Claude Code isn’t just another coding assistant. It’s a signal.
When you watch a senior developer using Claude Code—not fighting it, but collaborating with it—you see something shift. The conversation isn’t “write this function for me.” It’s more like pair programming with someone who has read every codebase on GitHub.
Why this matters for the future of work:
The traditional mental model of AI tools was: “automate the boring stuff.” But Claude Code suggests something more profound. It’s not automating away developer work—it’s amplifying developer capability.
A junior developer with Claude Code isn’t just faster. They’re able to tackle problems that would have been beyond their experience level. A senior developer isn’t just more productive. They’re able to hold larger systems in their head, because the AI is handling the detail work.
The labour market signal:
If AI amplifies rather than replaces, then the premium shifts. It’s no longer about knowing syntax or remembering APIs. It’s about:
- Knowing what to build (judgement)
- Knowing how to ask (prompt craft)
- Knowing when something’s wrong (taste)
The people who thrive won’t be the ones who resist these tools. They’ll be the ones who learn to think with them.
This is what futures thinking looks like in practice. Not predicting the future—but reading the signals and adapting before you have to.
