According to Latent Space, Felix Reiseberg, described as a hiring manager at Anthropic, published a piece stating he has retired the traditional coding interview. In quoted excerpts, Reiseberg wrote: "This month, I laid the traditional coding interview to rest… I stopped asking candidates to do them." He argued that "There's no more point in giving you a little React challenge than there is in quizzing people about assembly; Claude is now better at both," and that the company's "most impactful builders are successful regardless of how good they are at these tests." His advice to junior engineers, summarized under the phrase "Hunger beats tenure," includes choosing business impact over backlog, pursuing an ambitious idea, building a working prototype over a weekend rather than going through the usual PRD and buy-in process, focusing on one good idea rather than cramming several, and using a newcomer's perspective and empathy for users. Reiseberg cited a 2011 Patrick McKenzie line that "engineers are hired to create business value, not to program things." The item appeared in a Latent Space AI News briefing alongside other releases. The piece reflects one hiring manager's stated approach; it is not described as an official companywide Anthropic hiring policy.
- Felix Reiseberg, described as an Anthropic hiring manager, wrote that he stopped using traditional coding interviews.
- He argued Claude now outperforms candidates on challenges like React tests, making them less useful screens.
- His advice to juniors centers on business impact and building a working prototype over a weekend.
- Reported by Latent Space; presented as his personal approach, not a stated companywide policy.
What it means for you
One hiring manager at an AI company dropped coding tests because the tools now handle the mechanical parts of the job. For most organizations the lesson isn't about interviews — it's the underlying point: if a tool can do a task, the value shifts to judgment, business impact, and knowing what to build. That's a hint about where to focus people, not an instruction to change your hiring tomorrow.
Try this
Pick one role on your team and ask a simple question: how much of what we test or hire for is mechanical execution a tool can now help with, versus judgment about what actually moves the business? Write down the answer before you change any process.
Who should care
Owners and managers who hire for roles involving software, content, or other work AI tools increasingly assist — and anyone writing job descriptions or interview rubrics.
Skip this if
You're not hiring soon, or your roles don't involve work that AI tools touch. This is one person's opinion, not a standard you need to adopt.
Sources: Latent Space — read the original