BONUS: AI Changes Management, Not Leadership In this BONUS episode, we explore what AI changes for software leaders, and what it leaves firmly in human hands. Mateo Bervejillo, CEO of Xseed Solutions and author of Back to Basics, brings the view of a manager of managers: AI can help us process information faster, but leadership still happens through clarity, judgment, and relationships. From Attorney to Software CEO: Clarity as a Leadership Skill "What are we building? Why are we building it? What's the benefit for the client? What's the business value?" Mateo started his career as an attorney, then moved through operations, vendor management, business development, and finally into software company leadership. That path gave him an unusual advantage in technology: an obsession with clear definitions. In law, unclear scope creates risk. In software, unclear scope creates waste, frustration, and products that miss the point. For Mateo, leadership starts before execution, with crisp answers to simple questions: what problem are we solving, why does it matter, and what would success look like? AI Removes Busywork, But It Does Not Replace Leadership "There's a part about management that is moving information around, up and down, sideways. That is changing drastically because of AI." Mateo sees AI transforming the administrative side of management: gathering data, processing updates, preparing reports, and helping managers stay on top of follow-ups. But he draws a firm line between management mechanics and leadership. AI can make managers faster at moving information, but it cannot choose the right people, create trust, provide meaningful feedback, or understand what motivates each person. The danger is that organizations may conclude they need fewer leaders because the reporting work became easier, while the human work actually becomes more important. The One-on-One Cannot Become a Slack Check-In "If you have one manager leading 50 people, that one-on-one that was so important now becomes a Slack message." One of the risks Mateo calls out is the pressure to flatten organizations and stretch managers across too many people. On paper, AI makes that look possible. In practice, it can turn leadership into status collection. Mateo described his own weekly rhythm: face-to-face conversations, walking meetings, and one-hour one-on-ones where the work is to listen, ask questions, understand what is happening in the person's life and work, and keep the company aligned around its North Star. That is not overhead. It is the work that keeps teams healthy before problems become escalations. Use AI as a Sparring Partner, Not as the Thinker "The problem of the blank page goes away with AI. You can have a conversation." Mateo uses AI as an assistant for podcast preparation, idea generation, research, outreach, and even book writing. When drafting Back to Basics, he used AI to challenge the structure and ask what was missing, which led to several chapters he had not planned. The point is not to outsource judgment. It is to remove the fear of starting, create better first drafts, and pressure-test thinking. For Scrum Masters and agile coaches, that means AI can help design workshops, prepare questions, and explore options, but the leader still has to understand the context and make the call. Outcomes Keep Leaders Away From Micromanagement "Too much focus on the inputs can be misleading and you forget about the outcome, which is where the client sits." AI gives managers more visibility into activity, and that can quickly become control. Mateo's antidote is to keep the organization focused on outputs and outcomes instead of inputs. Story points, process steps, and activity metrics can be useful, but they can also pull leaders into managing the wrong thing. Clients care about outcomes. Teams need clarity about the result, then room to decide how to get there. When leaders become obsessed with the how of every input, they move from creating clarity into micromanagement. Managing Up With AI, Managing People With Care "Today we are going through a time where we need to stay close to people more than ever and make it personal." In Mateo's book, leadership is framed across four dimensions: managing up, managing yourself, managing teams, and managing sideways. Through the AI lens, he sees the biggest immediate gain in managing up: clearer communication, faster delivery, better follow-up, and fewer things falling through the cracks. But when it comes to managing teams, the basic human work becomes more important. People are anxious about AI and jobs, even when they are not saying it openly. Leaders need to stay close, make the relationship personal, and create the conditions where people can thrive. About Mateo Bervejillo Mateo Bervejillo is CEO of Xseed Solutions, a Montevideo-based software development and staff augmentation company helping US firms build high-performing LATAM engineering teams. An attorney by background, he brings a results-first view to tech leadership. He wrote Back to Basics, a practical leadership guide for new managers in technology. LinkedIn. You can link with Mateo Bervejillo on LinkedIn, learn more about Xseed Solutions, and listen to Mateo's podcast, The Future Of The Future.
