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 at most companies for years. Now, two marquee firms are on their way to redefine some of these roles as they pass on the work to AI.

Last month, Meta began assigning its Reality Labs unit employees one of three new job titles, according to Business Insider. They are now either called “AI builder,” “pod lead,” or “org lead,” as the company aims to become “AI-native.”

Jack Dorsey's payments company Block is also doing away with the word “manager” from its hierarchy. They are now becoming “player-coaches” and build together with the team, while “individual contributors” use AI tools to make their own decisions, rather than waiting to be told what to do.

Reorganising businesses

For years, businesses have reorganised themselves around disruptive technologies. The latest one is AI, with companies looking to dissolve dedicated middle management levels in an unconventional pitch. Yet, Block CEO Jack Dorsey wants to eliminate all managerial layers.

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

Hierarchy eliminated — the ultimate goal

The reorganisations that Meta and Block are seeing can be traced back to a years-long trend of companies removing their middle managerial ranks to allegedly increase speed and efficiency. It must be noted that most layoffs of late have targeted middle managers who earn a fair amount of salary.

According to job site Indeed, companies in 2025 advertised 12.3% fewer middle-manager jobs than in 2024. The overall listings also declined during this period.

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

“We are starting to see projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person,” he said.

How AI acts as a key driver

To achieve the goal of a hierarchy-less organisation, companies consider AI as a key driver. For example, Meta's org leads of its Reality Labs unit handle reviews and promotions with support from AI systems, Business Insider had earlier reported.

Last Tuesday, Jack Dorsey and Sequoia partner Roelof Botha shared their vision for a future with no hierarchy in a blog post.

“There is no need for a permanent middle management layer,” they wrote. “Everything else the old hierarchy did, the system coordinates.”

Dorsey has reiterated his vision in a podcast released Thursday. In an episode of Sequoia Capital's Long Strange Trip podcast, the Twitter founder said his goal this year is to cut the number of layers between himself and Block's 6,000 employees to just two or three.

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