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codex · operators · Kesava Mandiga · ins_kesava-mandiga-workflow-collapse-not-speedup

AI-native isn't doing the same job faster, it's collapsing roles

By Kesava Mandiga · Head of PMM, JustCall (SaaS Labs) · 2026-04-29 · thread · Kesava on workflow collapse vs workflow speedup

Tier A · TL;DR
AI-native isn't doing the same job faster, it's collapsing roles

Claim

People keep using AI to do the existing job 2x faster. That's not the win. The win is that the function rebuilds around the substrate — PMM and design and content and competitive aren't separate roles anymore, they're loops on the same data layer that one person plus a model can run. The org chart goes from 7 PMMs to 2 super-ICs and a flywheel. The metric that matters is revenue per employee, not headcount.

Mechanism

Speedup compounds linearly. Collapse compounds quadratically because every adjacent role you absorb removes a coordination tax. The first AI-native PMM at a company displaces three layers of process. The seventh one fights for budget.

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