Tactical Tuesday: When the Middle Moves — Rethinking Leadership in the Age of AI
Across industries, the ground is shifting. The headlines focus on tech, but the disruption now cuts far wider. Artificial intelligence isn’t just replacing repetitive work — it’s rearranging the architecture of entire organizations. The real story is unfolding in the middle: among leaders, coordinators, and professionals whose value once lay in managing complexity that AI now handles with ease.
In the last year alone, layoffs have rippled through every sector once thought stable. Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta have collectively cut tens of thousands of roles, many tied not to coding but to program management, marketing, and HR — the connective tissue of corporate life. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have trimmed back-office teams as AI automates compliance and reporting. In media, The New York Times, Vice, and Condé Nast have all reduced editorial and production staff as generative tools reshape how content is created and curated.
And now, the hospitality sector — once seen as the bastion of “human work” — is following suit. Marriott International recently announced layoffs in its Customer Engagement Center as guest interaction moves to AI-assisted chat. Hyatt Hotels trimmed roughly 30 percent of its Americas Global Care Center team to consolidate digital guest services. Restaurant groups from Starbucks to Denny’s and Outback have reduced regional and corporate roles, citing restructuring and technology integration.
What unites these examples isn’t a temporary downturn — it’s a structural redefinition of value. When information flows instantly, coordination flattens. When analytics anticipate needs, oversight shrinks. The middle — that wide band of managerial stability — is becoming thinner by design.
The New Fault Line
For decades, middle leaders were indispensable interpreters: translating strategy into action, ensuring consistency, and smoothing communication between the C-suite and the front line. But AI doesn’t need translators. It generates instant summaries, highlights anomalies, and suggests next steps.
The uncomfortable reality is that much of what many leaders still do — approve, track, monitor, and relay — can now be done more efficiently by machines. Companies are taking notice. They are not only replacing tasks but questioning layers of supervision altogether.
This isn’t the end of leadership. It’s the end of leadership defined by control.
What AI Still Can’t Do
AI can synthesize data, but it cannot sense the undercurrent of tension in a team. It can flag a drop in engagement scores, but it cannot rebuild trust. It can forecast sales, but it cannot rally exhausted employees to deliver hospitality that feels human.
That is where the next generation of leaders will earn their relevance — not by managing process, but by creating meaning. The modern leader’s value lies in interpreting complexity, framing purpose, and building resilience in others. The ability to coach, to contextualize, and to care is becoming the most defensible skill set in business.
A Generation Caught in the Crossfire
No group feels this more acutely than Gen Z, the youngest entrants into the workforce. They came of age watching institutions falter — through pandemics, political division, and digital overload — and now face an economy that seems to automate opportunity faster than they can climb it.
Many Gen Z professionals have never experienced stable mentorship. They’ve learned remotely, onboarded virtually, and now see career ladders dissolving just as they step onto the first rung. For them, the erosion of middle leadership isn’t abstract — it’s personal. It removes the very mentors and developmental roles that traditionally helped emerging leaders grow.
This is where senior leaders must step up. Building adaptable, empathetic cultures isn’t just good practice; it’s a generational responsibility. The young workforce isn’t asking for guarantees — they’re asking for guidance in a world where the rules keep changing.
What to Do Now
If you’re leading in the middle today, this is not the moment to wait and see. It’s the moment to move.
If you are a mid-level leader:
Redefine your value. Shift from reporting on work to shaping how work creates meaning. Translate information into insight, and insight into action that people believe in.
Get fluent in AI. You don’t need to code, but you do need to understand the technology shaping your business. Learn its language, capabilities, and limits — and teach your team to partner with it, not fear it.
Lead like a coach. Replace control with curiosity. Build people who can think, not just execute. The ability to grow others will soon matter more than the ability to manage them.
If you are Gen Z and struggling to find meaningful work:
Start where you are. Meaning doesn’t always arrive fully formed. Learn, volunteer, create — even small experiences build the foundation for purpose later.
Get proximity to leaders who are adapting. Watch how they communicate, make decisions, and respond to uncertainty. You’re not just learning a job — you’re learning how to lead.
Develop human fluency. The future will reward emotional intelligence as much as technical skill. Listening, empathy, and adaptability are your edge in a world run by algorithms.
The Leadership Imperative
The leaders who will endure are those willing to redefine their contribution. They are curious rather than defensive, fluent in technology but grounded in humanity. They understand that AI is not a rival to be resisted but a force to be partnered with — a tool that can surface insights faster, freeing humans to do the work of judgment, creativity, and connection.
This requires humility. The authority once derived from holding information must now come from the ability to interpret it wisely. Expertise is no longer about having the answer; it’s about knowing how to ask better questions.
The middle is moving. And with it, the center of leadership gravity. The organizations that thrive will be those that empower their leaders to move from managing tasks to shaping meaning — from oversight to foresight.
AI is not taking leadership away. It’s demanding better leadership — more human, more agile, and more aware.
The question is not whether the middle will vanish. It’s whether those who occupy it will evolve fast enough to lead what comes next.
Sources & References
Marriott International to lay off portion of Customer Engagement Center workforce — Hotel Dive, October 2025. Link
Hyatt trims 30% of Americas Global Care Center staff amid restructuring — Asian Hospitality, September 2025. Link
US Hotel Industry Faces Challenges Amid Government and Market Shifts — Hotel News Resource, August 2025. Link
Restaurant industry layoffs: Starbucks, Denny’s, Dine Brands, Grubhub, Topgolf, Outback and others — Restaurant Dive, July 2025. Link
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy admits AI will “reduce” corporate workforce — New York Post, June 2025. Link
Microsoft, Meta, and Google continue AI-related workforce realignment — Business Today, November 2025. Link
Goldman Sachs, Citigroup layoffs linked to automation and AI — Bloomberg, August 2025.
Media industry cuts continue at Vice, Condé Nast, and The New York Times amid AI adoption — The Guardian, July 2025.