--- title: From 'Routers' to Architects: The New Role of the Middle Manager description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. canonical: https://time.com/partner-content/charter/from-routers-to-architects-the-new-role-of-the-middle-manager/ author: Brian Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-10-27T10:30:03.178Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-27T10:30:03.443Z article:section: Charter og:title: From 'Routers' to Architects: The New Role of the Middle Manager og:description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. 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Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd93fca12cb7ca6f5/6adfe2a168c814bf206231e1/Middle-managers-panel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- The information presented here is created by Charter, independently from the TIME editorial staff.  Time charter * [managers](/partner-content/charter/tag/managers/) ## managers # From 'Routers' to Architects: The New Role of the Middle Manager > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=c92119de-28a2-4d3d-bc90-70106c56ebe4&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=c92119de-28a2-4d3d-bc90-70106c56ebe4&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) by [Brian Elliott](https://time.com/author/brian-elliott/) Executive-in-residence, Charter Brian Elliott is Charter's executive-in-residence and CEO of Work Forward. Oct 27, 2026 10:30 AM UTC  Photo: Emory Parker by [Brian Elliott](https://time.com/author/brian-elliott/) Executive-in-residence, Charter Brian Elliott is Charter's executive-in-residence and CEO of Work Forward. Oct 27, 2026 10:30 AM UTC At the[ Charter Workplace Summit](https://www.charterworks.com/events/cws/2026/) last week, I asked the room how many people had read Block CEO Jack Dorsey's [blog post](https://block.xyz/inside/from-hierarchy-to-intelligence) from March, which [argued](https://block.xyz/inside/from-hierarchy-to-intelligence) AI can "replace the traditional manager whose primary job was information routing" and questioned the “need for a permanent middle management layer.” Lots of hands went up. An essay can travel pretty far when it gives a CEO permission to lay people off. But in both a conversation about the future of middle managers at our summit—as well as in the[ Charter AI Pulse](https://www.charterworks.com/research/ai-pulse/) survey of more than 5,000 US-based users of AI at work we released last week—we heard something very different. Managers still have an essential role—and perhaps even _more_ value in the AI era than before.[ ](https://www.charterworks.com/research/ai-pulse/) “It just really hit home for me that…this middle layer of management becomes really, really important,” said [Jevan Lenox](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jevansoolenox/), chief people officer of [Writer](https://writer.com/), at the summit. “Even in the world of agentic workers and blended teams, that actually doesn't go away. I would argue it actually gets more important because all of a sudden…the center of gravity is moving down and these teams are making more critical decisions around how to architect the work.” Sign up for Charter's newsletter to get the handbook for the future of work delivered to your inbox. Email Address You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our [Terms of Service](https://www.charterworks.com/terms-of-service/) and [Privacy Policy](https://www.charterworks.com/privacy-policy/). Our research found something similar. [Eleven of the top 14 factors](https://www.charterworks.com/research/ai-pulse/) associated with whether people feel they are benefiting from using AI arefactors their managers set, such as feeling supported to experiment or getting recognized for using AI well**.** The factor with the strongest link to whether people feel they’re benefiting from AI use, meanwhile, is feeling involved in how AI fits their job, or having a sense of agency. And who decides whether people get a say? Usually, it’s their manager.  Source: Charter ### **From routers to architects** “Middle management” has become a derisive term for good reason in many firms, standing in for the administrivia and bottlenecks that too often get in the way. But we can eliminate red tape and find ways to speed information flow without cutting layers of the very people who reinforce the conditions we find are associated with beneficial AI use. Listen to the leaders running AI transformations and the word “architect” keeps coming up. Prudential chief people and experience officer[ Vicki Walia](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickiwalia/) described three jobs she sees Prudential's middle managers having going forward: Directing or “architecting” work at the enterprise level; managing teams, people and agents; and leading or coaching humans. "You're going to manage agents, but you're going to lead people," Walia said at the summit. Lenox made a similar point. As decisions get pushed down to teams that now have to "architect the work," the translation and activation of strategy is “what middle managers are responsible for. That doesn't go away. That gets more important." At the summit, Walia, Lenox, and Databricks chief people officer [Amy Reichanadter](https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-reichanadter-1384981/) all said agency, or the ability to have a say in how AI fits into one’s work, was essential. Managers are[ 1.8 times as likely](https://www.charterworks.com/research/ai-pulse/) as their employees to say they have agency (67% versus 37%), [our research found](https://www.charterworks.com/research/ai-pulse/); it’s a theme Databricks keeps reinforcing with its managers, Reichanadter said. Walia too pointed to agency as an essential ingredient in solving for uncertainty. "If what you're expecting from me in terms of psychological safety is to say, ‘Yes, things are going to be exactly the same,’…I can promise you I will never be able to \[say\] that." What she can offer instead, she said, is "all the levers that you have autonomy over." ### **Why AI may call for smaller teams, not bigger spans** Dorsey’s [manifesto](https://block.xyz/inside/from-hierarchy-to-intelligence) touted the rise of the “player-coach,” and most conversations about the future of the middle manager mention it. Lenox calls it "the startup-ification of large enterprise," where organizations are flatter and managers have a bigger remit. But he sees a fallacy in it. Most startup managers burn out, he said, because they carry the full management load plus complex individual work they "typically \[do\] on nights and weekends." But while startups at least dangle the possibility of life-changing equity in exchange for carrying that load, most large enterprises are asking for startup hours in return