AI Is Turning Every Company Into a Software Company

In the latest McKinsey Podcast, Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy explains how artificial intelligence is reshaping software creation. By treating code as a conversational output, AI reduces the cost and time of building applications, echoing historic shifts like the printing press and the internet. This "industrialization of intelligence" makes low‑code and no‑code tools mainstream, allowing non‑technical staff to generate dashboards or entire apps simply by describing their needs in natural language. The result is a democratized development landscape where the barrier to entry is dramatically lower.

Ramaswamy highlights a productivity surge of 50‑to‑100‑fold for engineers using coding agents, coining the term "Uber programmers" for those who can direct AI‑driven agents to design, critique, and secure code. Snowflake is experimenting with consumption‑based pricing models that charge only for actual AI value delivered, blending per‑user limits with token‑based fees to prevent runaway costs. This approach aligns spend with outcomes, but also raises questions about long‑term pricing structures as token economics evolve and open‑source models improve.

Beyond the technical gains, the conversation stresses that AI is a business transformation, not merely a technology upgrade. Snowflake’s internal rollout of AI tools—without mandated training—showed how viral adoption can upskill an entire workforce in weeks. Leaders must manage change by redefining roles, automating support and SRE tasks, and reskilling staff for new AI‑centric functions. The overarching lesson: organizations that embrace AI‑enabled productivity while thoughtfully redesigning their structures will capture growth, whereas those clinging to legacy silos risk falling behind.