The changes were detailed in a company announcement released on January 14. As part of this initiative, Mike Krieger, co-founder of Instagram and Anthropic’s Chief Product Officer (CPO) for the last two years, will transition from his C-suite role to co-lead Labs with Ben Mann, who is the company’s product engineering lead, according to Anthropic.
Krieger will report directly to Anthropic President Daniela Amodei and assume the title of member of technical staff, as reported by The Verge.
The AI safety and research firm emphasized that Labs will be pivotal in nurturing experimental products developed at the cutting edge of its Claude models’ capabilities. This unit will concentrate on early-stage exploration, testing unrefined tools with selected users, and scaling successful concepts into dependable products, according to the company’s statement.
“The rapid progression in AI necessitates a fresh approach to our building strategies, organizational structure, and areas of focus. Labs provides us with the freedom to innovate and explore,” Amodei stated.
Product leadership transition
Ami Vora, who joined Anthropic in late 2025, will take charge of the Product organization. She will collaborate closely with Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Rahul Patil to enhance Claude-related products for both enterprise and consumer applications, as stated by the company.
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Anthropic pointed out that this dual-track framework is intended to balance innovation with reliability. This strategy has successfully led to products like Claude Code and the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which the company claims has achieved nearly 100 million monthly downloads.
Krieger remarked that this decision signifies a crucial turning point for the industry.
“We’ve reached a pivotal moment in AI—model capabilities are advancing so quickly that the opportunity to influence their application is now. That’s why I’m returning to a hands-on role, stepping away from my position as CPO to join our Labs team,” Krieger said, according to The Verge.
“I’m eager to be at the forefront, creating products that leverage AI to tackle the most challenging global issues. I’m thrilled to pass the baton to Ami as she guides the team in scaling Claude,” he added.
