Member of Technical Staff

Some time ago, a tweet went viral in tech circles. Several CTOs and senior technical leaders were joining Anthropic as Members of Technical Staff: not necessarily ICs in the traditional sense, but definitely much closer to the actual building.

For years, the traditional engineering path was clear: individual contributor, staff, management, director, VP, and eventually CTO. As experience and context grew, impact usually moved to higher management layers.

AI changes part of that equation. Companies still need direction, coordination, prioritization and accountability, but organizations can probably become flatter. Shopify and Block are already pushing for fewer layers, more ownership and more AI leverage.

Individual contributor does not necessarily mean lower seniority, lower compensation or less impact. It means output is measured more directly by what you can create, influence and ship. A very senior IC with the right context can drive outcomes that previously required a team, a roadmap and several layers of coordination. That is why the CTO → IC move might make sense.