According to Claude Code creator Boris Cherny, the 'software engineer' title may begin to disappear as early as 2026.
'I think we're going to start to see the title software engineer go away,' Cherny said.
'I think it's just going to be maybe builder, maybe product manager, maybe we'll keep the title as a vestigial thing,' he added.
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence is not just changing how software is built, it could soon change what we call the people who build it. According to Boris Cherny, who created Claude Code at Anthropic, the traditional ‘software engineer’ title may begin to disappear as early as 2026. Speaking in an interview with Y Combinator’s Lightcone podcast, Cherny described the pace of AI progress as ‘insane’ and said coding itself is quickly becoming automated, reports Business Insider.
Survey‘I think today coding is practically solved for me, and I think it’ll be the case for everyone regardless of domain,’ Cherny said. ‘I think we’re going to start to see the title software engineer go away. And I think it’s just going to be maybe builder, maybe product manager, maybe we’ll keep the title as a vestigial thing.’
Instead of spending most of their time writing code, developers are expected to shift toward defining problems, planning solutions, and working closely with users. Cherny explained that engineers are already moving in this direction.
‘Like this thing that we’re starting to see right now in our team, where engineers are very much generalists, and every single function on our team codes,’ he said- including product managers, designers, engineering manager, and finance people.
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This transformation is not limited to one company. Across the tech industry, leaders say AI-powered coding agents are changing how teams operate. Jesal Gadhia, a startup founder, recently told Business Insider that nearly all of his company’s code was written by AI agents, something which would not have been possible in 2024.
If these trends continue, the future of software development may focus less on writing code and more on guiding intelligent systems.
Also read: Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 4.6 AI model with improved coding and computer use skills
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Ayushi Jain
Ayushi works as Chief Copy Editor at Digit, covering everything from breaking tech news to in-depth smartphone reviews. Prior to Digit, she was part of the editorial team at IANS. View Full Profile
