On March 31, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and Roelof Botha published an article titled "From Hierarchy to Intelligence," discussing the potential for AI to replace traditional hierarchical coordination in organizations. According to BlockBeats, the authors argue that AI will become a common model for future organizations, ending a reliance on hierarchical structures that has persisted for over two millennia.
Historically, organizational design has been based on hierarchy, a structure originating from military and industrial eras, limited by human "span of control," which typically manages 3-8 people effectively. Hierarchy functions as an "information routing protocol," but as levels increase, it significantly slows information flow and decision-making. Block is exploring the complete replacement of human hierarchical coordination with AI, transforming companies from "hierarchical organizations" to "companies built as intelligent entities." Value will shift from hierarchy to intelligence, with human roles moving to the "edges," focusing on reality, intuition, and ethics, while AI handles coordination, alignment, and proactive decision-making.
The article proposes using AI to construct two key world models to replace middle management:
Company World Model: This model is based on decision records, code, documents, and other outputs from remote work, allowing AI to continuously understand the internal operational state of the company.
Customer World Model: This model is derived from real transaction data from platforms like Cash App and Square, which Block considers money to be the most honest signal, forming a deep understanding of customers' real economic conditions.