# Smaller teams, more software.

- Author: Brian Sztamfater
- URL: https://sztamfater.com/thoughts/smaller-teams-more-software/
- Published: 2026-10-16
- Tags: ai, software

I've been thinking about what happens to software teams as AI makes developers more productive.

If a team can now do the work that used to require three teams, layoffs seem like an obvious consequence. But I'm not sure that's the whole picture.

What if cheaper software development creates more demand for software? What if companies that couldn't justify building something before can now afford to? What if, instead of a few large teams building a handful of products, we end up with many small teams building far more things?

Maybe we're looking at software employment through the wrong lens. Large engineering teams might shrink while the industry expands horizontally, with more and more small teams capable of building products that once required entire departments.

The industry could end up with fewer developers per team, but many more teams building software.