Most middle management is coordination. Collect the numbers, roll them up, report them. Agents can do that now.
Most middle management is coordination. Collect the numbers, roll them up, report them. Agents can do that now.
HP's Faisal Masud says those layers of management are not that necessary anymore. Manifest CEO Dan Mishin runs his company with no middle management at all: one AI engineer per lawyer, and agents that keep teams from solving the same problem twice. In family law, Matt Symes has taken firms from $350,000 to $550,000 per lead lawyer to well over $1 million per pod, with fewer paralegal and admin hours behind each one. And when the team runs without the owner, that is disorienting.
The firm still needs its owner. AI changes the role. It doesn't change the work only leadership can do: culture and direction.
Sources: Faisal Masud (HP), Product School, "HP President on Replacing Middle Management and Cutting Tickets 40% with AI Agents," Sep 30, 2026. Dan Mishin (Manifest), The Modern People Leader, "335 - Why This CEO Says High Output Management No Longer Works in the AI Era," Oct 2, 2026. Matt Symes, Great Practice. Great Life., "AI Is Changing Roles Inside Your Law Firm with Matt Symes, Ep 203," Sep 28, 2026. The Law Firm Owner Podcast, "#381: Lost at Sea: When Your Firm No Longer Needs You the Same Way," Sep 29, 2026.