Flat Engineering Teams Aren't an Org Chart Decision. They're a Maturity Filter

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Meta built an AI engineering team with 50 engineers per manager. The Wall Street Journal called it "ultra-flat." André Spicer, from Bayes Business School, was more direct: "it's going to end in tragedy." Both are wrong for the same reason: they treat flat team structure as an org chart decision.

Flat team structure is not an org chart decision. It's a cultural consequence.

And most companies cutting middle management right now aren't going flat. They're going broken with extra steps.

Culture on Thiago Avelino

Flat Engineering Teams Aren't an Org Chart Decision. They're a Maturity Filter