&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "AI will wipe out an entire layer of managers, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky warns")
Artificial intelligence is no longer just changing how people work it could also change who gets to manage the work. Speaking on the Invest Like The Best podcast, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said one entire layer of corporate hierarchy could disappear as AI becomes more capable. According to Chesky, traditional "people managers" whose primary role is holding meetings, coordinating teams and passing information between departments may no longer have a place in many organisations.
"I don't think people managers have any value in the future," Chesky said, adding that leaders who spend most of their time in recurring one-on-one meetings are unlikely to thrive in the AI era.
AI is replacing coordination, not leadership
Chesky argued that AI can increasingly perform many of the administrative tasks that have traditionally justified middle management. Scheduling work, summarising meetings, generating reports, tracking projects and sharing information across teams are all becoming easier with AI tools.
That does not mean management itself will disappear. Instead, Chesky believes the role of a manager is changing. Future leaders will need to contribute directly to the work they oversee rather than simply supervising others. "You don't manage the people, you manage the work," he said, explaining that lawyers should analyse legal cases, engineers should build products and product leaders should stay closely involved in execution.
Tech CEOs are sending the same message
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Chesky is not alone in this view.
Earlier this week, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced the company would eliminate what he called "pure managers" during layoffs affecting about 14 per cent of employees. Armstrong said AI now enables engineers to complete projects in days that previously required weeks of teamwork. Meanwhile, Block CEO Jack Dorsey has argued there is "no need for a permanent middle management layer". His company has reorganised around three types of employees: individual contributors, directly responsible owners and "player-coaches" who both lead and build. The common message from technology leaders is that managers who only coordinate work face growing pressure, while those with technical expertise or specialist knowledge are likely to remain valuable.
Why this matters beyond Silicon Valley
The shift is already influencing businesses far beyond the technology sector. Research firm Gartner predicts that by 2026, 20 per cent of organisations will use AI to eliminate more than half of their middle-management positions. The biggest risk is expected to fall on roles centred around administration, reporting and coordination rather than direct problem-solving. For professionals, the message is becoming increasingly clear: future career growth may depend less on managing people and more on developing expertise that AI cannot easily replace. As AI becomes part of everyday business operations, companies appear to be moving towards flatter structures where managers are expected to build, solve problems and make decisions not simply oversee the people who do.
