Brian Chesky warns people managers won't survive AI era as companies eliminate middle management

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky warns two types of people won't survive the AI era: 'pure people managers' and workers who resist change | Fortune

Tech leaders have spent the past few years warning workers that AI will threaten every single job, from computer programming and customer service to law and finance. But according to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, the biggest risk to professionals isn't the technology itself -- it's refusing to evolve alongside it. And in his view, there are two kinds of employees who "will not survive the age of AI." "The two types of people who will not make the shift to AI are pure people managers, and people that [sic] are rigid and don't want to change and evolve," Chesky said recently on the Invest Like The Best podcast. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has previously warned that AI could disrupt half of entry-level white-collar work, and Microsoft's AI chief, Mustafa Suleyman, has offered an even more aggressive timeline, estimating that most professional work could be replaced within 12 to 18 months. But Chesky presented a more optimistic view of the future, with the caveat that adapting is key for success. Chesky explained that as AI transforms company structures and how staffers do their jobs, bosses need to adapt to the new era. And he called out people managers in particular -- now, every higher-up will have to be a "hybrid people manager" or "manager IC" (individual contributor) to succeed. That means bosses will have to adopt a more technical approach and maintain a connection to the end product, rather than focusing solely on team leadership. They need to actually be involved in the "context" of the work to hold onto their jobs. "I don't think people managers will have any value in the future. When I mean people managers, [I mean] people that only manage people," Chesky continued. "You can't just be these managers where you're people's therapists, and you're just doing meetings, you're doing one-on-ones." The Airbnb CEO cited former Apple chief design officer Jony Ive as a prime example; the British executive struck the right balance between product design and team leadership. Chesky said it's good to build relationships with staff: have routine check-ins, and go out to dinner with direct reports. But now, simply supervising people won't cut it -- it's all about managing employees through the work. And any rank-and-file worker who believes they can evade the new technology won't have an easier time in the AI era either, Chesky predicted. Luckily, the CEO said, it's incredibly easy to master the tools and keep up with the times, so long as professionals have a "growth mindset." And the sentiment echoes a slew of tech leaders telling anxious workers that the chatbots and AI agents won't take their jobs -- but someone who leverages the software will. The CEOs who say tech-savvy workers will thrive in the AI era This isn't the first time Chesky and other tech leaders have doubled down on the importance of adapting to an AI-driven world. The Airbnb CEO has said that AI has been instrumental to the success of his $84.4 billion short-term rental company. And the billionaire founder is telling other business leaders that the tech isn't just a plus -- it's a necessity for success. "From a business standpoint, I think AI is the best thing that ever happened to Airbnb," Chesky told CNBC in an interview earlier this year. "The founder-led companies and the companies that are prepared to change and transform are the companies that are going to benefit from AI, because AI means everyone changes," he continued. "And if you don't change, you're going to be disrupted." Nvidia leader Jensen Huang has also popularized the idea that AI won't be what swipes roles from humans -- instead, it'll be tech-savvy talent that takes over jobs. And echoing Chesky, the leader of the $5.05 trillion GPU giant said that as AI spreads into every corner of every industry, no worker will be exempt from keeping up with the tools. It could even mean the difference between holding down a stable gig and getting the boot. "Every job will be affected, and immediately. It is unquestionable," Huang said at the Milken Institute's Global Conference in 2025. "You're not going to lose your job to an AI, but you're going to lose your job to someone who uses AI." "I would recommend 100% of everybody take advantage of AI," Jensen advised. "Don't be that person who ignores this technology and as a result, loses your job." Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of streaming empire Netflix, has also admitted that the tech will impact entertainment jobs. But just like Huang, he doesn't believe the tools will be taking over the call sheet. Instead, the creatives who lean into AI will be better off than those who don't in the intensely competitive industry. "I don't believe that an A.I. program is going to write a better screenplay than a great writer, or is going to replace a great performance," Sarandos told The New York Times in 2024. "A.I. is not going to take your job. The person who uses A.I. well might take your job."

Is Your Job in Danger? Airbnb's CEO Says This Corporate Role Is 'Not Going to Survive.'

According to Airbnb's CEO, one entire layer of corporate hierarchy will soon disappear. Brian Chesky, who has led Airbnb as CEO since cofounding the company in 2007, spoke about the impact of AI on an episode of the Invest Like The Best podcast earlier this week. He said "people managers" faced the most risk of elimination, stating that he didn't think the role had "any value in the future." "People who have lots of recurring one-on-ones are not going to survive," Chesky said on the podcast. "That kind of leadership style is not going to work." As companies invest heavily in AI and face pressure to cut costs, middle managers, particularly those focused on coordinating work, aggregating reports and passing information up the chain, are facing uncertainty. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 20% of organizations will use AI to eliminate more than half of their middle-management positions. Professionals in supervisory roles that don't involve hands-on work are in danger. On the podcast, Chesky said that the only managers who will remain relevant are those who get their hands dirty with actual execution rather than just coordinating others. In his view, the AI era demands leaders who can both oversee teams and contribute directly to the work itself. This means managers need technical skills, product knowledge or specialized expertise. Executives who spend their days translating information between layers of hierarchy or managing workflows are vulnerable because AI tools can increasingly handle those coordination tasks, Chesky explained. Surviving in the age of AI means becoming indispensable to a company, not just providing oversight of the people who do the real work. "You don't manage the people, you manage the work," Chesky said on the podcast. For example, if you're a lawyer, "you have to actually read the case law, and you have to get involved." Chesky's comments reflect a broader rethinking among tech leaders about whether traditional management layers still make sense. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced earlier this week that the company would eliminate "pure managers" or employees whose sole responsibility is overseeing others, as part of layoffs affecting 14% of staff. In a memo to staff, Armstrong explicitly cited AI as the catalyst, writing that engineers now "use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks." "This is a new way of working, and we need to leverage AI across every facet of our jobs," Armstrong wrote. Meanwhile, Jack Dorsey, CEO of fintech company Block, wrote in a blog post in March that "there is no need for a permanent middle management layer." He argued that AI could handle much of what middle managers traditionally do. Block is narrowing down its staff into three roles: individual contributors who build and operate systems, directly responsible individuals who own problems and outcomes and player-coaches who both build and develop people. The company laid off 40% of staff in February. "Everyone is empowered, with a role that's much closer to the work and the customer," Dorsey wrote in the post. "AI doesn't augment your company. It reveals what your company actually is."