'I was given an offer that would explode same day': Ex-Windsurf AI engineer talks acquisition by Google DeepMind
After a dramatic exit from Windsurf with just a fraction of his expected payout, Prem Qu Nair has joined AI startup Cognition to build what he calls the future of software engineering.
- Jul 25, 2025,
- Updated Jul 25, 2025 12:52 PM IST
Prem Qu Nair, a founding member and early engineer at Windsurf, has joined Cognition, the AI company behind the much-hyped autonomous coding agent Devin. In a statement posted on social media, Nair described the move as a return to a high-energy, code-first environment focused on redefining software development.
Nair was employee number two at Windsurf and spent over three and a half years working on the intersection of AI and software engineering. But despite his contributions, he says he walked away from the recent Windsurf acquisition with a payout worth only 1% of what his vested shares would have been at the time of the deal.
“I had a place at Google DeepMind as part of the deal,” Nair wrote. “I won’t go into detail for legal reasons, but I’d like to be transparent about my personal situation. I was given an offer that would explode same day. I had to forfeit all of my vested shares earned over my 3.5+ years at Windsurf.”
Rather than remain with DeepMind, he chose to chart a new course with Cognition. For Nair, the decision reflects more than just business strategy, it’s a return to what he sees as the core of software innovation.
“For someone who loves software engineering, Cognition feels like home,” he said. “It reminds me of the energy of the earliest days of Windsurf, where we wrote excessive amounts of code and had excessive amounts of fun.”
At Cognition, Nair is now part of the team pushing forward with tools like Devin, which made waves earlier this year as the world’s first fully autonomous AI software engineer. His focus is on combining the breakthroughs of Devin with lessons learned from Windsurf to help create a world-class integrated development environment (IDE) and AI-powered coding agents.
Nair’s move also highlights broader tensions in the startup world around equity, acquisitions, and employee compensation. His decision to publicly disclose the financial aftermath of Windsurf’s sale is rare in an industry that often keeps such details private.
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Prem Qu Nair, a founding member and early engineer at Windsurf, has joined Cognition, the AI company behind the much-hyped autonomous coding agent Devin. In a statement posted on social media, Nair described the move as a return to a high-energy, code-first environment focused on redefining software development.
Nair was employee number two at Windsurf and spent over three and a half years working on the intersection of AI and software engineering. But despite his contributions, he says he walked away from the recent Windsurf acquisition with a payout worth only 1% of what his vested shares would have been at the time of the deal.
“I had a place at Google DeepMind as part of the deal,” Nair wrote. “I won’t go into detail for legal reasons, but I’d like to be transparent about my personal situation. I was given an offer that would explode same day. I had to forfeit all of my vested shares earned over my 3.5+ years at Windsurf.”
Rather than remain with DeepMind, he chose to chart a new course with Cognition. For Nair, the decision reflects more than just business strategy, it’s a return to what he sees as the core of software innovation.
“For someone who loves software engineering, Cognition feels like home,” he said. “It reminds me of the energy of the earliest days of Windsurf, where we wrote excessive amounts of code and had excessive amounts of fun.”
At Cognition, Nair is now part of the team pushing forward with tools like Devin, which made waves earlier this year as the world’s first fully autonomous AI software engineer. His focus is on combining the breakthroughs of Devin with lessons learned from Windsurf to help create a world-class integrated development environment (IDE) and AI-powered coding agents.
Nair’s move also highlights broader tensions in the startup world around equity, acquisitions, and employee compensation. His decision to publicly disclose the financial aftermath of Windsurf’s sale is rare in an industry that often keeps such details private.
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