AI Leadership: Should I stay or Should I go?

As the tech lead of an AI team at a startup, I sometimes catch myself in moments of doubt. Should I still be working? Is it a sign of weakness or even failure, that I’m doing the thinking, planning and decision-making myself, when the AI could handle so much of it? After all, isn't the whole point of artificial intelligence to relieve us of the burden of repetitive tasks and data processing? But here I am, mapping out strategies, brainstorming and leading the team, when perhaps the AI should be the one doing the heavy lifting. Am I holding onto old habits or is there something inherently necessary about the human element that I haven't yet let go?

When AI Can Lead the Way, Should We Step Aside?

The tension I feel is not unique—it’s a reflection of the rapidly changing landscape of leadership in tech. We’ve reached a point where AI can assist in decision-making, idea generation and even the conceptualization of complex systems. For a tech lead, it raises the fundamental question: At what point do we let AI take the wheel and is continuing to do the thinking ourselves a sign of resistance to change?

At first glance, AI’s capabilities seem poised to revolutionize how we work. It has access to vast reservoirs of knowledge, can process and analyze data at unimaginable speeds and—unlike humans—is always available, always ready. This should, theoretically, relieve a tech lead like me of many duties. Why brainstorm with a room full of people when I can brainstorm with the AI? Why wait for the team to catch up when I can have immediate feedback on an idea or approach from a machine that knows more and operates without delay?

The Three-Step System: A Delayed Democracy

The way I’ve structured my workflow is a reflection of this new dynamic. I’ve replaced traditional meetings with a three-step process that has allowed me to work faster, more efficiently and (ironically) more democratically, despite the dominant role of AI in the early stages.

Step 1: I brainstorm by myself. This part still feels necessary. As a tech lead, it’s my job to align the vision, the goals and the strategy of the project. But is it really necessary to do this solo? I still believe in the human gut, the instinct that tells you which path to pursue, even when logic and data might suggest something else. (funny thing here: just read the next article: 'The Data-Driven Gut: How Our Instincts Are Built on Deep Analysis' )

Step 2: I brainstorm with the AI. Here’s where the magic happens. AI has a breadth of knowledge and context that no human could possibly match. It throws ideas back at me, offers alternative routes and synthesizes new directions I hadn’t even considered. The speed of this feedback loop is exhilarating—what used to take hours or days with a team is now completed in minutes. And the AI doesn’t get tired or distracted. It’s always there, a perfect brainstorming partner, without ego or bias. Middle in the night or during the 'siesta'.

Step 3: I level up the team. After refining the concepts with AI, I bring in the human element. The team is given the space to contribute asynchronously, adding their thoughts, pushing back against ideas and offering their own insights. It’s not about dictating to the team—rather, it’s about creating a delayed democracy where everyone still gets a voice, but the groundwork has already been laid, enhanced by the AI’s contributions.

This process has its advantages: faster cycles, immediate access to information and the ability to iterate quickly. But it also feels strange. Shouldn’t AI be taking more of the work off my plate? And yet, I find myself in this leadership role, still doing the thinking. Is that a failure to let go? Or is it a sign that the human role is still irreplaceable, even when AI is omnipresent?

The Benefits of Letting AI Do More (Without Letting Go Entirely)

The temptation, of course, is to let the AI handle more and more. AI can already craft entire systems, debug code, design algorithms and even propose architectural solutions. So, what’s stopping me from stepping back entirely? The answer may lie in the unique combination of human intuition and AI’s processing power. Here’s where the real potential of AI lies—not in replacing human leadership, but in augmenting it.

Imagine AI not just as a tool but as a co-lead, handling the tasks we might otherwise delegate to a junior engineer or assistant. It provides instant feedback on strategic decisions, analyzes risks and even proposes creative solutions to complex problems. It’s the perfect partner—available 24/7, immune to stress, to bacterias, to human weaknesses and vices, with access to all the world’s knowledge. But here’s the catch: it still lacks the emotional intelligence, the contextual awareness and the gut feeling that often leads to breakthroughs.

AI may be able to analyze patterns, but it cannot yet feel the pattern that doesn’t fit, the oddity that leads to innovation. AND: AI may evaluate and take risks, but relying on it to do so becomes a risk in itself, even if its failure provides an alibi for human decision-makers.

Reassessing Leadership in an AI-Driven World

Does this mean that leadership has fundamentally changed? In some ways, yes. The role of the tech lead is no longer about activelly controlling all the moving parts or micromanaging teams. It’s about being the orchestrator of a hybrid intelligence—actively integrating human creativity with AI’s superhuman processing power. In that sense, it’s not about stepping back but rather about understanding how to best utilize AI within the broader workflow and where AI fits into the broader puzzle.

AI can now handle many of the tedious tasks that used to bog down leadership, allowing me to focus on bigger-picture strategies and more creative problem-solving. But here’s the important part: leadership isn’t just about getting things done faster—it’s about fostering innovation, nurturing a team’s potential and creating a vision that AI alone cannot produce. While AI provides the tools, the raw data and the answers, it’s the human leader who asks the right questions. Still.

A New Path for Tech Teams: AI as Collaborator, Not Dictator

By redefining the role of AI in the workplace, we can unlock its full potential without diminishing the importance of human input. My current process—what I call 'delayed democracy'—is a way to ensure that while AI speeds up initial brainstorming and planning, the human team remains deeply involved in shaping the final product. We’re not eliminating human contributions; we’re enhancing them by allowing AI to handle the broad strokes and letting humans fine-tune the details.

In this new landscape, tech leads aren’t dictators—they’re facilitators of collaboration between AI and human teams. The future isn’t about replacing the workforce with machines but about creating a symbiosis where AI and humans work together, each playing to their strengths.

The Future: More Tools, More Possibilities

As we move forward, the tools available to us will only grow more powerful. AI can assist with everything from code reviews to strategic planning, freeing up human leaders to focus on what really matters: vision, creativity and innovation. We can expect to see more tools designed to enhance this collaboration—software that integrates AI-generated ideas with human feedback loops, platforms that allow for real-time brainstorming with machine learning suggestions and decision-making frameworks that balance AI’s speed with human insight.

It’s not about abdicating responsibility to the AI. It’s about harnessing the best of both worlds. As tech leads, we’re still necessary—not because we know more than AI, but because we know differently. We can think laterally, connect ideas emotionally and recognize when an outlier is more than just an anomaly—it’s the start of something groundbreaking.

So no, continuing to work (alongside AI) isn’t a sign of failure—it’s a shift in how we understand productivity. The challenge isn’t about working fewer hours or stepping back while machines take over; it’s about recognizing that even if I spend half my office time on the beach, I still deserve my full pay (+ a recognition bonus) because my brain never stops working.

Whether I’m in the office or outdoors, I’m thinking, creating, merging ideas and dreaming up solutions. In fact, with AI amplifying my output, those 4 hours may result in more than 10 hours of past benchmarks. Even at night, when I wake up realizing my brain was coding while I slept, I’m still fully engaged in the process of creation.

With and without AI.