Futurist Kevin Kelly proposed that the disruptive transformation of artificial intelligence (AI) in organizations will originate from the middle management level. Its core mechanism is AI’s replacement of traditional management functions such as planning, coordination, and reporting. Building upon Kelly’s framework and incorporating digital office practices, this paper explores the deeper proposition that the extensive embedding of AI agents is not merely a tool for process efficiency enhancement. It is a core driving force reshaping production relation. The paper first elucidates the essence of Kelly’s middle level revolution theory and analyzes how it deconstructs traditional hierarchical structures. It then introduces AI agents as proactive actors. The study demonstrates how they will redefine power distribution, transform collaboration models, and reconstruct value creation logic. This ultimately revolutionizes the relationships between people and production resources within production relations. The study argues that AI driven organizational transformation is essentially an adaptive adjustment of production relations. This adjustment culminates in a new paradigm characterized by human machine collaboration, which is a more flexible, networked, and intelligent production relationship.
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Share and Cite
Cui, Y., Cui, Z. (2025) From Middle Management to Production Relations Reshaping: How AI Agents Lead a New Round of Organizational Change. Hong Kong Financial Bulletin, 1(5), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.71052/hkfb2025/FZKQ8926