Surfing the AI Wave: A CEO's Honest Case for Middle Management, Deep Relationships, and Getting the Basics Right

Show Notes

Show Notes: Heartwired – Emotionally Intelligent Leadership

Episode Title: Surfing the AI Wave: A CEO's Honest Case for Middle Management, Deep Relationships, and Getting the Basics Right
Host: Dr. MJ Vignone
Guest: Mateo Bervejillo, CEO of Xseed Solutions & Author ofBack to Basics

Episode Summary

In this episode of Heartwired, Dr. MJ sits down with Mateo Bervejillo — CEO of Xseed Solutions, author ofBack to Basics, and host of the podcastThe Future of the Future— for a candid, grounded conversation about what gets lost when companies flatten their organizations, chase AI at all costs, and skip the human infrastructure that holds everything together.

Mateo runs a software company of more than 80 engineers in Uruguay and builds nearshore engineering teams across Latin America for US companies. He's also a trained attorney who found his way into tech leadership through operations, outsourcing, and a mid-career leap that terrified him. His book grew from a simple observation: leaders get promoted because they were great individual contributors, and then left completely alone to figure out how to lead — the same way you'd put a great passenger in the cockpit and tell them to fly.

This conversation covers middle management's critical role in an AI era, what it really means to align incentives, the difference between AI doing tasks and AI doing jobs, and what it looks like to surf a wave you didn't create and can't fully predict.

Key Takeaways

Nobody Prepares New Leaders — and It Shows

Mateo's book was born from a moment his team sat him down and told him he was a micromanager, moody, and pushing them toward burnout. He was ten years into leadership and had never been given the basics. His analogy: promoting a great passenger to pilot and handing them the controls with no training. Most first-time leaders are flying that way — surviving on instinct, mistakes, and whatever mentors they're lucky enough to find. The basics aren't common sense. They need to be taught.

Middle Management Is the Glue — Don't Dissolve It

In the rush to flatten organizations and cut costs, middle management has become a target. Mateo pushes back hard: that layer is what allows people to be seen, heard, and connected to their work in a meaningful way. A manager with 50 direct reports cannot have the conversations that drive intrinsic motivation. The one-on-one becomes a Slack message — "Hey, you okay?" "Yes." — and the relationship evaporates. People don't leave companies. They leave managers. Removing the layer doesn't remove the need.

Incentive Alignment Requires Actually Knowing People

Mateo shares the story of an employee who wasn't performing. After going deep in conversation, he discovered she was planning to eventually join her father's real estate firm. Once he knew that, he could redesign her role around skills that would serve that future — and she stayed longer, contributed more, and thrived. Extrinsic motivation — carrots and sticks — only goes so far. Unlocking mastery, autonomy, and purpose requires knowing what a person actually cares about. You can't get there without time and genuine curiosity.

AI Can Do Tasks — It Cannot Do Jobs

Mateo is direct about what he sees as AI psychosis in the industry: companies treating AI agents as if they're employees, pushing the technology to its limits before understanding what they actually need from it. His framing: AI does tasks, people do jobs. The leaders who figure out how to leverage their people with AI — rather than replace people with AI — are the ones building something durable. The ones chasing headlines are often burning capital and calling the cleanup "AI-driven efficiency."

Watch Out for AI Washing

A significant portion of recent tech layoffs, Mateo argues, have less to do with AI productivity gains and more to do with over-hiring during and after COVID. AI is being used as the headline, but the underlying story is often a cost correction. Leaders and employees alike should read the actual situation rather than the spin — and resist making long-term workforce decisions based on short-term narrative.

Surf the Wave — Don't Try to Create It

Mateo's metaphor for leading through AI disruption: surfing. You didn't make the wave. You can't control where it goes. But you can read it, paddle at the right moment, and ride it with balance. His unexpected example: QA engineers are in higher demand than ever, because AI is producing code faster than humans can test it. The bottleneck shifted in a direction nobody predicted. Rigid five-year strategies can't account for that. Alertness, adaptation, and just-in-time learning can.

The Flattest Company Still Runs on Someone Noticing

Dr. MJ's closing takeaway — and one of the episode's most resonant moments — is this: no matter how flat the org chart, someone still has to notice when a person is struggling. That noticing is not a system. It's a relationship. It's the human infrastructure underneath every org chart, and it cannot be automated away.

Memorable Quotes

"AI can do tasks. It cannot do jobs."— Mateo Bervejillo

"Common sense is the least common of all senses."— Mateo Bervejillo

"If you think you can bury your head in the sand and not learn new stuff, you are completely mistaken."— Mateo Bervejillo

"The flattest company in the world still runs on somebody noticing that one person is struggling."— Dr. MJ (closing reflection)

About Our Guest

Mateo Bervejillo is a seasoned entrepreneur, technology leader, and business strategist with over fifteen years of experience driving growth, operational excellence, and innovation across global technology and outsourcing organizations. He currently serves as CEO of Xseed Solutions, a Montevideo-based software development and staff augmentation firm focused on helping US companies build high-performing engineering teams in Latin America.

Mateo is the author ofBack to Basics: For the Leaders Nobody Ever Prepared, a practical guide that bridges the gap between the expectations placed on new leaders and the preparation they actually receive. He is also the creator and host ofThe Future of the Future, a podcast exploring the intersection of technology, leadership, and innovation — now more than 190 episodes in.

A trained attorney with a JD from Universidad de la República, Mateo brings a multidisciplinary lens to business challenges. Outside of work, he is a devoted family man and musician with a lifelong love of learning, travel, and creative expression.

Book: Back to Basics — xseed.com.uy
Also on Amazon: amazon.com
Website: xseed.com.uy
LinkedIn (Company): linkedin.com/company/xseed-solutions
Instagram: @xseed.solutions

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Website: drmjheartwired.com

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