As AI changes how companies work and hire, Daniela Amodei, co-founder and president of Anthropic, says people skills now carry more weight than pure technical ability. She argues that communication, empathy, and curiosity define strong candidates in an AI-first workplace.
In an interview with ABC News, Amodei pushed back on fears that AI will replace humans at scale. “The number of jobs that AI could do without help from people is vanishingly small,” she said. As AI grows more capable, she added, human qualities become more valuable, not less.
Amodei explained how this view shapes hiring at Anthropic. “When we look to hire people at Anthropic today, we look for people who are great communicators, who have excellent EQ and people skills, who are kind and compassionate and curious and want to help other people,” she said. The company, she noted, looks beyond coding credentials to find collaborators who can work well with intelligent tools.
Humans and AI working together
Amodei believes AI will improve work rather than erase it. “Humans plus AI together actually create more meaningful work, more challenging work, more interesting work, high-productivity jobs,” she told ABC News. She also said AI can widen access to opportunity by helping people without deep technical training handle complex tasks with support from smart systems.
That message arrived as markets reacted to Anthropic’s latest product release. The company recently introduced enterprise tools under its Claude Cowork platform, including plug-ins for legal, finance, marketing, and sales workflows. One legal-focused plug-in that reviews contracts and checks compliance sparked a sharp sell-off in software stocks, reflecting investor concern that AI may replace entire categories.
Amodei acknowledged that skills like coding may matter less over time. Still, she stressed that this shift raises the importance of judgement, collaboration, and emotional intelligence. In her view, AI changes the job, not the need for people who can think, communicate, and care.
