The GTM Engineer Hiring Kit: How to Hire Builders in the Era of Claude Code

Introduction

Stop Hiring Button-Clickers.

For the last two years, the “modern” GTM hire was someone who knew how to use Clay. You paid them a salary, and then you paid Clay $50,000 a year to let them do their job.

On January 12th, 2026, that era ended.

With the release of Claude Cowork, the barrier to entry for “real” engineering collapsed. We have entered …