OpenAI engineer quits to chase filmmaking, citing AI coding fatigue

Kasra Kyanzadeh, a former engineer at OpenAI, entered the company’s Codex desktop project in June seeking a community of smart peers. Within weeks he grew weary of the solitary workflow that AI agents imposed, describing the experience as both lonely and mentally draining. He highlighted how AI tools now allow a single person to own entire features, reducing teamwork and increasing the burden of code review.

After completing his current assignment, Kyanzadeh used his financial cushion to quit and follow a long-standing interest in filmmaking. While he praised OpenAI’s internal culture, he felt the new AI-centric development model no longer offered fulfilling work. His experience echoes comments from other engineers, such as Anthropic leader Fiona Fung, who also note increased isolation among programmers using AI agents.