The creator of Anthropic’s Claude Code, Boris Cherny, has revealed that he prioritizes hiring engineers who pursue “side quests”—personal projects outside of work—such as brewing kombucha or building small tech experiments. Speaking on “The Peterman Pod,” Cherny explained that these weekend endeavors are a sign of curiosity, creativity, and a well-rounded mindset. “When I hire engineers, this is definitely something I look for,” Cherny said. “I’m looking for people who are generalists with cool weekend projects—someone who’s really into making kombucha, for example.” He believes such hobbies reflect a deeper passion for learning and problem-solving, qualities he values highly in team members. Cherny, now a key leader at Anthropic and the architect behind Claude Code, credits much of his own growth to the side projects he pursued early in his career. He emphasized that he enjoys working with people who aren’t confined to narrow roles but instead bring diverse interests and skills to the table. He advocates for generalists—engineers who can code, contribute to product design, and engage with user feedback. At Anthropic, this mindset is embedded across teams: project managers code, data scientists write code, and user researchers often dabble in development. “This is how we recruit for all functions now,” Cherny said. This shift toward generalization is not unique to Anthropic. Figma CEO Dylan Field has also noted that AI is blurring traditional job boundaries, leading to a new breed of “product builders” who can handle multiple roles. Beyond skills and versatility, Anthropic has also adjusted how it evaluates candidates. In May, the company asked applicants to avoid using AI in their written responses to assess their raw communication abilities. However, by July, that policy changed—candidates were allowed to use Claude to help craft their answers, reflecting a more practical approach to AI integration. Despite the company’s innovative culture, hiring remains selective. In May, Anthropic’s Chief People Officer Mike Krieger shared on “Hard Fork” that the company is focused on experienced engineers and has “some hesitancy” about hiring entry-level talent. For Cherny, the preference for generalists and side projects stems from his own journey. Having worked at startups since age 18, he learned to wear many hats—something he sees as lost in larger corporations where roles become rigid and siloed. “At big companies, you get forced into this particular swim lane,” he said. “It’s just so artificial.”