Three posts this week. The most I've shipped in a single week in a while.
1. Managing Agents Is Managing People — Without the Feelings
Everything I know about management theory maps directly to managing AI agents.
Standups, scope, delegation, 1:1s — the playbook is identical.
Stripping out the emotional layer didn't simplify management. It clarified it.
2. The Burnout Cascade
AI labs burn out their engineers with civilization-scale competitive pressure.
That burnout radiates outward — to developers, then educators, then anyone whose tools keep shifting every 90 days.
I left Meta in June 2021. The burnout I experienced there had edges. The burnout happening now doesn't.
3. Works for a Bunch of AI Agents
Jack Dorsey cut Block from 10,000 to 6,000 today. Stock up 23%.
There are only two positions in the 2026 labor market: principal of your own agents, or labor for someone else's.
This post landed the same day as the news.
Next week I might have something different 👀
More on that next ~Friday.
— Zak
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