The dream of “self-developing” AI has moved from theory to reality. Boris Cherry, the lead engineer behind Claude Code, publicly stated that he no longer writes manual lines of code for his contributions; instead, he acts as a high-level “architect” while Claude handles the entire implementation.
Breaking Down the 100% Claim
While the headline is startling, the reality of this workflow defines a new discipline often called “Vibe Coding”.
- The Human as Architect: The engineer still defines the problem, designs the overall architecture, and makes the high-level strategic decisions.
- Agentic Execution: Claude Code isn’t just generating snippets; it is an agentic tool that scans the local codebase, runs terminal commands, writes tests, and commits the final code.
- Rigorous Review: Even with 100% generation, humans are still required to review the output and fix logic errors. Anthropic employees reportedly use a workflow involving test-driven development (TDD) and secondary review agents to ensure quality.
The Broader Industry Shift
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicted in early 2025 that AI would write essentially all code by 2026. That prediction appears to be coming true within his own company.
| Metric | 2025 Standard | 2026 “Claude Code” Era |
| Code Authorship | 50% Human / 50% AI (Assisted) | Up to 100% AI Generated |
| Developer Role | Writing logic & syntax | Directing, Reviewing & Prompting |
| Time to Ship | Days or Weeks | Minutes or Hours |
| Accessibility | Requires years of training | “Anyone” can build apps via “vibes” |
Why This Matters for Software Engineers
The “one-hour shockwave” became a reality this month when a Google engineer reported that Claude Code replicated a project her team spent over a year building in just one hour.
- Boilerplate Obsolescence: Developers are being freed from “drudgery” and boilerplate code.
- The Existential Crisis: Many software engineers fear that entry-level coding roles are disappearing as 13-year-olds use these tools to build million-dollar startups overnight.
- Performance Gains: Distingushed engineers suggest that tools like Claude 4.1 Opus could compress six years of traditional work into just a few months.
Anthropic’s 2026 Valuation Surge
Fueled by the success of Claude Code and the Claude 4.5 Sonnet models, Anthropic’s valuation has reached a staggering $350 billion. The company is currently seeing a revenue run rate of over $5 billion, largely driven by developers who are shifting their entire workflows to AI-native environments.
“In 12 months, we may be in a world where AI is writing essentially all of the code… human productivity will actually be enhanced.” — Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic
