This article is a first-person account from Shivam Sagar, a senior software engineer who transitioned from an engineering team of over two dozen to a small, AI-powered team of six. It details the challenges and rewards of this shift, offering advice for engineers facing a similar change.
Key Points and Arguments
- Shift from Specialist to Generalist: In a small team, roles (engineering, product, design) blend. Engineers must be flexible and adopt a generalist mindset, stepping outside their comfort zones to solve problems as a single unit.
- Increased Ownership and Speed: The absence of management layers allows for rapid decision-making and high individual ownership. While this can be mentally taxing, it is also described as liberating and rewarding.
- Adaptability Over Perfection: The author’s primary advice is to embrace experimentation and rapid learning. In an AI-driven environment where tools and priorities change quickly, the ability to adapt and learn from failures is more valuable than perfect upfront planning.
- Intentional Communication: Small teams lack the natural peer review and mentorship of larger organizations. Therefore, they must be deliberate about code reviews, knowledge sharing, and communication to prevent silos and stay aligned.
- Work-Life Balance Evolution: The initial transition involved an intense workload due to a backlog and the need for self-guided learning. However, as the engineer gained context, the work became more intentional and manageable, leading to better control over focus and time.
Conclusion
The transition to a small, AI-powered team is a significant mindset shift from structure and specialization to speed and flexibility. While initially demanding, the increased ownership, creativity, and direct impact on the product are highly rewarding. Success in this environment hinges on an engineer’s ability to adapt quickly, learn continuously, and communicate effectively.
Mentoring question
Reflecting on your own work style, what’s one area you would need to consciously adapt—be it embracing a generalist role, increasing your speed of experimentation, or taking on more ownership—to thrive in a small, AI-powered team?
Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/engineer-on-ai-powered-team-under-10-shares-his-advice-2025-11
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