Anthropic Went Public at $965 Billion Valuation, Executive Describes Hiring Priorities

Anthropic went public at a $965 billion valuation and is receiving applicants for six-figure roles. Boris Cherny, the architect behind Anthropic’s Claude Code, described three hiring priorities during a talk at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference. Cherny said the company seeks generalists who bring context across multiple disciplines.

“Number one, we like generalists, because they have context across more than just engineering,” he said. ” Cherny listed a second requirement: candidates with low ego. “Ego just gets in the way of stuff,” he said.

“You want to be okay and safe shipping an idea that might turn out to be bad. ” The third criterion, according to Cherny, is an ability to admit failure and adjust based on evidence. “The third thing is we love empiricists,” he said.

” @FortuneMagazine reported that other executives have expressed similar preferences. Ben Goodwin, CEO and cofounder of Olipop, said the company avoids candidates whose personal egos exceed the team mission. Claire Isnard, former CPO and COO of Chanel, said candidates must meet standards of excellence, integrity, and collaboration and that those with big egos who prefer solo work do not fit.

Monica Cepak, CEO of Wisp, noted that applicants who avoid the word “we” when describing past work may struggle in collaborative settings. Khozema Shipchandler, CEO of Twilio, said frequent use of “I” in interviews signals limited readiness for leadership that relies on persuasion rather than authority.