“If you are a 'manager', here’s the bitter truth,” Anupam Mittal says AI is coming for middle management

In a recent post on LinkedIn, entrepreneur Anupam Mittal claimed that AI would replace the managers first.

“If you are a 'manager', here’s the bitter truth,” he said. “AI isn’t coming for the coders first. It’s coming for middle management.”

The Shark Tank India judge explained that earlier, seniority was a proxy for knowing the process and coordinating work.

“You got paid for knowing who to call and how to get things done,” Mittal said. “That knowledge premium is now zero.”

The Shaadi.com founder further remarked that the VP of Operations, who does not actually operate anything, is an “endangered species”.

“The future, in my view, belongs to the ‘Individual Contributor Plus’, claimed Anupam Mittal. “People who can build, code, create, align or sell - using AI to do the work of a 20-person team."

Mittal admitted that AI is not the answer to everything; however, it is excellent at non-deterministic workflows and unstructured data, where once managers excelled.

“If your job is mostly coordination, with no measurable output, you’re overhead,” he said. “And in a high-interest-rate world, overhead gets cut.”

While concluding the post, Anupam Mittal advised managers to build, and not just manage. 

“Question default thinking, synthesise fast, separate signal from noise, and turn it into judgment,” he said.

Also read: India to unveil DRDO’s long-range hypersonic anti-ship missile at 77th Republic Day parade (startuppedia.in)

Netizens respond

The internet community has engaged with Anupam Mittal's post, with many people supporting his views.

“Hard truth—and honestly, it feels very real. AI is flattening coordination fast, which means “knowing the process” isn’t much of a shield anymore,” a user commented.

“Managers always hate us for saying the truth. Very well said people who can actively use Ai to transform will not get replaced,” said another user.

Another person remarked, “Exactly! in the AI era, impact > coordination. Build, create, and deliver, or risk becoming overhead.”

“AI is not replacing real managers,” wrote another user. “Good managers: Make judgment calls, handle conflict, coach people,” he added.

Also read: L’Oréal to set up its first global tech hub in Hyderabad with Rs 3,500 crore investment, to house 2,000 techies (startuppedia.in)