Leaving Google, joining Anthropic

Views are my own; I don’t speak for any employer.

Google has been my first, only and dream job out of college. I never seriously imagined life outside it. I’ve learnt a lot from my friends and coworkers at Google–how to think and write systematically, handle pressure with grace and trust my team. For all of this, I’m immensely grateful.

I’m also ready for change. In early 2023, as it became clear to me that the world would be changed significantly by AI, I started to view our increasingly uncertain future with awe and trepidation. AI has the potential for both unprecedented risks and benefits. While the mundane utility AI provides is already enormous today, I believe that truly transformational and potentially even catastrophic things may be on the horizon.

A key reason why I’m joining Anthropic is my belief that I can meaningfully advance our mission of bringing the benefits of AI to all and minimizing the risks of these powerful entities. I’ve worked on security and identity for the past seven years, and want to be in a place where the work I do is mission-critical to the company. This is the case for Anthropic, where security is part of the Responsible Scaling Policy.

Beyond just the mission, the second key reason is that I want to be at a place where agency is highly valued. Today’s Google, while still a wonderful place to work, is a behemoth of a company. At this scale, the processes and guardrails are necessary for the system but exhausting for individuals. Because of these things, acting with autonomy felt increasingly unrewarding to me.

Another aspect of my decision is for personal growth. Google has the best tooling and infrastructure in the world (or so I’m told). I’ve certainly learnt a lot about how to build and maintain systems right, at scale. Conversely, I’ve never worked in a fast-growing startup, and want to see if I can help create value and build rare, valuable skills in a fast-moving environment.

Lastly, I value the ability to live a few months (if not years) in the future. While I may not be a True Believer in the idea that AGI will come within the next five years, I at least believe that many, if not all, fields of knowledge work will look fundamentally different from what they used to look like. Anthropic is at the forefront of many of these transformational uses of AI, and working here lets me experience firsthand many of these transformational uses¹.

Anthropic is growing quickly, and I’m excited to join, learn and make an impact.

I’ll be working from the Seattle office, so please say hi!