Anthropic's engineering leader Fiona Fung admits that coding with Claude Code 'hurt' developers; says: As engineers relied more on AI agents, they became ...
Anthropic's top engineer Fiona Fung is not liking the effect AI coding agents are having on software developers. She recently said that growing use of these AI coding agents, such as Claude Code, has made coding a more isolated experience, with engineers spending so much time working alongside AI to
By Toi Tech Desk
Anthropic's top engineer Fiona Fung is not liking the effect AI coding agents are having on software developers.
She recently said that growing use of these AI coding agents, such as Claude Code, has made coding a more isolated experience, with engineers spending so much time working alongside AI tools that collaboration with colleagues has started to decline.Speaking on the latest episode of “Lenny's Podcast,” Fung said her team observed an unexpected side effect as developers increasingly relied on AI agents for coding tasks.
Fung said, “The thing that we found interesting on the Claude Code team is, after a while, we felt it could start being a lonely experience because we all started just working with our agents so much.”Her comments come as AI coding assistants become increasingly common across the software industry.
Developers are spending more time managing AI agents, reviewing generated code and coordinating multiple automated tasks, changing how engineering teams work on projects.How Anthropic is solving the ‘isolation problem’ of engineers using AI coding agentsTo counter the isolation that emerged from agent-assisted coding, Anthropic began organising programming lunches, hackathons, and dedicated blocks of shared "maker time." The initiative was designed to bring engineers together in person and allow them to observe how colleagues use AI tools in their daily workflows.
According to Fung, developers often use AI systems differently, creating opportunities for teams to learn from one another when working side by side.“Everybody uses Claude Cowork.
Everybody uses a flow so differently.
When we do pairwise programming, we actually learn so much from each other,” Fung said.
The company found that collaborative coding sessions helped engineers exchange techniques and approaches that may not have been discovered while working alone with AI agents.Claude Code has gained significant adoption among software developers.
A survey conducted by Business Insider involving more than two dozen founders and venture capitalists found that Claude Code was widely used within startups, particularly for complex engineering tasks.The rise of AI-assisted software development has also contributed to the growth of “vibecoding,” where users rely on natural-language prompts to build software.
The trend has enabled some non-technical founders to create custom applications without hiring traditional engineering teams, contributing to the emergence of solo business operators.Despite these changes, Fung said collaboration remains important for engineering teams.
She noted that observing how others interact with AI tools continues to provide valuable learning opportunities.“Every time I watch someone work, I learn something myself as well,” she added.Get the latest technology news and updates.
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