Sequoia Partner: Machines Will Soon Do 99.9% of Cognitive Work
shaunmmaguire · x · 2026-09-03
Sequoia partner Konstantine published an essay, The Cognitive Revolution, drawing a parallel between AI and the industrial revolution: over two centuries, physical work went from 99% biological to 99.9% machine; a century ago 99% of cognitive work was human, and soon 99.9% will be done by machines.
His key claim: what stays economically human the longest is what was never really cognition — wanting things, choosing between them, being accountable for choices, and being trusted by others. The piece opens with his daily Waymo commute as the physical-work analogy.
Related event: Sequoia's 'Cognitive Revolution' essay: AI outsources human thinking(4 posts)→
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