AI makes the leadership gap wider, not narrower

2026-07-22 · 8 minute read

Tools that write more code faster do not close the gap between engineers and leaders. They inflate it. The scarce work becomes choosing, sequencing, explaining, and developing people who can use the tools without confusing velocity for value.

If your organization responds to AI by demanding more tickets, you will produce more of the wrong thing. If you respond by raising the altitude of technical leaders — bets, customers, taste, ethics — you might get a company that knows what to build.

The ELBTG verbs do not change. The cost of skipping them does.

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