How Anthropic’s product team moves faster than anyone else | Cat Wu (Head of Product, Claude Code)

Cat Wu is Head of Product for Claude Code and Cowork at Anthropic, building one of the most important AI products of this generation. Before joining Anthropic, Cat spent years as an engineer and briefly worked in VC. Today, she’s interviewing hundreds of product managers who are trying to break into AI—and seeing firsthand what separates those who thrive from those who fall behind. Listen on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts How Anthropic’s shipping cadence went from months to weeks to days The emerging skills PMs need to develop right now Why you need to build products that don’t yet fully work, so you’re ready when the next model closes the gap Cat’s most underrated AI skill: asking the model to introspect on its own mistakes Why Claude’s personality is core to its success Why Anthropic’s mission alignment eliminates the friction that slows most large organizations Why “just do things” is the most important principle for working at AI-native companies WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs Vanta—Automate compliance, manage risk, and accelerate trust with AI • X: https://x.com/_catwu • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cat-wu • Newsletter: https://catwu.substack.com • Head of Claude Code: What happens after coding is solved | Boris Cherny: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/head-of-claude-code-what-happens • Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com • Assessing Claude Mythos Preview’s cybersecurity capabilities: https://red.anthropic.com/2026/mythos-preview • OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai • OpenClaw: The complete guide to building, training, and living with your personal AI agent: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/openclaw-the-complete-guide-to-building • Listen: OpenClaw: A power user’s guide to the most powerful personal AI tool since ChatGPT: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/listen-openclaw-a-power-users-guide • Dianne Na Penn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianne-na-penn • Head of Growth (Anthropic): “Claude is growing itself at this point” | Amol Avasare: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/anthropics-1b-to-19b-growth-run • Anthropic co-founder on quitting OpenAI, AGI predictions, $100M talent wars, 20% unemployment, and the nightmare scenarios keeping him up at night | Ben Mann: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/anthropic-co-founder-benjamin-mann • GIF from Pirates of the Caribbean: https://tenor.com/view/pirate-of-pirate-of-the-carribean-jack-sparrow-pirati-dei-caraibi-sad-gif-14519798 • What’s New post with Claude powerup feature: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/whats-new/2026-w14 • Claude Code: https://claude.com/product/claude-code • Terminal guide for new users: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/terminal-guide • Claude Cowork: https://www.anthropic.com/product/claude-cowork • Anthropic’s developer conference: https://claude.com/code-with-claude/san-francisco • Figma MCP: https://www.figma.com/mcp-catalog • Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com • Gong: https://www.gong.io • Slack founder: Mental models for building products people love ft. Stewart Butterfield: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/slack-founder-stewart-butterfield • Why AI evals are the hottest new skill for product builders | Hamel Husain & Shreya Shankar (creators of the #1 eval course): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/why-ai-evals-are-the-hottest-new-skill • Beyond vibe checks: A PM’s complete guide to evals: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/beyond-vibe-checks-a-pms-complete • Building eval systems that improve your AI product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-eval-systems-that-improve • Why experts writing AI evals is creating the fastest-growing companies in history | Brendan Foody (CEO of Mercor): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/experts-writing-ai-evals-brendan-foody • Judging by my tl there is a growing gap in understanding of AI capability: https://x.com/karpathy/status/2042334451611693415 • Formula 1: Drive to Survive on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80204890 • Free Solo on National Geographic: https://films.nationalgeographic.com/free-solo • Alex Honnold: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Honnold • Waymo: https://waymo.com • How Asia Works: https://www.amazon.com/How-Asia-Works-Joe-Studwell/dp/0802121322 • The Technology Trap: Capital, Labor, and Power in the Age of Automation: https://www.amazon.com/Technology-Trap-Capital-Labor-Automation/dp/0691210799 • The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories: https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Menagerie-Other-Stories/dp/148142436X Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.