Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky revealed during Thursday’s earnings call that AI now generates about 60% of the company’s code, a figure that signals a fundamental shift in the company’s engineering and management structure.
Chesky went a step further, saying there was no room left for “pure people managers” at Airbnb, while telling managers to either learn to code or use cloud code.
According to Chesky, the figure reflects increased efficiency: “It means our teams are shipping more features and iterating more quickly.” This claim positions Airbnb somewhere between Shopify’s declared 50% AI-generated code and Google’s declared 75%. In this context, the normalization of AI support in the engineering process by Airbnb can be anticipated.
Chesky did not provide specifics on whether Airbnb’s percentage refers to code suggestions, functional coding, or a combination of human and AI coding, as most executives avoid addressing these issues when presenting such statistics.
Chesky’s mandate that managers “get their hands dirty in coding” or use cloud code directly challenges the traditional separation between management and individual contribution. He cited practical technical work as essential to leadership credibility, citing design managers and engineering managers to “go back to coding”.
However, Chesky declined to confirm whether Airbnb would eliminate managerial positions entirely, saying it was “too early to say” what the structural implications would be.
Chesky’s comments align with broader executive moves to reduce management layers. Coinbase announced 14% workforce cuts while apparently flattening its organizational structure to five layers below the CEO. McKinsey & Company recommends that companies deploy AI agents to streamline operations and reduce managerial overhead.
