Middle managers out; ‘player coaches’ and ‘org leads’ now steer the ship at Meta and Block, thanks to AI

Middle managers have been the target of layoffs in most companies for years. Now two important companies are moving to redefine some of these roles as outsourcing work to artificial intelligence.

Meta began giving employees of its Reality Labs unit one of three new job titles last month, according to a report by Business Insider. They are now called an “AI creator,” “pod leader,” or “organization leader,” as the company aims to become an “AI native.”

Jack Dorsey’s payments company Block is also removing the word “manager” from its hierarchy. They now become “player-coaches” and build with the team; “individual contributors” make their own decisions using artificial intelligence tools rather than waiting to be told what to do.

Reorganizing businesses

For years, businesses have reorganized themselves around disruptive technologies. The latest is artificial intelligence, and companies want to deploy dedicated middle management levels in an unfamiliar field. But Block CEO Jack Dorsey wants to eliminate entire layers of management.

But for now, Meta and Block remain in a shell where their rebranding is less dramatic because some of the new roles still require human oversight and support.

Hierarchy eliminated — The ultimate goal

The restructurings Meta and Block are seeing date back to a years-long trend in which companies eliminated middle management ranks, claiming to increase speed and efficiency. It should be noted that most layoffs of late have targeted middle-level managers who receive a decent amount of money in salary.

Companies posted 12.3% fewer mid-level manager jobs in 2025 compared to 2024, according to job site Indeed. There was also a decrease in overall listings during this period.

During its earnings call in January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company was investing in more AI tools to make the structure flatter.

“We are starting to see that projects that used to require large teams are now being accomplished by a single, highly skilled person,” he said.

How is artificial intelligence acting as an important influencer?

To achieve the goal of a hierarchical organization, companies see artificial intelligence as the main driving force. For example, organizational leaders at Meta’s Reality Labs unit manage reviews and promotions with the support of artificial intelligence systems, Business Insider previously reported.

Last Tuesday, Jack Dorsey and Sequoia partner Roelof Botha unveiled their shared vision in a blog post talking about a future without hierarchy.

“There is no need for a permanent layer of middle management,” they wrote. “Everything else the old hierarchy does is coordinated by the system.”

Dorsey restated his vision in a podcast released on Thursday. Speaking on an episode of Sequoia Capital’s “Long Strange Trip” podcast, the Twitter founder said his goal this year is to reduce the number of layers between himself and his new company Block’s 6,000 employees to two or three.

While there are currently about five layers, Dorsey said the “ideal situation” would be for Block to have no layers at all. “Everyone in the company reports to me,” the CEO said.