Flat multi-agent architectures — where all agents communicate as peers — work well for small systems of 3–5 agents. They break down catastrophically at enterprise scale. Context limits overflow, coordination becomes chaotic, and accountability disappears.
Why Hierarchy?
The hierarchical pattern mirrors how effective human organizations work — with clear chains of command, defined domains of responsibility, and information that flows up and down appropriately. A Chief Agent shouldn't know the implementation details of a task agent, just as a CEO doesn't track every invoice.
