Engineering Managers are doomed!
Are they, though?
A few weeks ago, I went to the LDX3 London conference (read my Main Takeaways) and heard a few things about the future of Engineering Managers. Spoiler alert: it’s not super optimistic!
The context
People are saying that because of increasing automation and the productivity gains the AI provides, the role is being reshaped. I think it makes sense, and a few things can be automated:
Information gathering and reporting (e.g., pulling data from JIRA and GitHub, summaries of team activity)
Basic technical triage (e.g., identifying the root cause of common system errors, PR reviews)
Standardised feedback and documentation (e.g., document templates, draft documents)
Overall, for these tasks, I think there is a shift from writing to editing.
At the conference, I identified two main themes:
EMs are becoming builders (more hands-on)
Organisational structures are flattening (and EMs, as we know them, are beginning to disappear).
Resources:
My manager's view
One of the reasons I became an Engineering Manager was to manage people, make their lives easier, remove the blockers, help them grow (as professionals and individuals) and support them via mentoring and coaching.
This takes a decent chunk of my time, and I do not think AI can do that.
I believe AI should help managers to shift from managing processes to becoming people and strategy leaders. If I use my experience as an example, I often struggle to find the time to focus on the vision and the strategy for my team. The main excuse is that I am too busy dealing with daily operational tasks. So I hope AI will help me free up some time so I am able to be more strategic.
I truly believe that removing some level of management will badly impact line management and lead to bored engineers and burnout. Ultimately, all of this would lead to a lack of productivity and a drop in quality.
Also, it doesn’t sound realistic to remove up to 3 levels of management (see The Great Flattening) and expect it to go well. In some companies, these middle management layers are what protect the organisation from chaos.
So I still see the glass half full and think (engineering) managers will be around for a while. That being said, it would be naive to think I will never be impacted. If you are a manager, you need to start delegating administrative tasks to AI tools and focus on developing talent and shaping strategy.
=> Evolve your leadership style to focus on the human-centric parts of your role. That is what makes the difference between you and an AI.
If you're looking for more practical resources on engineering leadership and management strategies, feel free to browse my collection: