We're used to splitting development into frontend, backend, design, and analytics. But Boris Cherny of Anthropic (the creator of Claude Code) is convinced that as these areas merge, rigid job titles are giving way to five archetypal roles.
The five roles
1. Prototyper — generates tons of ideas and hypotheses, quickly assembles the first concepts.
2. Builder — takes a prototype and turns it into a fault-tolerant, production-grade product.
3. Sweeper — optimizes performance, cleans up UI and code, removes clutter, and simplifies the system.
4. Grower — iterates on the product based on feedback and metrics, dialing in Product-Market Fit.
5. Maintainer — owns security, stability, and efficiency as a mature system scales.
The takeaways
- **Boundaries are blurring.** A designer can be a great prototyper, an engineer a strong sweeper. Strong specialists already cover 2–3 roles.
- **The mix depends on the product stage.** Pre-PMF leans on roles 1+2+3; the growth phase on 2+3+4 plus a bit of 5; maturity shifts the focus to 3+4+5 plus a bit of 2.
Neural nets gradually take over the routine, and people get the most interesting part — driving products at a new level.