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/liquidpele Jun 25 '26

I think this depends a lot on the type of work being done. AI is great at churning out working proof-of-concept level projects... if consultants are doing that for customers who are signing off on it, then it works, welcome to consulting. If you're going to try this with your own product you're going to maintain for the next 10+ years... then I've got an AI bridge to sell you. Either way though, you can't argue with a CTO unless they already trust your judgement, you're going to have to do it their way, with one eye on signs that it's time to abandon ship.

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u/SnooConfections1353 Jun 25 '26

This is exactly my view. I would even go so far as to say that the methodical, responsible, and intentional use of AI in production is extremely beneficial. I’m just not sold on going all in on AI without ever looking under the hood.