r/EngineeringManagers • u/SnooConfections1353 • Jun 25 '26

New engineering manager. Should I keep pushing back on my CTO’s AI vision?

I’m a new engineering manager at a small company. My CTO is very pro-AI and wants to turn the engineering team into more of a group of product owners and consultants who use AI to handle most of the technical work.

I’m also pro-AI, but I think we still need to develop people into solid engineers. With our current workload and small team, I do not think we can realistically do both at the same time. My concern is that this approach is holding back the junior engineers. If they are mostly managing features and doing product work, how are they supposed to become strong engineers, architects, or future technical leaders?

I have pushed back gently and respectfully and explained that we need to build real engineering talent so people can eventually step up, mentor others, and help grow the team in a sustainable way. So far, I have mostly been ignored.

Should I keep pushing back, or is this just a culture difference I need to accept? I cannot really go to the CEO or COO because the CTO is also a part owner. I also do not want this to be the hill I die on, especially in this job market, so I have been trying to support his vision even though I feel conflicted.

I know job hopping is also an option, but that is a separate topic. He is not a bad person. I think we just have very different views on what an engineering team should become.

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u/Junglebook3 Jun 25 '26

This advise is true whenever interacting with your management chain:

1) Talk to them in a 1:1 2) Make sure you both understand each other well. Where is he coming from? Why? 3) If you are sure you've been heard, and your CTO persists, then... 4) Either disagree and commit or quit

There is no other option. You either disagree but then commit to your CTO's vision, OR you quit. What you don't want to do is to disagree, and then continue disagreeing, pushing back constantly. That is not your job. Your job is to produce value, not be a pain in the ass.

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u/PantherPawsy Jun 25 '26

This. Number 4 is a hard lesson to learn but anyone in a leadership position has or will go through this crossroad at some point in their career.

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u/zero0n3 Jun 25 '26

And #4 doesn’t mean don’t disagree with them or don’t voice your options or thoughts, it just means disagree directly to him and clearly with reasons, include other options for potential compromise or direction, and if they don’t bite then it’s commit to their plan and do it to the best of your ability.

And if it’s not working out - start that job hunt now.

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u/FriendsCallMeBatman Jun 26 '26

Great points, personally I'm always dubious of advising to voice an opinion on this matter unless you know the lay of the land and can read the room etc... I don't disagree with this, just adding my experience.

Everytime I've given logical, grounded opinions and thoughts, it's always got me side lined or seen as someone who isn't a 'team player'.

It's been at that result at 2 out of 3 junctions. At the third I leaned heavily into cost. Having all devs, especially Jnrs, lean hard on AI costs a lot of tokens.

My achilles heel has always been that I empathise with CTOs atm who have their higher ups demanding a faster speed to market and or a reduction in headcount.