Claude Code creator says all software engineering roles may disappear by the end of this year
Anthropic's Claude Code creator Boris Cherny says AI is rapidly changing software engineering, with traditional engineer roles potentially starting to disappear this year. However, he argues AI will also create new opportunities as coding shifts from manual programming to AI-assisted building.
If there is one profession currently getting the sharpest cuts from artificial intelligence, it is software engineering. AI coding tools are already writing code, fixing bugs and even building apps on their own. As these tools become more capable, software engineering is increasingly seen as one of the first major white-collar jobs likely to be replaced by AI. Now, Boris Cherny, the creator of Anthropic’s Claude Code, believes the impact could arrive much faster than many expected.
In an interview with Platformer, Cherny said the traditional title of “software engineer” could start disappearing as soon as this year as AI agents increasingly handle coding tasks. However, he noted that this does not necessarily mean engineering jobs will completely vanish overnight.
Cherny, who leads Claude Code at Anthropic, said AI is changing the structure of software teams rather than simply replacing workers. He highlighted how designers, product managers and even managers are now able to build and ship software themselves using AI tools.Meanwhile, engineers themselves are spending less time manually writing code and more time planning, testing and directing AI systems. Because of this shift, Cherny suggested the traditional engineering role may soon evolve into something entirely different.
“I don’t think we’re going to call them engineers,” Cherny said in the interview, adding that there could eventually be “100 times more” people doing software-building work with AI assistance.
Cherny also revealed that he personally has not written a line of code in more than six months because Claude now handles nearly all of the coding work for him. Explaining how roles are beginning to blur, he said, “Everyone that’s not an engineer is going to code a little bit more engineers like me, I haven’t coded in six months I just see it all kind of blending into one thing. We can call it a builder, we can keep calling it an engineer but the role is changing.”
AI is not yet perfect at software engineering
While Cherny is praising how AI can now manage most of the coding work, he also pushed back against the idea that all software engineering problems have already been solved. He said AI still struggles with highly complex enterprise codebases, including systems used by large organisations such as NASA. According to him, coding itself represents only a small portion of engineering work, with much of the job still involving brainstorming, debugging, planning and deciding what products to build next.
As for jobs, Cherny suggested the impact of AI will likely be mixed. Some companies may need fewer engineers because AI dramatically increases productivity, while others could hire more people because they are suddenly able to launch more products and businesses much faster.
“There’s going to be a lot of companies that need less engineers because engineers are more productive,” he said. “At the same time there’s going to be a lot of companies that need a lot more engineers because every engineer is more productive.”
Despite his warning about disappearing engineering titles, Cherny insisted entry-level opportunities will still exist. In fact, he described the current moment as a “golden age” for startups because AI agents now allow very small teams to build products and companies at a scale previously impossible. “Go start a startup. It's just like there's never been a better time in history to start a startup. Like it's, it's just absolutely the golden age."
If there is one profession currently getting the sharpest cuts from artificial intelligence, it is software engineering. AI coding tools are already writing code, fixing bugs and even building apps on their own. As these tools become more capable, software engineering is increasingly seen as one of the first major white-collar jobs likely to be replaced by AI. Now, Boris Cherny, the creator of Anthropic’s Claude Code, believes the impact could arrive much faster than many expected.
In an interview with Platformer, Cherny said the traditional title of “software engineer” could start disappearing as soon as this year as AI agents increasingly handle coding tasks. However, he noted that this does not necessarily mean engineering jobs will completely vanish overnight.
Cherny, who leads Claude Code at Anthropic, said AI is changing the structure of software teams rather than simply replacing workers. He highlighted how designers, product managers and even managers are now able to build and ship software themselves using AI tools.Meanwhile, engineers themselves are spending less time manually writing code and more time planning, testing and directing AI systems. Because of this shift, Cherny suggested the traditional engineering role may soon evolve into something entirely different.
“I don’t think we’re going to call them engineers,” Cherny said in the interview, adding that there could eventually be “100 times more” people doing software-building work with AI assistance.
Cherny also revealed that he personally has not written a line of code in more than six months because Claude now handles nearly all of the coding work for him. Explaining how roles are beginning to blur, he said, “Everyone that’s not an engineer is going to code a little bit more engineers like me, I haven’t coded in six months I just see it all kind of blending into one thing. We can call it a builder, we can keep calling it an engineer but the role is changing.”
AI is not yet perfect at software engineering
While Cherny is praising how AI can now manage most of the coding work, he also pushed back against the idea that all software engineering problems have already been solved. He said AI still struggles with highly complex enterprise codebases, including systems used by large organisations such as NASA. According to him, coding itself represents only a small portion of engineering work, with much of the job still involving brainstorming, debugging, planning and deciding what products to build next.
As for jobs, Cherny suggested the impact of AI will likely be mixed. Some companies may need fewer engineers because AI dramatically increases productivity, while others could hire more people because they are suddenly able to launch more products and businesses much faster.
“There’s going to be a lot of companies that need less engineers because engineers are more productive,” he said. “At the same time there’s going to be a lot of companies that need a lot more engineers because every engineer is more productive.”
Despite his warning about disappearing engineering titles, Cherny insisted entry-level opportunities will still exist. In fact, he described the current moment as a “golden age” for startups because AI agents now allow very small teams to build products and companies at a scale previously impossible. “Go start a startup. It's just like there's never been a better time in history to start a startup. Like it's, it's just absolutely the golden age."
