Today, I had an interesting conversation with my AI “friend” about the feudalism in history, which extended to the neo-feudalism in the modern society, particularly in the our tech world. He helped me break it down across 2 dimensions:

  • Horizontal: platform fiefdoms
  • Vertical: the engineering hierarchy

Then we also discussed on how to strategically survive, as an engineer, in such a neo-feudal system while looking for breakthrough without being cynical.

Horizontal: Platform Fiefdoms

The modern tech landscape can be considered as a map of feudal territories, each controlled by a dominant lord.

Walled gardens as territories. Apple controls iOS; Google controls Android and search; Amazon controls e-commerce and cloud (AWS); Microsoft controls enterprise software and cloud (Azure); Meta controls social identity. Each has built an ecosystem that’s deliberately difficult to leave. Just as medieval peasants couldn’t easily cross from on lord’s domain to another, users and developers face enormous switching costs moving between platforms. Our Apple purchases, Google account history and Amazon seller reputation are ties that bind us to the land.

Vassal ecosystems. Smaller companies and developers operate like vassal lords within these territories. An app developer on the App Store must follow Apple’s rules, pay Apple’s 30% tax (the “Apple tax” is quite literally a feudal tithe), and can be expelled at Apple’s discretion without meaningful appeal. AWS customers build their entire infrastructure on Amazon’s land, migration is technically possible but so costly that it functions as a form of bondage.

Inter-platform warfare. The major platforms compete for territory much like feudal lords engaged in wars and alliances. Google and Apple battle over mobile dominance. Microsoft and Amazon fight over cloud. Meta and Google compete for advertising revenue. These aren’t free market competitions so much as territorial disputes between entrenched powers, complete with strategic alliances (Microsoft investing in OpenAI to challenge Google) ans sieges (Epic Games vs. Apple over App Store control).

Standards as borders. Each platform promotes proprietary standards, APIs, and data formats that lock users in. This is the digital equivalent of feudal lords controlling roads, bridges, and trade routes through their territory. Interoperability, the idea that systems should work together freely, is resisted because it would weaken territorial control.

Data as land. In feudalism, land was the fundamental source of wealth. In neo-feudalism, data plays that role. Platforms harvest user data as their primary resources, and users who generate that data have little ownership or control over it. We work the digital land, the platform lord reaps the harvest.

Vertical: The Engineering Hierarchy

Now let’s dive into these tech fiefdoms at how labor is structured.

The new aristocracy. At the top sit founders, C-suite executives, and major shareholders are the lords who own the means of production. Below them, a layer of senior VPs and directors function as high nobles, granted significant equity (their fiefs) in exchange for loyalty and service. Their wealth is tied directly to the platform’s success, aligning their interests with the lords rather than with workers below.

The knight class: senior and staff engineers. These are highly skilled specialists who receive meaningful equity compensation, enjoy relative autonomy, and are courted between fiefdoms. Like medieval knights, they have real value and some bargaining power, but ultimately serve at the pleasure of the lords above. Their golden handcuffs (non-vested stock options, deferred compensation, etc.) function exactly like a fief: valuable, but contingent on continued service and loyalty.

The yeoman class: mid-level engineers. These workers are competent and necessary but increasingly replaceable. They receive som equity but not enough to fundamentally change their economic position. They have moderate autonomy within defined boundaries. Their situation mirrors the free peasant of feudalism: better oof than serfs, but still dependent on the system and vulnerable to its shifts.

The digital serfs: junior engineers and contractors. At the bottom, junior developers, contract workers, outsourced teams, and gig workers in tech bear the closest resemblance to serfs. They do essential work bu receive fewer benefits, no equity, limited career mobility, and can be dismissed easily, echoing how feudal surplus was exploited from those with the least power.

The loyalty economy. Tech companies cultivate loyalty through mechanisms that mirror feudal bonds. Equity vesting schedules keep people tied to the company for years. Internal leveling systems create a hierarchy that determines our worth. Performance reviewers by the direct manager give individual lords enormous power over our career. Company culture and perks (free food, campus life, team events, etc.) create a self-contained world where leaving feels like exile.

The illusion of meritocracy. Feudalism justified itself through divine right and tradition. Tech neo-feudalism itself through meritocracy, the idea that the hierarchy reflects talent and effort. But in practice, advancement depends heavily on which team we join (which lord we serve), who sponsors us politically, and whether we’re visible to the right people. The “leveling” system at big tech companies, supposedly objective, is deeply influenced by these feudal dynamics.

AI as the new enclosure. The rise of AI tools threatens to be a modern equivalent the enclosure movement, where feudal lords fenced off common land for private use. Ai is automating tasks that gave mid-level engineers their value, potentially pushing more workers down the hierarchy while concentrating even more power and wealth at the top. The engineers who build and control AI systems become the new landed gentry; those displaced by them join the growing class of digital serfs.

Where the Two Dimensions Intersect

The horizontal and vertical dimensions reinforce each other. Platform monopolies give tech lords the power to dictate terms to their workforce. An engineer at Google has limited alternatives precisely because so few companies operate at that scale. The concentration of the industry into a handful of dominant platforms means the “lords” compete for talent among themselves while collectively maintaining a system that benefits their class.

