Visa, one of the world’s leading payment processing companies, is looking to onboard a new member who is well-equipped with blockchain technology. The company is planning to hire a software engineer with sufficient knowledge of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain smart contracts.
An executive at Visa took to Twitter to share the opening for a software engineer who can use AI tools to work with blockchain smart contracts. Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s Head of Crypto, wrote that the firm is in search of an eligible candidate who has prior experience using AI-assisted tools. Quoting him:
Particularly interested in [software engineers with] experience using Github Copilot and other AI-assisted engineering tools to write and debug smart contracts.
GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered cloud-based programming tool that is developed by GitHub and OpenAI. The platform is useful in suggesting code within the user’s code editor based on natural language prompts. It is also helpful in assisting users of Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Neovim, and JetBrains to integrate development environments by autocompleting code.
However, individuals who have tested GitHub Copilot have marked mixed results. One developer reported great success in using the platform to refactor or “clean up” smart contract code. On the other hand, another developer reported that the application leaked an Ethereum private key and expressed uncertainty about the application’s security.
Sheffield added that Visa’s new hire would be assisting in driving the adoption of public blockchains and stablecoins. In fact, Visa is already working on such initiatives, having announced new stablecoin and CBDC plans in January itself.
Additionally, the company also began to settle USDC transactions on Ethereum as early as 2021. It has also partnered with several crypto companies, including Crypto.com, BlockFi, and Anchorage, to offer cryptocurrency rewards and other services. Despite these partnerships, Visa ended its global credit card agreements with failed crypto exchange FTX in November considering the lawsuits it was involved in following the collapse.
However, Visa’s crypto-oriented endeavors remain unhindered from the happenings in the financial sector. A few weeks ago a spokesperson said that recent high-profile failures in the crypto sector are an important reminder that we have a long way to go before crypto becomes a part of mainstream payments and financial services.
In December, Visa also published a blog highlighting its ideas for the crypto space. It suggested an option that would allow providers to automatically “pull” money from customers’ Ethereum-powered crypto wallets without requiring the user to personally approve each transaction.
The article described how a user might set up an application that would automatically transfer funds from one self-custodial wallet account to another at regular intervals without requiring the user’s active involvement each time.
While there are significant challenges in the crypto space, Visa has remained committed to its promise of exploring the potential of cryptocurrencies and their role in the broader payments ecosystem. Notably, the growth of cryptocurrencies has invited an increase in interest from financial institutions.