Anthropic is putting money behind what it calls one of the most pressing issues in AI implementation: talent. On Friday, Oct. 2, the company launched Claude Frontier Academy, backed by a $100 million commitment, with a goal of training 10,000 Frontier Deployed Engineers by the end of 2027. Anthropic says engineers who can make AI work inside a real business have become the hardest talent to find.
The first program, the Frontier Deployed Engineer Residency, is modeled on medical training. Engineers start with an in-person course taught by Anthropic engineers and licensed instructors, working through a simulated enterprise deployment from picking the use case through security review to handover, then a graded practical on a new scenario. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, one of the first participants, says its initial group of 20 engineers starts with a four-day intensive.
Those who pass earn a Claude Resident Engineer badge and move into a 12-week residency, leading a real Claude project at their own company with support from Anthropic engineers. A second assessment awards the Claude Frontier Deployed Engineer badge. Anthropic expects the first of those in early 2027.
Entry is by nomination. Companies put forward hands-on software engineers with a record of building with large language models, each arriving with a named Claude project; prior experience building AI agents is not required. The first intakes run in San Francisco, New York and London in October and November, with engineers from Accenture, Bain, Capgemini, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Deloitte, McKinsey, Morgan Stanley and Novo Nordisk among the first.
The Academy builds on Anthropic's existing training push: the company says professionals at 46,000 firms have earned more than 175,000 Claude certifications, and nearly 4,000 people have completed its Basecamp program. Still unknown: how the $100 million will be spent and whether participating companies pay for places.