A founder I know just replaced her entire middle management layer with a stack of AI copilots, project trackers, and decision-making assistants. Her team shrank, but her company’s output doubled. Fewer daily check-ins, more trust — and a radical shift in what ‘management’ even means.

Watching this, I realized something we rarely say out loud: AI isn’t just changing what jobs look like — it’s rewriting how teams work, how leaders lead, and what it actually means to ‘coordinate’ effort. When every contributor has instant access to the smartest assistant on earth, the old logic of org charts, status updates, and even ‘being a manager’ gets weird fast.

The leaders who’ll thrive won’t be the best at monitoring or optimizing workflows — they’ll be the ones who ask better questions, navigate ambiguity, and architect trust when bots handle the busywork.

If the basics are automated, leadership shifts from authority to meaning. Less shepherding, more sense-making.

This is the hardest part: letting go of what made us effective yesterday, in exchange for inventing roles we can barely describe today.

Worth thinking about: in the AI era, will you be needed for decisions — or for the wisdom to know which ones still matter? Read More