The proliferation of AI is poised to transform the skills needed to reach the corner office, reshaping how leaders approach decision-making, strategy, and organizational dynamics. Aspiring CEOs will need a deep understanding of how to leverage technology to drive innovation and maintain a competitive edge. While they won’t need to become experts in programming or algorithms, they must ask the right questions, interpret AI-driven insights, and understand the ethical and strategic implications of its use.
Emotional intelligence will become even more critical as automation reshapes the workforce. CEOs must balance technological efficiencies with human considerations, fostering a culture that embraces change, mitigates fears about automation, and supports continuous learning. Visionary thinking will also be essential, as CEOs will need to anticipate AI-driven disruptions and adapt business models accordingly.
Here’s what three experts say about how the rapid advance of AI will transform the skills needed to be a CEO. Their comments have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Jane Edison Stevenson, global vice chair of board and CEO services at Korn Ferry
“Staying curious in the virtual dryer of the world that is just tossing us about constantly will be even more important. Innately, it's easy to narrow our aperture, but what we need is to widen it. Curiosity is what does that. As we get into AI and the ways we can use technology distinctly and uniquely in virtually every industry, the ability to wonder what’s possible and think about how it could be achieved is super critical.”
Rick Western, CEO at Kotter
“One of the most profound ways AI will affect CEOs and other C-suite leaders is in decision-making. We’re quickly reaching a point where machine learning will make decisions more effectively than humans. So, if you're aspiring to be a CEO, how do you harness that data? How do you embrace that capability, integrate it into the C-suite, and ensure decisions are grounded in data? The ability to run multiple forecasting models on various scenarios will be key.”
Jason Baumgarten, head of Global Board and CEO Practice at Spencer Stuart
“The way CEOs think about their businesses and industries will have to evolve as technology continues to take shape. Many of these trends aren’t one- to two-year shifts; they’re five- to seven-year transformations. If you wait, you won’t have built the organizational capacity to address them. Leaders need to appreciate technology—not just to manage IT modernization, but to understand how it could disrupt entire industries. They must think ahead, make plans, and take calculated bets on how technology could unlock opportunities or fundamentally shake up their businesses beyond incremental productivity gains.”
Ruth Umoh
ruth.umoh@fortune.com
Today's newsletter was curated by Natalie McCormick.
