Re:Ask HN: Why don't LLMs replace bosses instead of engineers?
by tymerry on Tuesday August 12, 2025 @05:36AM
(#44874212)
*The transition is easier/possible*
In the short term AI's perceived benefit is making existing people more efficient. Engineers being more efficient means need for LESS engineers. Downsizing 100 ICs to 90 is lower risk then it is to scale a team of 1 down to 0 (or even a fractional CEO).
If you believe AI predictions to be directionally accurate then we can expect/observe that managers will start gaining more responsibilities/tasks as their efficiency goes up. A place to test this hypothesis would be management consulting companies. If we are seeing the big 3 make layoffs and decreased revenue. I think consulting companies are a valid proxy for this idea because they act as buffer capacity for the work you describe as CEO work.
In the short term AI's perceived benefit is making existing people more efficient. Engineers being more efficient means need for LESS engineers. Downsizing 100 ICs to 90 is lower risk then it is to scale a team of 1 down to 0 (or even a fractional CEO).
If you believe AI predictions to be directionally accurate then we can expect/observe that managers will start gaining more responsibilities/tasks as their efficiency goes up. A place to test this hypothesis would be management consulting companies. If we are seeing the big 3 make layoffs and decreased revenue. I think consulting companies are a valid proxy for this idea because they act as buffer capacity for the work you describe as CEO work.