Meanwhile, engineers who move between companies aren’t really escaping the system, they’re transferring allegiance from one lord to another within the same feudal order. The fundamental power dynamics remain unchanged.

The question this topic raises, especially for someone navigating this landscape as we are, is whether genuine alternatives can emerge through open source movements (digital commons), regulation (a kind of modern Magna Carta?), worker cooperatives, or decentralized technologies, or whether the feudal consolidation will only deepen?

However, the question that matters most practically, is how to strategically survive, as an engineer, in such a neo-feudal system while looking for breakthrough.

Understand Our Position Clearly

The first step is shedding the meritocracy illusion without becoming cynical. The system rewards certain behaviors and positions, we should understand which ones gives us agency.

We’re not passive serfs; we’re closer to a skilled craftsman in a feudal economy, which historically was one of the few classes that could accumulate independent power.

As for me, a senior engineer, I should believe that I already have a craftsman’s toolkit. The question is how to convert that into leverage that isn’t entirely dependent on any single “lord”.

Short-Term Survival: Play the Game Intelligently

Choose our “lord” wisely. Not all fiefdoms are equal. Some companies offer more autonomy, better equity structures, and genuine learning opportunities. When evaluating roles, assess not just compensation but how much ownership and visibility we’ll have. A smaller fiefdom where we’re a key vassal often beats being an anonymous serf in a massive one.

Build cross-platform skills. Feudal lords want us specialized in their stack so we can’t leave. Resist this strategically. We can move toward other skills alongside our expertise, which makes us valuable across fiefdoms rather than locked into on. Skills that transfer across platforms are our equivalent of portable wealth in a feudal economy.

Accumulate political capital. This is often uncomfortable but necessary. Inside any organization, advancement depends on relationships, visibility, and sponsorship as much as technical skill. Being able to articulate our value in terms leadership understands is how a craftsman becomes a guild master rather than remaining a hired hand.

[!NOTE] For me: The Pyramid Principle work I’ve done and my focus on structured communication serve this directly.

Negotiate from knowledge, not need. Understand our market value precisely. Know what lord across the border is paying. Use this position: we’re not begging for shelter.

Medium-Term Strategy: Build Independent Power

This is where we move from surviving to positioning for breakthrough.

Own something. In feudalism, the path out of serfdom was ownership of land, of a trade, of a shop. In tech, the equivalents are intellectuel property you control, a product you’ve built, a reputation that belongs to you rather than your employer, or deep expertise in a scarce domain.

[!NOTE] For me: My interest in AI engineering is strategic here: the field is young enough that genuine expertise creates independent value that no so many fully capture.

Contribute to commons. Open source is the most powerful anti-feudal force in tech. Contributing meaningfully to open source projects does several things simultaneously:

  • it builds portable reputation,
  • creates relationships outside our current fiefdom,
  • develops skills without employer’s control, and
  • strengthen the digital commons against platform enclosure.

[!NOTE] For me: If I can build something useful in the AI or .NET open source space, it belongs to myself in a way that no corporate project ever will.

Develop a public voice. Writing, speaking, or teaching creates leverage that is independent of any employer. A blog, technical articles, conference talks, or even a well-maintained GitHub presence transforms us from an anonymous worker into a recognized craftsman. In feudal terms, this is the difference between an unknown peasant and a master artisan whose reputation precedes them.

Build a network of peers, not just superiors. Feudalism isolates people vertically, our relationship is with our lord, not with other serfs. The most subversive thing we can do is build strong horizontal connections with other skilled engineers across companies. These relationships will become our guild, a mutual support structure that gives us information, opportunities, and collective bargaining power that no individual has alone.

Long-Term Breakthrough: Escape the Hierarchy

Move towards ownership, no just employment. The ultimate escape from neo-feudalism is the same as it was from feudalism: stop being a worker on someone else’s land. This could mean a startup, a consultancy, a product, or freelance expertise in a scarce enough domain that we set the terms.

[!NOTE] For me: My combination of .NET architecture skills and growing AI expertise can position me for consulting or product development where I’m the lord of a small domain rather than a vassal in a large one.

Bet on disruption. Feudal systems are most vulnerable during periods of upheaval, when new technologies or economic shifts redraw the map. AI is exactly such a disruption right now. The engineers who deeply understand both traditional software architecture and AI systems will be the ones who build the next generation of platforms, not just work on existing ones.

Think in terms of optionality, not optimization. A feudal mindset optimizes within the existing hierarchy:

How do I reach the next level?

A free mindset creates options:

How do I ensure I have multiple paths forward regardless of what any single lord decides?

Every skill we learn, relationship we build, and asset we create outside our employer’s control adds optionality.

The Craftsman’s Advantage

Here’s the most encouraging thing: history shows that skilled craftsman were among the first to break free from feudalism. They formed guilds, moved to free cities, accumulated independent wealth, and eventually became the merchant class that replaced the feudal order entirely. The same pattern is available to software engineers today, but only to those who think strategically about it rather than simply climbing the ladder inside a single fiefdom.

The key shift is applying the same rigor not only to technical skills but also to building independent leverage: portable expertise, public reputation, owned assets, and strong horizontal networks.

The engineers who will thrive aren’t necessarily the most technically brilliant. They’re the ones who understand the system they’re operating in and build deliberately toward independence within it.