for modest merit increases. Both Lenox and Reichanadter said their companies are moving to smaller teams, not larger ones, as they try to move with more agility as they scale. "Large spans of control work when you have stability," said Lenox. "We are no longer \[in\] that era." In our [AI Pulse interviews](https://www.charterworks.com/research/ai-pulse/), managers repeatedly noted the stresses of being asked to do more with less, even when AI couldn’t realistically close the gaps. As one HR manager in the healthcare industry put it, “They're terminating people because they thought that AI was going to do a lot more of the work than it is currently doing.” ### **Role modeling people can see** The [AI Pulse](https://www.charterworks.com/research/ai-pulse/) data found that several of the factors linked with people saying they benefit from AI use were related to managers role modeling their own use of AI. These included having a manager who’s excited about AI, seeing their manager use AI in their own work, getting specific guidance on AI from a manager, and being on a team where AI use is openly shared. At the summit, Lenox drew a line between role modeling that works and the kind that doesn't. The useful version shows "the work of the work:" how you got there, what you struggled with, and what didn't pan out. "The more the team can actually see that sort of cognitive and emotional journey at the leadership level," he said, "the more confident they feel like they can do the same thing without consequence or risk." Meanwhile, Walia said Prudential's version is very hands-on. With an “entrenched” workforce where many employees have 25 to 30 years of tenure—or even more—role modeling started with the executive team, she said. In November, the firm is launching "Raise Your AI Q," a program with personalized learning paths for employees that are specific to each function. Walia admits the name "sounds really corny,” but it’s catchy too. “Just think about the learning challenge, the developmental challenge, the overcoming-the-fixed-mindset challenge,” Walia said, noting “it is a lot of role modeling. It's a lot of sitting and doing with people.” ### **Four steps forward** **Factor the degree of change needed before you resize spans of control.** A team rebuilding its workflows needs a manager with room to coach, do individual work, _and_ play the architect role. But with larger teams comes less time for the “player” part of the work, and being mindful of size if you’re concerned about performance. Gallup’s research, for instance, finds that managers who spend more than 40% of their time on individual work are less engaged, and manager engagement is tied to high-performing teams. **Make pushing agency to individuals part of the manager's job.** Have every team decide together where AI fits in its work and where it doesn't. Then survey employees on whether managers engage them in how AI fits into their work. Our research shows it’s the top factor in whether workers benefit from AI. **Redesign the work before you redraw the org chart.** Walia, Reichanadter, and Lenox made clear what other [research](https://www.bcg.com/publications/2026/ai-will-reshape-more-jobs-than-it-replaces) also shows: You need to redesign the work first, which is never successfully done organization-wide. A broad-brush “spans and layers” exercise that cuts team sizes before rethinking the work won’t change how work gets done. **Close the demonstration gap, starting at the top.** In the AI Pulse,[ 54.7% of managers](https://www.charterworks.com/research/ai-pulse/) say they make their use of AI visible to their teams, but only 30.4% of workers see them doing it. Have executives role model their AI use and show real work, mess included. Then have managers ask their teams the questions in the [report's appendix](https://www.charterworks.com/research/ai-pulse/), and compare answers. **What else to read:** * **Databricks’ Amy Reichanadter on the** [**rise of the chief work officer**](https://www.charterworks.com/charter-workplace-summit-2025-the-rise-of-the-chief-work-officer/) * **Our latest playbook on** [**redesigning the organization**](https://www.charterworks.com/download-redesigning-work-for-the-ai-era/) **for the AI era** * **How AI can make managers and expertise** [**more valuable**](https://www.charterworks.com/ethan-mollick-ai-managers/) --- ## Read more from Charter [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/) [Open article: How Foursquare Scrapped Engineering Manager Titles](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7364716/how-foursquare-scrapped-engineering-manager-titles/)  ### How Foursquare Scrapped Engineering Manager Titles [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7364716/how-foursquare-scrapped-engineering-manager-titles/) [Open article: How “cognitive apprenticeship” can level up middle managers](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/6989564/how-cognitive-apprenticeship-can-level-up-middle-managers/)  ### How “cognitive apprenticeship” can level up middle managers [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/6989564/how-cognitive-apprenticeship-can-level-up-middle-managers/) [Open article: How to Address Managers' Struggle](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/6957746/how-to-address-managers-struggle/)  ### How to Address Managers' Struggle [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/6957746/how-to-address-managers-struggle/) --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/from-routers-to-architects-the-new-role-of-the-middle-manager/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/from-routers-to-architects-the-new-role-of-the-middle-manager/"},"headline":"From 'Routers' to Architects: The New Role of the Middle Manager","datePublished":"2026-10-27T10:30:03.178Z","dateModified":"2026-10-27T10:30:03.443Z","description":"Insights on the changing middle manager role from the 2026 Charter Workplace Summit.","url":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/from-routers-to-architects-the-new-role-of-the-middle-manager/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd93fca12cb7ca6f5/6adfe2a168c814bf206231e1/Middle-managers-panel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Brian Elliott","jobTitle":"Executive-in-residence, Charter","url":"https://time.com/author/brian-elliott/"}],"articleSection":"Charter","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd93fca12cb7ca6f5/6adfe2a168c814bf206231e1/Middle-managers-panel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Middle-managers-panel.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Photo: Emory Parker","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/from-routers-to-architects-the-new-role-of-the-middle-manager/","name":"From 'Routers' to Architects: The New Role of the Middle Manager"}}]}] ```