OpenAI CPO Kevin Weil says we currently use AI to autocomplete code, but this is evolving. Soon, we'll collaborate with AI agents, managing and helping them grow in their roles. We won't just prompt them, we'll mentor them. "It's a new grad engineer today… and an architect in a year."

OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil with Box co-founder Aaron Levie at Box's Virtual Summit:

Mentoring code-agents feels a lot like onboarding junior devs, except the “apprentice” levels up every sprint. The teams that build coaching loops, guardrails, and career paths for their AIs today will have a bench of digital staff engineers before the year’s out.

Have you ever wondered why Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly being advertised as 'AI-agents'? Artificial personal assistants who can do all kinds of annoying tasks for you at any time. Tax returns, insurance stuff, official business... All this and much more will be handled by your individually tailored personal AI assistant. Even independently and without your permission! The only prerequisite to be able to handle all sorts of things on your behalf is total access to your digital devices. The best thing to do is simply entrust it with your entire life. Unlike your unreliable friends, it will never forget even the smallest detail. And since you also talk to your AI friend on a daily basis about all sorts of topics, it can practically read your mind and anticipate your every wish! Isn't this a wonderful, brave, new world?

And after you have prompted and mentored them and have a really useful tool it will belong to the company you are working for. Legal issues ahead.

Have you noticed that only AI companies make these exaggerated statements about AI capabilities?

Bold vision!

Mentoring AI like a new grad, cool. What roles will AI agents take on next, in your opinion?

Mentoring AI agents—next-level collaboration is coming.

From "AI completes my code" to "I mentor AI that designs entire systems" in just a year.

This quote from Kevin Weil captures a profound shift in how we’ll interact with AI—not just as tools, but as dynamic collaborators that grow alongside us. The analogy to a “new grad engineer” is powerful: it highlights both current limitations and immense potential. Mentoring AI agents implies a future where human intuition and machine intelligence evolve in tandem, redefining productivity, creativity, and even the nature of work itself. It's not just about automation—it's about amplification.