Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)+17 Mixed

Operator Insights

What are engineering leaders learning from deploying Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)?

10 accounts: 1 left it or turned it down, 4 run it beside another tool, 1 evaluated it, 1 adopted it and 3 reported by others

Left it or turned it down1

Sina PakazadVice President, Data ScienceC3 AI
C3 AI's coding-agent platform work, December 2025.
Its own announcement, published Dec 24, 2025Read the write-up (opens the announcement in a new tab)
Observation
C3 AI surveyed coding agents including Windsurf and chose OpenHands Cloud instead.
Takeaway
For agents embedded in a product, remote programmability decided the choice over editor-first tools.
What happened
C3 AI surveyed the autonomous coding agents on the market, among them Claude Code, Codex, OpenHands, Devin, Cursor and Windsurf, and chose OpenHands Cloud instead for its full remote programmability and scalability in the cloud.
“Among existing ACAs, OpenHands (Cloud) stands out for providing full remote programmability and unconstrained interaction in the cloud, resulting in unlimited scalability.”
Sina Pakazad
- Public organization write-up
- Selection rationale stated
Deployment details
C3 AI's coding-agent platform work, December 2025.
- Public organization write-up
- Selection rationale stated
Team
C3 AI
Workload
Coding agents inside C3 AI's platform
Product version
OpenHands Cloud, after surveying Windsurf and others

Run it beside another tool4

Darryn DiekenChief Availability OfficerSalesforce
Salesforce engineering, December 2025.
Salesforce Engineering, published Dec 16, 2025Read the write-up (opens Salesforce Engineering in a new tab)
Observation
Salesforce runs Windsurf and Cursor for code and test generation beside Claude Code.
Takeaway
Windsurf holds its place in a portfolio when each tool is assigned the workflow it suits.
What happened
Salesforce runs a portfolio of coding tools, Cursor and Windsurf for code and test generation and Claude Code beside them for automation and scripting, with engineers choosing by workflow. It reports over 85% of eligible engineers using the tools weekly and code in production up 30%.
“Cursor and Windsurf for AI-assisted code and tests generation Claude Code a CLI-based tool for automation and scripting workflows…”
Darryn Dieken
- Public engineering write-up
- Organization metrics reported
Deployment details
Salesforce engineering, December 2025.
- Public engineering write-up
- Organization metrics reported
Team
Salesforce engineering
Workload
Salesforce products
Product version
Windsurf beside Cursor and Claude Code
Measurement
Weekly use among eligible engineers, code in production

IndeedJun 29, 2026DX Engineering Enablement podcastAt Indeed, Windsurf is one of several agents engineers run at once.
Michael ReddingPrincipal Product ManagerIndeed
Engineering organization of about 2,000 engineers, mid-2026.
DX Engineering Enablement podcast, published Jun 29, 2026Listen to the episode (opens DX Engineering Enablement podcast in a new tab)
Observation
At Indeed, Windsurf is one of several agents engineers run at once.
Takeaway
Expect Windsurf to share seats with other agents; measure its weekly use beside theirs.
What happened
After retiring Copilot and Cody, Indeed's agentic mix by mid-2026 was mostly Claude Code, with a little Cursor and some Windsurf and Amp, and its developers often run several of them in parallel.
“And if you’re interested, our breakdown rate, we’re mostly Claude Code, a little bit Cursor, some Windsurf, and then down at the bottom, Amp. If you actually add up these percentages, it’s definitely more than 100%. So we also see that our devs are using multiple tools at the same time.”
Michael Redding
Podcast episode (DX Engineering Enablement, published on YouTube Jun 29, 2026)
Organization metrics reported
Deployment details
Engineering organization of about 2,000 engineers, mid-2026.
Podcast episode (DX Engineering Enablement, published on YouTube Jun 29, 2026)
Organization metrics reported
Team
Indeed engineering, about 2,000 engineers
Workload
Product development
Product version
Windsurf beside Claude Code, Cursor and Amp
Measurement
Share of use by tool
BrexJan 17, 2026Latent SpaceBrex lets employees pick Windsurf, Cursor or Claude Code credits.
James ReggioChief technology officerBrex
Brex engineering, January 2026.
Latent Space, published Jan 17, 2026Listen to the episode (opens Latent Space in a new tab)
Observation
Brex lets employees pick Windsurf, Cursor or Claude Code credits.
Takeaway
Small seat counts across editors keep the choice open while the tools change.
What happened
Brex buys a few seats of several tools and lets employees pick between Cursor, Windsurf and Claude Code credits, switching easily between them, and uses usage trends to resist company-wide contracts at renewal.
“You can pick, you know, between like Cursor, Windsurf, Cloud Code, Credits, like, and you can basically craft your stack to your preference and easily switch between them.”
James Reggio, Brex, at 21:15 in the recording
Podcast episode
Self-reported
Deployment details
Brex engineering, January 2026.
Podcast episode
Self-reported
Team
Brex engineering
Workload
Brex's codebase
Product version
Windsurf beside Cursor and Claude Code
Measurement
Usage trends by tool at renewal
SalesforceNov 17, 2025Salesforce Engineering BlogA Salesforce platform team built a migration tool with Windsurf beside Cursor and Claude.
Salesforce EngineeringNotification and alerting platform teamSalesforce
Salesforce's notification and alerting platform team, November 2025.
Salesforce Engineering Blog, published Nov 17, 2025Read the write-up (opens Salesforce Engineering Blog in a new tab)
Observation
A Salesforce platform team built a migration tool with Windsurf beside Cursor and Claude.
Takeaway
Rules and memories let Windsurf keep project context across sessions; write them down early.
What happened
The team used Windsurf together with Cursor and Claude to build an internal migration tracking and validation tool, using Windsurf's rules and memories to carry context and refactor code into more manageable structures.
“Windsurf: We used rules and memories, allowing it to learn from previous context and refactor code into more manageable structures.”
Salesforce Engineering
Public engineering write-up
Team account
Deployment details
Salesforce's notification and alerting platform team, November 2025.
Public engineering write-up
Team account
Team
Salesforce platform team
Workload
Internal migration tracking and validation tool
Product version
Windsurf beside Cursor and Claude

