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Coinbase Elevates Rob Witoff to CTO Amid AI-Driven Workforce Shift

Rob Witoff, an early engineer who helped architect the exchange’s foundational systems, has been named chief technology officer at Coinbase. The appointment arrives as the company aggressively pivots toward AI-assisted workflows, a transition that saw the exchange reduce its headcount by 14% earlier this year to streamline operations.

Coinbase Elevates Rob Witoff to CTO Amid AI-Driven Workforce Shift

Witoff first joined the company in 2014, working on security and infrastructure before founding the custody firm Unit 410, which Coinbase later acquired. He returned to the exchange in December 2024 to lead its platform division. CEO Brian Armstrong credited Witoff with driving the firm’s integration of artificial intelligence, which management claims has enabled engineers to condense weeks of work into mere days.

The leadership shift coincides with a significant overhaul of the company’s internal engineering culture. Following a May restructuring that eliminated approximately 700 roles, Coinbase has moved toward a model centered on smaller, AI-empowered teams. According to recent internal data, nearly all code merged into the platform is now AI-generated and subsequently verified by human reviewers, a sharp increase from the 5.7% recorded in early 2025.

As CTO, Witoff assumes responsibility for maintaining reliability across an expanding suite of products, including prediction markets and stablecoin payment services. His technical oversight faces an immediate test following a 50-minute service disruption on July 14, which prompted the company to implement new deployment safeguards. Witoff steps into the role as other senior leaders depart; Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal is set to exit his position on July 31, with Molly Abraham slated to take over as general counsel.

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