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Do we still need team managers in the age of AI?

AI is reshaping software development at remarkable speed, and with it, roles, expectations, and organizational structures.

Gartner predicts that by the end of 2026, 1 in 5 organizations will make the mistake of cutting more than half of their middle management roles (via Fortune): https://t.ly/RqCkj

For many teams, this shift arrives alongside budget pressure, restructuring, and hard questions about what their work will look like next.

The real challenge

It’s tempting to treat all this as a technology problem: deploy the right models, automate more tasks, measure the productivity gains.

But the hardest part is still the human part.

A team can generate more code and lose touch with the customer. It can ship faster and still solve the wrong problem. It can look productive while people quietly stop challenging assumptions, voicing concerns, or seeing how their work creates real value.

That’s why, as AI gets more capable, good leadership matters more, not less.

The questions good leaders ask

In uncertain times, a good tech leader keeps the team grounded in reality:

• What real customer or business problem are we solving?
• What evidence do we have that it matters?
• Where does AI improve speed or quality, and where might it create a false sense of confidence?
• Which decisions still require human judgment, accountability, and context?
• What do we know about the restructuring, what don’t we know yet, and when will we provide the next update?
• How do we protect honest disagreement, learning, and professional dignity while making tough calls?

What the leader’s job really is

A leader’s job isn’t to promise certainty where none exists. It’s to cut unnecessary confusion, shield the team from as much of the uncertainty and business turbulence as possible, enable good decisions, and help people act boldly and effectively in the right direction.

It’s also to help the team stay human.

That means having real conversations, not just watching a metrics dashboard. Recognizing and easing the anxiety behind resistance, without lowering the bar. Treating the people affected by change with understanding and respect.

And remembering that trust, curiosity, courage, and care aren’t “soft” extras. They’re part of the operating system of any team that has to adapt.

Building that capacity

Telerik Academy Upskill Tech Leadership helps experienced tech professionals build that broader leadership capacity:

• Connecting decisions across people, technology, product, and business
• Communicating under uncertainty
• Building trust and managing conflict
• Delegating responsibly
• Keeping teams focused on work that creates real value

Because the future of software engineering won’t need fewer leaders who understand people. It will need better ones. Apply for Upskill Tech Leadership