Claude Code creator predicts 'software engineer' title will start to disappear in 2026

Boris Cherny, who built Claude Code at Anthropic, told Y Combinator's Lightcone podcast that coding is "practically solved" for him and will be for everyone by year-end. He predicts the software engineer title will give way to "builder" or "product manager." Cherny said engineers on his team are already generalists, with PMs, designers, and finance people all writing code. The shift means engineers will increasingly spend time writing specs, talking to users, and directing AI agents rather than typing code themselves.

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