Cognition AI Expands Devin Coding Tool to Japan, Malaysia

Cognition AI is making Japan the cornerstone of its Asian expansion, opening a Tokyo office in April as the San Francisco startup positions its Devin coding tool to address the country's acute software engineering shortage and aging digital infrastructure.

Japan emerged as one of Devin's top markets by user engagement even before the company's official launch there, according to Russell Kaplan, president of Cognition AI. The country's demographic crisis—nearly 30% of residents are over 65, with the working-age population projected to shrink by more than 30% by 2060—has created an urgent need for productivity tools that can stretch limited engineering resources.

Why it matters

Japan's embrace of AI coding tools signals a broader shift in how countries with aging workforces and legacy systems approach digital transformation. Rather than attempting to train enough engineers to maintain decades-old code, governments and enterprises are turning to AI agents that can autonomously modernize infrastructure. This approach could become a template for other developed economies facing similar demographic pressures.

Real-world impact in Japanese government

The efficiency gains are already measurable. When Sapporo's city government faced a national IT compliance mandate requiring modernization of over one million lines of legacy code—work Kaplan estimated would normally require 200 engineering months—the city's engineers completed the project in roughly a quarter of that time using Devin.

Devin operates as what Cognition calls a full AI software engineering teammate, autonomously coding, debugging, and deploying within existing development tools. Japanese engineers can interact with Devin entirely in Japanese while the agent facilitates collaboration with international teams, addressing what Kaplan identified as a historical barrier: low English proficiency that has isolated some Japanese businesses from global digital ecosystems.

Beyond Japan: Malaysia emerges as unexpected hub

While Cognition plans to establish its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore later this year, Malaysia has become an unexpected growth market. Kuala Lumpur's combination of English-speaking talent, lower costs, and regional proximity has made it a software engineering hub, and Cognition has launched an Applied AI Engineering program there to identify and train engineers who excel at directing AI agents.

The geographic expansion also solves a technical challenge. With compute demand at Cognition doubling roughly every seven weeks, having teams across time zones allows the company to utilize processing power during off-peak hours in North America. "When people are at work in Japan, people in New York are asleep," Kaplan noted.

The sovereign AI question

Japan's approach contrasts with neighbors like South Korea and Singapore, which have prioritized sovereign AI development. Instead, Japan has invested heavily in partnerships with U.S. AI companies—OpenAI and Anthropic both chose Tokyo for their first international offices, while SoftBank has become one of OpenAI's largest investors. Kaplan characterized Japan's strategy as working closely with American firms to influence product roadmaps for local needs.

Cognition raised more than $1 billion in late May at a $26 billion valuation, with annualized revenue reaching $492 million—up from $37 million a year earlier. The company is also eyeing South Korea and Australia for future expansion.

These details were first reported by Fortune.