Coinbase reduces time from idea to production by 90% with Cursor

This post details how Coinbase adopted an agent-first model of software development, leveraging Cursor and its Composer 2.5 model to achieve a 90% reduction in time from idea to production. Key changes include re-visiting sprint planning to allow developers to grab tickets and delegate implementation to agents, shifting engineering effort to higher-level abstractions like defining intent and validating results rather than manual code writing and review, and enabling smaller working groups with broader scope where engineers manage multiple asynchronous agents. The post highlights the role of leadership in driving this change through example, agent speedruns, and the creation of "Superbuilder" roles. It also emphasizes Cursor's role as a foundation for these workflows due to its preconfigured setup, model flexibility, and robust UI, which helps bridge fluency gaps for developers new to agentic development. The shift in Coinbase's north star metric from input-based productivity to time from idea to production is also discussed.