I love the Grandfather story. We have shared nostalgia! Mine was a radio engineer who pushed me towards computers.
Agree with you on EMs remaining important. As you say, developing those core skills - communication, conflict resolution, etc. - is more important than ever.
Facebook and other large orgs can withstand failed experiments and easily restructure, smaller businesses cannot.
The information routing point is the right reframe. The people calling management obsolete are confusing one function of the role with the whole role. What they're really saying is AI replaces the status-update layer. Fine. The alignment, conflict resolution, and accountability layers are getting harder, not easier, as execution speeds up.
I agree that engineering management is evolving, not disappearing. In my experience, the most effective managers are becoming more important precisely because AI increases the need for clear direction, strong judgment, and deliberate team alignment. The real challenge isn’t whether managers still matter, but how we redefine the role so it stays focused on outcomes, people, and healthy delivery systems rather than administrative overhead.
I too don't think engineering/tech management is going anywhere. AI adds a new flavor to it, but foundationally, people often need a leader to cohesively work together.
I love the Grandfather story. We have shared nostalgia! Mine was a radio engineer who pushed me towards computers.
Agree with you on EMs remaining important. As you say, developing those core skills - communication, conflict resolution, etc. - is more important than ever.
Facebook and other large orgs can withstand failed experiments and easily restructure, smaller businesses cannot.
Yes, they can. Many still try to copy them, although they are 50 people company. I bit tired of this nonsense.
Childhood memories are indeed precious. It was a different world. From the pace of change perspective, one year now feels like three back then.
The information routing point is the right reframe. The people calling management obsolete are confusing one function of the role with the whole role. What they're really saying is AI replaces the status-update layer. Fine. The alignment, conflict resolution, and accountability layers are getting harder, not easier, as execution speeds up.
I agree that engineering management is evolving, not disappearing. In my experience, the most effective managers are becoming more important precisely because AI increases the need for clear direction, strong judgment, and deliberate team alignment. The real challenge isn’t whether managers still matter, but how we redefine the role so it stays focused on outcomes, people, and healthy delivery systems rather than administrative overhead.
I think it has always been the structure of good management: outcomes and team health, and balancing the two.
When I think about it, if we automate the mundane tasks that keep managers busy, these are the things that are left.
Hiding behind “being busy” gets harder.
And that is what we try to automate, doing reports, recurring tasks, things that don't require much though but take a lot of time from us.
We need to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I think we will come sooner or later to the point of equilibrium. We just need to be patient. I believe in common sense.
We need to have patience. I do also think we will find a balance in all. We need to keep on trying.
I too don't think engineering/tech management is going anywhere. AI adds a new flavor to it, but foundationally, people often need a leader to cohesively work together.
Totally. The nature of work hasn’t changed. To accomplish something significant, people still need to work in groups.
On the other hand we can only speculate what the future bringe. Maybe we will have AGI tomorrow, and all will turn upside down.
It could happen, but I personally think we are a ways off from total AGI taking over.
I agree it is unlikely. But the only thing I know is that tomorrow is unknown. Metaphorical tomorrow, but sometimes literal.