AI-Native Engineering Leadership: How the Role Is Changing in 2026 | Gregor Ojstersek

What does "AI native" actually mean? Gregor Ojstersek — CTO, fractional CTO/advisor, and author of the Engineering Leadership newsletter read by 188K+ engineers and managers — opens Engineering Leadership LIVE with a clear-eyed look at how engineering leadership is changing in 2026 and beyond. In this talk, Gregor covers: + A working definition of AI native: continuously identifying and eliminating bottlenecks across the entire SDLC — not just adopting AI tools + Why the goal of engineering leadership hasn't changed, even though everything around it has + How engineering is becoming engineering leadership: every engineer is now a tech lead, delegating and giving feedback to agents + Why engineering managers are being sought after as ICs again — and why that's not a demotion + The convergence of EM, staff engineer, architect, and product engineer roles into one + The two skill areas that matter most now: human-led skills and problem solving Recorded live at Engineering Leadership LIVE, hosted by Augment Code at Shack15 in San Francisco. Subscribe to Gregor's newsletter: https://newsletter.eng-leadership.com Learn more about Augment Code: https://augmentcode.com