Have a peek at this...

A → Acquire First Customers
B → Build Minimum Viable Product
C → Code Core Product Features
D → Design Intuitive UX/UI
E → Engineer Scalable Systems
F → Finance Product Build & Sales
G → Generate Demand & Leads
H → Hire Builders & Sellers
I → Identify Customer Problems
L → Lead Product Development
M → Market & Position Product
N → Negotiate Sales Deals
O → Onboard & Support Customers
P → Prioritize Product Roadmap
R → Research Market & Competitors
S → Sell & Close Deals
T → Test with Real Users
U → Understand User Behavior
V → Validate Product-Market Fit
W → Write Production Code
X → Execute Go-to-Market Strategy
Y → Yield Revenue & Profit
Z → Scale Product & Sales Engine

At its core, every company runs on two fundamental engines: creating the product and taking it to market. No matter the title or team, every person's work ultimately feeds into one of these two engines: making or selling. The A-to-Z framework above is simply a visual device to show just how wide the range of activities can be, and how each role plays its part somewhere along that spectrum.

At this point, debating the capabilities of AI tools: Claude Code, Codex, Perplexity, and countless others; feels beside the point. None of them are flawless. But here's what actually matters: perfection isn't the bar companies are measuring against. What's shifting is the confidence businesses are finding: not just in smaller teams accomplishing more, but in individuals who can break out of their defined roles (whether that's X, V, or B) and operate effectively across entirely different ones.

• Discovery Group      (1 person instead of 4)
  I R U V

• Build Group          (1 person instead of 4)
  B C D E

• Strategy Group       (1 person instead of 4)
  P T W L

• Sales Group          (1 person instead of 4)
  G M A S

• Growth Group         (2 persons instead of 6)
  N O F X Y Z

The benefits companies gain from this model go well beyond the bottom line: cost reduction is actually the least of it. What matters most is that compact teams are far more agile: there's less organizational friction, individual contributions are easier to track, direction is simpler to align, and people have genuine mental space to stay attuned to what the market is telling them.

The earliest casualties of this shift have turned out to be recent graduates, particularly in the tech sector. Entry-level hires and those fresh out of college don't arrive with a clear position on the spectrum, that's something they need to discover over time. They're still in the process of understanding where they fit and what they can contribute. But companies can no longer afford to give them that runway. With rivals moving aggressively on every front, investing bandwidth in someone who's still finding their footing feels like a luxury, especially when those same companies are wrestling with their own urgent question: how to stay relevant in an AI-reshaped world.

2026

Lean teams are already leading the charge, and adoption is only accelerating. The broader market is quickly catching up. Industry giants like Oracle, Meta, and Google are downsizing or handing out exit packages. This isn't a distant forecast, it's unfolding right now. Chances are it's already making its way into your founder's WhatsApp threads, and it's only a matter of time before it lands squarely at your door.

In organizations with 1,500 or more employees, the real game is about visibility and perception: you need to establish yourself as someone who can own and operate across as many of those letter-lanes as possible.
In smaller teams of fewer than 50 people, standing out isn't about being seen — it's about proving you can read what the market is telling you and act on it independently, leveraging AI to get things done without needing to lean on anyone else.
- Take a customer support ticket, for instance: you handle it as a software engineer and produce a test case from it — no dedicated support agent or SDET needed. How these roles will transform going forward remains to be seen.
As a manager, your path so far has been to serve as an operator for your team — but if you step back from the day-to-day and stop having direct, hands-on conversations with individual contributors, you're putting yourself at risk. The deeper expertise you've built — the kind that lets you bridge the work of your team with the broader needs of other functions or senior leadership is quietly devaluing at 20% every month.

What now

The appetite for generalists is only going to grow.

Their long-standing weakness was a real one: being capable across many domains yet rarely masterful in any single one. But that calculus has completely flipped.

In a post-AI world, generalists can direct multiple agents simultaneously and still hit high standards of output. Their natural instinct to stretch across disciplines is now a genuine advantage, because what your company truly needs is someone who can move fluidly across every front, regardless of where the market spotlight happens to land.

Now you know that to prepare for... find a way to get multiple letter-lanes.

The spectrum of relevance, your place in the AI-driven company

2026

What now