Posts tagged management.
AI is collapsing the coordination work that supported middle-management layers. The development function did not disappear with it, and organizations need to replace it deliberately.
Managing AI coding agents, and agents that direct other agents, is structurally the same job as being an engineering manager, a director, a VP, or a CEO. You give high-level direction to autonomous workers, and you operate through systems and outcomes instead of inspecting every artifact.
Most architecture discussions devolve into abstract debates about microservices, monoliths, and database choices. After years of explaining these concepts to engineers and product leaders, I've found that thinking about software architecture like a physical
In cycling, the pain doesn't decrease as you get better. You just get faster.
Every engineering leader has lived this nightmare: two days from deadline, the team discovers the core architectural assumption doesn't work, the third-party API is missing critical functionality, or the algorithm can't handle production scale.
Through managing teams across multiple clients, I've observed that engineering productivity isn't just about technical skills. It's about recognizing that different engineers thrive under different working conditions.