Evaluated it1

Filip ViskovicDeveloper Experience Team LeadDRW
Proprietary trading firm. Confidential trading code under financial-industry governance. Codeium Enterprise, before the Windsurf and Devin Desktop renames.
Cognition, published Jan 6, 2025Read the case study (opens Cognition in a new tab)
Observation
DRW chose Codeium Enterprise, the product that became Windsurf, for a non-SaaS deployment and context across many repositories.
Takeaway
Write the security, stack, and measurement requirements down before the evaluation, and treat hours saved from accepted completions as an upper bound on typing time.
What happened
DRW evaluated assistants on production use cases and set three requirements: fit its security and audit rules, work across its stack, and show measured value. It picked Codeium for a non-SaaS deployment and for indexing many repositories at once, which a developer experience engineer says gave better completions than tools that read one file. Cognition reports hundreds of thousands of accepted suggestions a month and about ten thousand developer hours saved in a year, counted only as typing time.
- Vendor case study
- Vendor-reported usage metrics
Deployment details
Proprietary trading firm. Confidential trading code under financial-industry governance. Codeium Enterprise, before the Windsurf and Devin Desktop renames.
- Vendor case study
- Vendor-reported usage metrics
Team
DRW developers, led by the Developer Experience team
Duration
About one year at publication
Workload
Confidential trading software across many repositories
Product version
Codeium Enterprise, non-SaaS deployment
Measurement
Accepted suggestions per month and estimated typing time saved, reported by the vendor

Adopted it1

athenahealthJun 10, 2025Cognitionathenahealth moved from Windsurf's plugins to the Windsurf Editor after a security and compliance review.
Jeremy LuallenDirector of R&D Productivityathenahealth
R&D organization. Healthcare software under HIPAA. Windsurf Editor (SaaS), before the rename.
Cognition, published Jun 10, 2025Read the case study (opens Cognition in a new tab)
Observation
athenahealth moved from Windsurf's plugins to the Windsurf Editor after a security and compliance review.
Takeaway
In a regulated setting, settle data retention and compliance terms before the pilot, and ask for measured outcomes, since this account reports none.
What happened
athenahealth was an early adopter of the SaaS Windsurf Plugins, then evaluated AI coding assistants and rolled out the SaaS Windsurf Editor. The case study cites zero data retention and HIPAA alignment as deciding factors, and reports qualitative outcomes such as faster development cycles and shared conversations across teams, with no metrics.
Vendor case study
Qualitative outcomes only
Deployment details
R&D organization. Healthcare software under HIPAA. Windsurf Editor (SaaS), before the rename.
Vendor case study
Qualitative outcomes only
Team
athenahealth R&D teams
Workload
Electronic health records, revenue cycle, and patient engagement software
Product version
Windsurf Editor (SaaS), after Windsurf Plugins

