Leadership in Tech
Leadership in Tech
#322 – June 21, 2026
teams will get smaller and the manager who only coordinates will struggle
The anatomy of an AI-native organization
12 minutes by Ajey Gore
For decades, most tech roles were really just translation: turning business goals into specs, specs into tickets, tickets into code. AI has made that translation nearly free. What survives is judgment at both ends: defining why something should be built, and deciding what good looks like. Teams will get smaller, the manager who only coordinates will struggle to justify their seat, and engineers who can design quality systems will matter more than ever.
[Webinar] 8 levels of context maturity in AI-native engineering
sponsored by Unblocked
AI shows up in 60% of engineering work. Only about a fifth of it can be handed off without someone babysitting the output. That’s because agents are still missing the context you have. Join live June 24 (FREE) to find out how teams pulling ahead are using a context layer to level up.
Stress comes from within
7 minutes by Yew Jin Lim
Starting a company brings unexpected stress, not from the workload but from losing the mental map built over years in familiar environments. The brain constantly predicts what comes next, and a startup breaks those predictions constantly, triggering small alarms that stack up. Yew points out useful coping strategies include treating stress as new information, keeping your identity broader than just your work, and moving your body when thinking alone fails. Knowing this helps, but actually doing it remains a daily practice.
Don't stack weaknesses
2 minutes by Stay SaaSy
Great teams are built by pairing skills that cover each other's gaps. Most leaders excel in some areas but struggle in others, and the real problem starts when a leader and their direct reports share the same weaknesses. Leaders often hire people like themselves without realizing it, leaving entire organizations blind to critical gaps. Honestly ranking yourself on key skills like strategy, operations, and technical knowledge, then hiring to fill the gaps, is the fix.
How do I build a powerful internal network?
19 minutes by Andi Roberts
In matrix organisations, formal authority matters less than your network. Research shows a small number of well-connected people drive most collaboration, and leaders who bridge disconnected groups consistently outperform those with larger but more uniform networks. Weak ties to distant contacts often matter more than strong ones, since they carry fresh information your inner circle never sees. Andi suggests to build relationships before you need them, invest in others without keeping score, and treat network building as a core leadership discipline.
Why is meta destroying its engineering organization?
26 minutes by Gergely Orosz
Meta built a strong engineering culture over 20 years, but recently dismantled much of it in weeks. Leadership forced thousands of engineers into AI data labeling, rolled out invasive keystroke tracking, and announced layoffs despite record profits. This triggered a serious Instagram security breach, widespread staff frustration, and a wave of engineers looking to leave. The rush to build a competitive AI model seems to have blinded leadership to the damage being done to the core business.
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