As AI lets smaller teams do work that once required large groups, the people chosen to direct those systems matter more, according to six-time founder Eric Francia. Writing for Crunchbase, he argues that companies should build "autonomous humans" as deliberately as they build autonomous systems. That means hiring people who question the way things have always been done and trusting them to make decisions when leaders are not in the room.
Francia recommends hiring for curiosity over credentials, pointing to side projects as evidence that a candidate takes initiative. He also says employees should be handed real responsibility from the start, because people closest to the product often spot problems before leadership does. With the World Economic Forum projecting that 59% of employees will need reskilling by 2030, he argues that a fixed skill set is less valuable than the ability to learn what comes next.
He also warns that boredom is a serious risk in lean teams, where losing one talented person is costlier. A disengaged employee is slower, less likely to attempt difficult work, and more vulnerable to recruiter outreach. Francia's advice to leaders: invest in development, keep people learning, and give autonomy early so boredom has nowhere to take hold.