Organisational Hierarchy - is this the end?
The rise of AI has created an interesting question for organisations: if a machine can make decisions faster and more accurately than layers of management, does the traditional organisational hierarchy still make sense? For decades, hierarchy has been the way we create structure, accountability and control. Yet in conversations with leaders recently, a recurring theme has been emerging, not only is hierarchy under pressure from AI, but our traditional approach to it may already be outdated in ways we haven’t fully acknowledged.
When I think about hierarchy, I don’t just think about boxes on an org chart. I think about the invisible systems that determine how power, accountability and knowledge flow through an organisation. For a long time, hierarchy has told us who has authority, who approves what, and who is responsible if something goes wrong. It has shaped careers, people climb the ladder, one rung at a time. It has shaped HR policies, leadership development, reward and recognition.
But does this structure still fit the way we work today? Or have we been operating within a system that is increasingly out of sync with reality?
Does the traditional hierarchy still exist?
The truth is, many organisations don’t operate in neat hierarchical lines anymore. Knowledge is no longer confined to the top. Content, expertise and insights are at our fingertips. People can learn new skills on demand, connect across silos, and access data in real time. Hierarchy may still exist in name, but the way work actually gets done looks far more like a network than a pyramid.
Think about how decisions are really made. Teams consult AI tools for analysis, they collaborate across functions in digital platforms, they test and learn rather than waiting for approval. Authority is less about who has the title and more about who has the information. Yet our structures, processes and often our leadership mindsets haven’t caught up.
One leader I spoke with recently put it well: “Our org chart looks the same as it did ten years ago, but the way people work bears no resemblance to it.”
Moving between roles – is it faster now?
Another question leaders are asking is whether easy access to knowledge and AI-enabled tools means people will move between roles more quickly. Traditionally, you would work your way up carefully – gathering experience, climbing step by step. Hierarchy assumed that expertise sat with tenure. But if AI can accelerate learning, if content and skill development are on demand, does the pace of career progression shift?
I believe it does. People no longer need to wait years to gain exposure to different domains. With AI, they can simulate, test, learn and problem-solve in areas previously beyond their role. This opens up mobility, but it also challenges HR’s traditional assumptions about career development and succession planning.
What happens when someone can move laterally or upwards at a pace the hierarchy wasn’t built to handle? What does it mean for reward systems, job design, even contracts of employment?
Does HR need to rethink hierarchy?
This is the part of the discussion that feels most under-explored. For years HR has worked within the logic of hierarchy, job families, pay bands, career ladders, succession pipelines. These systems assume stability, predictability and a slow climb. Yet the reality of AI-enabled work looks different. It is fluid, faster, more networked.
HR functions rarely question hierarchy itself, they design systems to operate within it. But perhaps now is the moment to ask: does hierarchy itself need to change? Do we need to rethink how we structure roles, progression, and reward when work can be distributed so differently?
Imagine a system where progression wasn’t linear but project-based. Where people moved across teams, built skills rapidly, and were rewarded for contribution rather than position. Where HR wasn’t maintaining ladders but facilitating networks. Where hierarchy didn’t disappear, but became lighter, more dynamic, and less rigid.
We haven’t really had this conversation yet as a profession. But as AI shifts the very fabric of how work happens, HR can’t simply retrofit old models. It has to help lead this rethink.
What needs to change?
This isn’t about tearing down hierarchy overnight. It’s about recognising that the habits underpinning hierarchy may no longer serve us.
For example:
- Leaders need to model authority differently. In the past, authority came from having answers. Today, authority comes from asking the right questions, enabling collaboration, and using AI wisely.
- HR needs to reimagine career paths. Instead of rigid ladders, think flexible journeys where people gain skills rapidly, move across boundaries, and build credibility through contribution, not just tenure.
- Organisations need to embed new habits of accountability. Hierarchy gave us clarity: you knew who signed off. In flatter, AI-enabled systems, accountability needs to be redefined – not lost. This means leaders must regularly clarify how decisions are made, what role AI plays, and who ultimately owns the outcome.
At FabricShift, we work with organisations to shift habits at these critical moments. Habits are the mechanism that make system-level change real. Without them, big redesigns of structure or policy remain theoretical. With them, leaders and employees can live into new ways of working – daily, visibly, consistently.
So, is it the end of hierarchy?
I don’t believe hierarchy will disappear. Organisations still need accountability, coordination and direction. But I do believe hierarchy is transforming. It is becoming less about control and more about connection. Less about ladders and more about networks. Less about “who sits above whom” and more about “who enables what to happen.”
The organisations that thrive will be those who don’t cling to outdated hierarchies, nor abandon structure altogether, but who reimagine hierarchy as something lighter, more fluid and habit-led.
AI doesn’t remove the need for human leadership. If anything, it increases it. But it changes what leadership looks like. Leaders who can hold space for this shift, who can embrace AI, empower people, and rethink hierarchy, will shape organisations fit for the age we’re entering.
Starting the conversation
What strikes me is that this isn’t a conversation we’re having loudly enough. When I spoke with leaders about hierarchy recently, there was a sense of unease. Everyone feels the old models are fraying, but few are openly questioning what should replace them. HR hasn’t yet reframed its role. Leaders haven’t yet built the new habits needed.
Perhaps this is the leadership opportunity of our time, not just adopting AI, but using it as a catalyst to redesign the fabric of our organisations. To move away from outdated structures and towards systems that are human, technological and behavioural, all at once.
The question is no longer whether AI will change hierarchy. It already has. The real question is: are we ready to change with it?
