You Have Too Many Layers. AI Just Made That Obvious.
AI is reducing coordination work inside organisations. The structure hasn’t changed yet, but the workload inside it already has.
AI is reducing time spent on coordination-heavy tasks like reporting, summarising, and internal communication.
The biggest gains are coming from workflow redesign, not headcount reduction.
This is quietly hollowing out the middle layer of organisations before any formal restructuring happens.
The uncomfortable starting point
Most organisations have more layers than they need.
They just haven’t had to confront it.
Until now.
Earlier this year, a layer disappeared
Earlier this year, I wrote that AI is collapsing the layer between data and executive decision-making.
Executives are getting closer to raw signal.
Fewer dashboards.
Fewer summaries.
Fewer intermediaries.
That shift is already underway.
This is the next layer
Now the same thing is happening lower down.
Not at the top of the organisation.
In the middle.
What the data actually shows
The most important AI insight from the past 12 months is this:
Value is not coming from better models.
It’s coming from redesigning work.
A 2025 McKinsey study found that organisations seeing real impact from AI are reimagining end-to-end workflows, not just automating tasks.
More specifically:
Companies that redesign workflows are significantly more likely to see financial impact.
High-performing organisations are changing how work flows, not just adding tools.
This is the shift most teams are underestimating.
What’s already changing inside work
AI is already reducing time spent on coordination-heavy tasks.
A large-scale field experiment (6,000 workers) found:
Around 25% less time spent on email.
Faster document production.
Limited change to meetings, for now.
That matters.
Because email, reporting, and document prep are not edge work.
They are coordination work.
This is already visible inside companies
In consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, and PwC:
Internal AI tools are being used across large portions of the workforce.
Tasks like research, summarisation, and document prep are being automated.
Teams are saving meaningful time on routine work.
The work hasn’t disappeared.
But the effort required to coordinate it has.
What the middle layer actually does
Most middle layers exist to:
Move information
Translate work
Aggregate updates
Coordinate teams
That work was necessary.
Because coordination was expensive.
That assumption just broke
AI reduces the cost of coordination.
Not to zero.
But enough to matter.
Summaries are generated instantly.
Reports are drafted automatically.
Context is surfaced without manual effort.
The work still exists.
But less human effort is required to move it.
What’s happening now
This is not delayering.
Not yet.
It’s hollowing.
The structure remains.
But less work is required inside it.
Most organisations won’t act on this yet.
They will:
Add AI tools
Increase output
Improve reporting
But keep the same structure.
Until the inefficiency becomes visible.
Too many layers.
Too much coordination.
Too little value added per role.
Below is the diagnostic to identify which parts of your organisation are now under pressure, and what to do about it before it becomes a cost problem.
