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Wrote down some reflections after 1 year at Anthropic (feels like a lifetime):
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For each breakout success, it started as 1-2 people’s side project. True for Claude Code, Cowork, MCP, Artifacts
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Being AGI-pilled is a skill & you can get better at it
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We humans adapt surprisingly well. SWEs today look very different than a year ago
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Roles are somehow becoming both more manager-like (directing agents) and IC-like (everyone’s a builder)
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Most people I know have had their roles change at least a few times over the past year, whether in name or practice
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Fond memories of the colleague who used to set up a 1:1 with every new hire, as well as the one who would read every slack message in every channel. Neither are possible today… for humans at least
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I’m surprised how I went from knowing almost no one here to now having a friend/colleague join every couple of weeks
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Strategic thinking matters a lot at the AI labs
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It’s worse to underestimate a technology’s potential than overestimate it
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Initiatives in a company can go from super underresourced to overresourced in a short time, which you have to watch out for
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“Antfooding” of products internally seemed silly at first, too insular. But I now see its merits for AI labs.
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Writing culture is big at Anthropic, although I’m not sure how long that will last
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Internal dissent is alive and healthy, and often make up the most lauded docs/slack posts
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Work-life balance seems to have gotten worse across the company as we progress along the exponential
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Being an IC with nothing on your calendar is still one of the most sought after roles
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Take the stairs whenever possible
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The weight of the technology we’re building is becoming more difficult to grapple with
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More from @drew_bent
Section titled “More from @drew_bent”
Aug 26, 2025
Today we’re releasing new @AnthropicAI research on how educators use AI, analyzing ~74,000 conversations from professors using @claudeai in collaboration with Northeastern University.
4 initial findings…
#1 Educators are builders, not just users of AI. Faculty are creating interactive chemistry simulations, grading rubrics, and data dashboards with Claude Artifacts.
#2 Educators automate the drudgery while staying in the loop for almost everything else. 77% of teaching and classroom instruction uses are collaborative, while 65% of financial/fundraising tasks are fully delegated. High-touch educational work remains human-centered.
#3 Notable tension in the data: 49% of grading conversations showed automation patterns, yet faculty rated this as AI’s least effective application. This disconnect highlights ongoing debates around appropriate AI use in assessment.
Aug 14, 2025
We launched a Claude Code learning mode!
Claude Code not only makes you more productive, but can now also help you get better at coding.
Whether you’re a CS student or seasoned programmer, it will push you to think deeper about the code you’re generating.
How it works:
- The lite mode teaches you as you code: explaining best practices, trade-offs, and why certain approaches work
- Want more? The learn-by-doing mode pauses at strategic moments and asks YOU to write critical sections. These show up as TODO(human) markers in your code (yes, really)
I’ve been using this myself. It’s turned me into a more active participant and made me more excited to program.
Doing human code reviews on Claude Code PRs has also become less intimidating.
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