“By optimizing costs, companies are cleaning up the structure in which future leaders are formed”. CPO Swarmer spoke about the danger of reducing middlemen due to AI

In his LinkedIn post, a Swarmer representative drew attention to Gartner analysts' forecasts, according to which about 20% of organizations will use artificial intelligence to simplify their structure, which will lead to a reduction in more than half of middle positions.

According to Mykhailo Nestor, the work of a middle manager is the most difficult to measure with metrics. The specialist writes the code, the management forms the strategy, and this is easy to track. However, the activities of a middle manager lie beyond the standard dashboards: they consist of coordination, communication between top management and the team, relieving anxiety, and aligning expectations.

When AI takes over routine tasks like planning and reporting, managers may feel like the entire middle level is redundant. However, this approach ignores an important stage in professional development that anthropologists call the «rite of passage.»

«The role of middle manager has historically been this space of transition. A person is responsible for others for the first time, makes mistakes on a small scale, and gradually becomes a leader,» explains CPO Swarmer.

Mass layoffs in the middle management team break down mentorship lines, and juniors and specialists lose opportunities for development. At the same time, managers who remain in the company are under a double burden.

«A paradox arises: by optimizing costs today, companies are eliminating the structure in which future leaders are generally formed. The effect is delayed — it will manifest itself in two or three years, when the question arises of who to put in charge of managing people,» says Nestor.

To avoid long-term crises when integrating AI, CPO Swarmer suggests that company leaders follow a few practical rules.

1. Clearly separate the routine and essence of the manager’s role. Artificial intelligence is capable of automating reporting and monitoring, but before automating, it is necessary to clearly define the value of the role beyond metrics.
2. Companies need to maintain alternative paths to leadership through temporary project lead roles, mentoring, or internal staff rotations.
3. Have an honest dialogue with the team, as attempts to explain mass layoffs with vague phrases about «transformation» and «efficiency» only reduce the level of trust.

«Technologies do not require cuts in themselves — this is our management decision. It should be made, seeing not only today’s savings, but also what we are saving for the future in terms of people,» Mykhailo Nestor concluded.

Recall that in March, Nestor announced that he was leaving Kyivstar after seven years as Chief Product Officer. Later, it became known that he had joined one of the most famous Ukrainian defense startups, Swarmer, as a CPO.

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