Author
Antoine Buteau

Antoine Buteau

operating-structure 4 min read Free

Operating Structure for the AI Era #4: Agents as the Execution Layer

Agents should not be treated as a new class of employee on the org chart. That framing creates confusion. It invites gimmicks: AI coworkers, synthetic departments, fake reporting lines, dashboards of agent headcount. It also hides the real management problem. Agents are better understood as an execution layer inside owned
operating-structure 4 min read Free

Operating Structure for the AI Era #3: The Return of the Full-Stack Operator

AI is bringing back a type of operator companies used to have more of: the person who can diagnose the problem, design the workflow, build or configure the system, run the process, inspect quality, and explain the business implications. Call this person the full-stack operator. Not full-stack in the engineering
operating-structure 4 min read Free

Operating Structure for the AI Era #2: Smaller Teams, Broader Roles

AI makes smaller teams possible. It does not automatically make them better. This distinction matters because a lot of executive conversation is drifting toward a simplistic conclusion: if AI increases productivity, companies should need fewer people. Sometimes yes. But smaller teams only work when roles become broader, ownership becomes clearer,
operating-structure 5 min read Free

Operating Structure for the AI Era #1

Most AI org conversations start in the wrong place. They start with tools. Who has access? Which model should we buy? Should we allow agents? Should there be an AI champion in every department? Should we form a central AI team? Those questions matter, but they are downstream. The first-order
Profile 9 min read Free

Lessons from Andrew Gils

Andrew Gils is a pioneering systems engineer and entrepreneur best known for bridging the gap between open-source telecom architecture and high-end digital audio hardware. Through his work developing embedded operating systems and founding ventures dedicated to specialized server hardware, he has demonstrated how lean, purpose-built technologies can transform complex networking
shipping-velocity 2 min read Free

Shipping velocity series #10: The Shipping System Audit

You have a team. They're working hard. They're not shipping as fast as they should. The diagnosis matters more than the prescription. Most teams treat "ship faster" as a universal instruction: work harder, work smarter, add process, remove process. It rarely works because it&
shipping-velocity 2 min read Free

Shipping velocity series #9: How AI Changes Shipping Velocity — and What It Doesn't Fix

The promise is compelling: AI compresses the mechanical work of coding, prototyping, writing, and designing. Teams that integrate it well can produce more viable options in the same time. The cost of a first draft goes down. The speed of iteration goes up. This is substantially true. And it creates
shipping-velocity 2 min read Free

Shipping velocity series #8: Quality vs Speed Is Usually the Wrong Tradeoff

The framing is familiar: you can ship fast or you can ship quality. Pick one. It's treated as a fundamental tradeoff, like speed versus fuel efficiency in a car. You can have more of one but less of the other. Teams pick their position on the spectrum and
You've successfully subscribed to Antoine Buteau
Great! Next, complete checkout to get full access to all premium content.
Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.
Unable to sign you in. Please try again.
Success! Your account is fully activated, you now have access to all content.
Error! Stripe checkout failed.
Success! Your billing info is updated.
Error! Billing info update failed.
Press ESC to close.