Boris Cherny: Claude Code & the Future of Engineering | Acquired Unplugged

Claude Cowork grew out of people using a coding tool for other kinds of work, according to Claude Code creator Boris Cherny. In this interview, Cherny recalls Anthropic data scientists learning the terminal setup so they could use Claude Code for analysis. That behavior suggested demand for the same capabilities through a more accessible interface.

Cherny also explains why access to local files mattered when the team explored product designs. Having to drag a document into a browser added enough friction to make that approach feel wrong. The account frames Cowork's product problem as making an existing ability easier to use in everyday work, including work that starts with files on a person's computer.

“I have loops that are running. They're the ones that are prompting Claude and kind of figuring out what to do. My job is to write loops.”

Boris Cherny

“In November I uninstalled my ID because I wasn't using it.”

Boris Cherny

“So if you're working on a project and you're like this feels like it needs like four engineers, put two engineers on it and give them a bunch of tokens and have them figure out how to do it.”

Boris Cherny

“fundamentally you have to study it in the wild to see what it does once it's safe in all these other ways”

Boris Cherny

“I think the final thing that we're going to be teaching the model is values and how to be, you know, the the way that we teach our kids how to be good people.”

Boris Cherny