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AI & THE NEW MANAGEMENT PLAYBOOK
ASHISH MURALIDHARAN PRODUCT MANAGER, MICROSOFT IISC DOMS // MARCH 6, 2026
"HOW MANY OF YOU FEEL ANXIOUS ABOUT YOUR FUTURE, YOUR CAREER, YOUR RELEVANCE, BECAUSE OF AI?"
RAISE YOUR HANDS
ACT I
THE TENSION
VUCA
VOLATILITY
UNCERTAINTY
COMPLEXITY
AMBIGUITY
"IT'S A ONE-WAY STREET GOING UPWARDS."
THE PATTERN OF DISRUPTION
SHIPPING > INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION > INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY > ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
THE ECONOMIC EQUATION
LAND
LABOR
CAPITAL
TECHNOLOGY
"TECHNOLOGY IS FUNDAMENTALLY REPLACING LABOR."
ACT II
THE PATTERN
TECHNOLOGY VS. LABOR CYCLE
01
TECH ARRIVES
NEW CAPABILITY ENTERS THE MARKET
02
PHYSICAL DISPLACED
MANUAL LABOR IS AUTOMATED FIRST
03
OPERATIONAL DISPLACED
PROCESS-DRIVEN ROLES ARE AUTOMATED NEXT
04
INTELLECTUAL DISPLACED
KNOWLEDGE WORK IS NOW ON THE TABLE
RUNNING OUT OF RUNGS
PHYSICAL 0%
OPERATIONAL 0%
INTELLECTUAL 0%
??? 0%
"IF YOU DON'T NEED INTELLECTUAL LABOR ANYMORE, WHAT'S LEFT?"
ROBOTS & THE PHYSICAL FRONTIER
TESLA OPTIMUS
UNITREE
HYUNDAI
"COMPLETE REPLACEMENT ACROSS EVERY DIMENSION."
5 LEVELS OF AGI
LEVEL CAPABILITY STATUS
L0 CONVERSATIONAL DONE
L0 REASONING DONE
L0 AGENTS HERE
L0 AI ORGANIZATIONS EMERGING
L0 AGI UNKNOWN
WHAT IS AN AGENT?
"A SYSTEM THAT CAN PURSUE A GOAL BY REASONING, PLANNING, USING TOOLS, AND CONTINUOUSLY LEARNING."
ACT III
GROUND ZERO
WHY SOFTWARE FIRST?
100% DIGITAL
NO PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS. PURE INFORMATION WORK.
SIGNAL TO CLOSURE
FULLY AUTOMATED END-TO-END PIPELINE.
RICH TRAINING DATA
DECADES OF CODE, DOCS, AND PATTERNS TO LEARN FROM.
FIRST DOMINO
SOFTWARE IS THE CANARY IN THE COAL MINE.
"SINGLE ENGINEERS SPIN UP 20 AGENTS THAT BUILD THE ENTIRE PRODUCT END-TO-END."
THE NEW REALITY
VOICES FROM THE FIELD
"VIBE CODING"
ANDREJ KARPATHY
"PM IS VIBE CODING. ENGINEERING IS PROMPT ENGINEERING."
NAVAL RAVIKANT
"THE COST TO BUILD SOFTWARE HAS COME DOWN TO ZERO."
THE NEW BATTLE
DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING
"THE NEW JOB FOR EVERYONE HAS BECOME MARKETING."
REAL CONSEQUENCES
BLOCK
50% LAYOFFS
IT STOCKS
DOWN 25-30%
INNOVATOR'S DILEMMA
PLAYING OUT IN REAL-TIME
ACT IV
THE ECONOMICS
THE ABUNDANCE THESIS
REMOVE HUMANS FROM PROCESS > DEFLATION > GOODS CHEAPER > ERA OF ABUNDANCE
THE AI VALUE CHAIN
ENERGY > CHIPS > FABRICATORS > FRONTIER LABS > HYPERSCALERS > APP LAYER > DISTRIBUTION
WHERE VALUE LIVES
NOT THE MODEL.
COMPUTE
CONTEXT
DISTRIBUTION
"AGENTS DON'T NEED UI."
ACT V
FROM THE INSIDE
MICROSOFT'S AI JOURNEY
TOP-DOWN FAILED
MANDATES WITHOUT CONTEXT DON'T STICK
BOTTOM-UP WORKED
TEAMS THAT FOUND THEIR OWN USE CASES WON
UNLIMITED COMPUTE + INCENTIVE ALIGNMENT
= 20X PRODUCTIVITY
PROJECT NEBULA
0
PMS
0
ENGINEERS
0
DESIGNERS
WEEKLY AI UPSKILLING. "TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE."
"THE MOST VALUABLE MANAGERS WILL BE THE ONES WHO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DIFFUSE AI THROUGHOUT THE COMPANY."
THE LEARNING
ACT VI
THE NEW PLAYBOOK
AI ORGANIZATIONS
DESIGN WORKFLOWS FOR AGENTS LIKE MANAGERS DESIGNED THEM FOR HUMANS.
DEFINE THE GOAL AND CONSTRAINTS
BREAK INTO TASKS AND ASSIGN AGENTS
SET EVALUATION CRITERIA
ITERATE BASED ON OUTPUT QUALITY
THE TWO SKILLS THAT MATTER
01
PROMPTING
INSTRUCT PRECISELY. GIVE CONTEXT. BE EXPLICIT ABOUT WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE.
02
EVALUATIONS
MEASURE AI QUALITY. BUILD RUBRICS. KNOW WHEN OUTPUT IS GOOD ENOUGH.
THE AGE OF THE POLYMATH
"EVERYONE IS BECOMING A GENERALIST."
THE ONE-PERSON BILLION-DOLLAR STARTUP.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO
AI BUDGET
ALLOCATE TIME AND MONEY TO AI TOOLS. TREAT IT AS INFRASTRUCTURE.
BUILD AI FLUENCY
USE AI DAILY. BREAK THINGS. LEARN THE EDGES.
THINK IN WORKFLOWS
MAP YOUR PROCESSES. FIND WHERE AGENTS SLOT IN.
BECOME A GENERALIST
BREADTH BEATS DEPTH. LEARN EVERYTHING.
GO BUILD
SOMETHING.
RETURN TO THE ANXIETY. THEN CHANNEL IT.