Claude Code creator Boris Cherny on the end of the software engineer

In the third episode of the Platformer podcast, Claude Code creator Boris Cherny explains how he's automating his own job. He hasn't written a line of code in more than six months, and thinks the title "software engineer" could start to disappear as soon as this year. Platformer's Casey Newton talks to the inventor of the fastest-growing AI coding tool in the world about what Cherny actually means when he says coding is "solved," why he predicts companies will need both far fewer engineers and far more of them, what he tells new computer science grads about where to build a career now, and whether all this added productivity will ever let anyone work less. (Hint: so far, it just means doing more). Cherny also explains the surprise that keeps upending his own predictions: the people getting the most out of AI tools are increasingly electricians, doctors, and carpenters rather than professional engineers. Plus, Platformer fellow Ella Markianos joins at the top of the show to discuss a new Microsoft study on AI and jobs. Disclosure: Casey's fiancé works at Anthropic. Who else should we have on this show? Let us know at casey@platformer.news. Sponsored by Atlassian Rovo | Become an AI-native team with Rovo. https://www.atlassian.com/rovo 0:00 Intro 6:23 Token Maxxing 10:52 Introducing Claude Code's Boris Cherny 17:21 Will software engineers disappear? 23:16 The Tractor Analogy 29:18 Is coding "solved?" 37:03 Productivity Paradox 42:20 Claude Cowork 48:56 Who's responsible for displacement? 52:55 Power users & the AI Divide 54:46 Predictions for next year