancment in basis fashions calls for a significant product rethink. As brokers turn out to be extra succesful, our job is to construct the platform to handle and orchestrate a lot of them successfully,” Mohan stated.
The corporate is engaged on an open protocol that may permit enterprises to combine any LLM—together with on-premises fashions—into Windsurf’s agent framework, preserving flexibility and minimizing vendor lock-in.
Proving and measuring worth
Windsurf gives transparency into its efficiency with built-in analytics. “We offer transparency on ROI by means of metrics—like the share of code written by the assistant—which may be tied on to inside engineering efficiency,” Mohan stated.
This strategy permits platform groups to attach agentic productiveness with enterprise influence, serving to justify additional funding.
Targeted execution over flash
Lastly, when requested how Windsurf plans to distinguish itself amid competitors from OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and others, Mohan centered on inside velocity. “The problem isn’t who’s extra seen at the moment, however who’s executing the proper technique quick sufficient. The chance is both shifting too slowly or projecting too far out and lacking near-term relevance,” he stated.
Mohan additionally dismissed the concept that incumbents are inevitably doomed. “There’s no basic cause legacy firms like Salesforce can’t turn out to be AI-native. The true limiter is their pace of innovation, not their functionality.”
Whether or not Windsurf turns into a part of OpenAI’s future or continues independently, the corporate’s traction with enterprise clients — and its insistence on grounding AI in safe, measurable workflows — makes it a participant price watching as agentic growth enters the mainstream.