Reported by others3

Pat CaseyOct 17, 2025The New StackServiceNow moved about 7,000 engineers from GitHub Copilot to Windsurf and measured a 10% gain in stories delivered.
Pat CaseyCTO and co-founderServiceNow
ServiceNow engineering, about 7,000 engineers, 2025.
The New Stack, published Oct 17, 2025Read the report (opens The New Stack in a new tab)
Observation
ServiceNow moved about 7,000 engineers from GitHub Copilot to Windsurf and measured a 10% gain in stories delivered.
Takeaway
Measure delivery per engineer across the release boundary when you switch tools, and leave use optional.
What happened
The New Stack reported on Oct 17, 2025 that ServiceNow, a GitHub Copilot shop with decent results, evaluated the newer AI coding tools and switched to Windsurf, rolled out to about 7,000 engineers. Casey reports about a 10% gain in stories per unit time per engineer from the last release before Windsurf to the first after, and says use is not mandated.
“ServiceNow saw about a 10% increase in productivity as measured by stories per unit time per engineer between the last release before the team started using Windsurf and the first one after the tool was introduced.”
The New Stack
Second-hand news report (The New Stack)
Organization metric reported
Deployment details
ServiceNow engineering, about 7,000 engineers, 2025.
Second-hand news report (The New Stack)
Organization metric reported
Team
ServiceNow engineering, about 7,000 engineers
Workload
ServiceNow platform development
Product version
Windsurf, now Devin Desktop
Measurement
Stories per unit time per engineer
Maxwell ZeffJun 3, 2025TechCrunchAnthropic cut Windsurf's direct Claude capacity on short notice in June 2025.
Maxwell ZeffSenior reporterTechCrunch
Windsurf subscribers using Claude models, June 2025.
Its own announcement, published Jun 3, 2025Read the report (opens the announcement in a new tab)
Observation
Anthropic cut Windsurf's direct Claude capacity on short notice in June 2025.
Takeaway
An editor that resells a lab's models depends on that lab's terms; ask how the vendor keeps model access if a supplier cuts it.
What happened
TechCrunch reported on Jun 3, 2025 that Anthropic limited Windsurf's direct access to its Claude models with little notice, while OpenAI was reported to be buying Windsurf, so Windsurf had to find third-party compute to keep serving several popular Claude models.
“Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan said in a post on X Tuesday that Anthropic gave Windsurf little notice for this change, and the startup now has to find other third-party compute providers to run several of Anthropic’s most popular AI models on its platform.”
TechCrunch
Second-hand news report (TechCrunch)
Vendor statement reported
Deployment details
Windsurf subscribers using Claude models, June 2025.
Second-hand news report (TechCrunch)
Vendor statement reported
Team
Windsurf subscribers
Product version
Windsurf
Model
Claude 3.x and Claude 4
Maxwell ZeffJun 3, 2025TechCrunchA Swift startup founder left Windsurf for Cursor when Claude access tightened.
Maxwell ZeffSenior AI reporter, reporting on a Swift startup founderTechCrunch
A Swift-focused startup, May 2025.
Its own announcement, published Jun 3, 2025Read the report (opens the announcement in a new tab)
Observation
A Swift startup founder left Windsurf for Cursor when Claude access tightened.
Takeaway
Model access drives editor churn; confirm which models your plan reaches.
What happened
TechCrunch reported on Jun 3, 2025 that Mannak, a Windsurf customer since late 2024, had switched to Cursor in recent weeks to work more easily with Claude 4.
“While Mannak has been a Windsurf customer since late 2024, he’s switched to using Cursor in recent weeks so that he can vibe code more easily with Claude 4.”
TechCrunch
Second-hand news report (TechCrunch)
Self-reported
Deployment details
A Swift-focused startup, May 2025.
Second-hand news report (TechCrunch)
Self-reported
Team
One founder
Duration
Since late 2024
Workload
Swift development
Product version
Windsurf, then Cursor
Model
Claude 4

Left it or turned it down1

C3 AI surveyed coding agents including Windsurf and chose OpenHands Cloud instead.

Run it beside another tool4

Salesforce runs Windsurf and Cursor for code and test generation beside Claude Code.

At Indeed, Windsurf is one of several agents engineers run at once.

Brex lets employees pick Windsurf, Cursor or Claude Code credits.

A Salesforce platform team built a migration tool with Windsurf beside Cursor and Claude.

Evaluated it1

DRW chose Codeium Enterprise, the product that became Windsurf, for a non-SaaS deployment and context across many repositories.

Adopted it1

athenahealth moved from Windsurf's plugins to the Windsurf Editor after a security and compliance review.

Reported by others3

ServiceNow moved about 7,000 engineers from GitHub Copilot to Windsurf and measured a 10% gain in stories delivered.

Anthropic cut Windsurf's direct Claude capacity on short notice in June 2025.

A Swift startup founder left Windsurf for Cursor when Claude access tightened.