A recent paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) analyzing more than 50,000 CEO careers found that the average appointment age has climbed from 48 in the year 2000 to 55 today. The researchers suggest that increased economic uncertainty and the growing geographic and regulatory complexity of the role are pushing firms to prioritize “generalist human capital” (i.e., experience) over “raw ability.”
One outcome of this corner office trend is that CEO, even more than it used to be, is becoming a career capstone rather than a career path. More and more executives will hold the job only once before they retire. First-timers accounted for 86% of public CEO appointments in 2025 and have held the majority by a wide margin since 2018, according to the executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates . The firm also reports that the average CEO tenure is shortening—from 8.3 years in 2021 to 7.1 in 2025.
The hollowing of the serial CEO pipeline is happening at an inflection point in artificial intelligence transformation. Our times call for a CEO who’s had to rethink strategy while bearing full accountability for the business’s performance, because they’ll have to do it again. There’s no one better prepared to lead a company through a disruptive period than someone who’s done it before. Boards considering candidates with a track record of AI transformation should make sure they have the appetite to take another job. AI is here to stay.
The one-and-done trend complicates boards’ ability to find talent
The NBER paper suggests companies’ searches for adaptable, seasoned executives has led to a graying corner office. While any first-time CEO is inherently riskier than a tested chief executive, it’s not clear if hiring older candidates is actually the best strategy.
Faced with a lack of seasoned repeat CEOs, boards often consider experienced COOs, CFOs, or CHROs. But depth of experience in senior roles is not the same as diversity of experience in the CEO role, and even the strongest of candidates will have some gaps.
I’m now in my fourth CEO role, having led my first private, family-owned business at 27. I’ve headed private equity-backed, public, and venture capital companies across the U.S., U.K., and international markets. In doing so, I’ve developed more adaptability than if I’d spent the same years in a single role, however senior. I’ve had to rework my approach each time to fit the organization’s structure, culture, market dynamics, and ambition.
Running four types of companies taught me that “generalist human capital” is created through a diversity of experiences—leading through many different disruptive periods, ownership structures, talent markets, economic environments, and go-to-market strategies—rather than age alone.
Want a seasoned leader? Start building them early
If the serial CEO is disappearing, the best solution is to start building the next generation before boards need them.
My approach to establishing my reputation in my early twenties was to pursue scope, not title. Three strategies helped me land my first CEO job at 27: volunteering for hard assignments, learning the business beyond my job description, and solving problems that mattered to the whole organization. After that role, I also looked for opportunities internationally where there was less competition.
That led me to the U.K., where I was passed over for a soon-to-be-public CEO title because of my age. They gave me the CFO job instead. I didn’t get discouraged. I extended my responsibilities far beyond the traditional remit, doing all the work to IPO on the London Stock Exchange in my early thirties. I landed my next CFO role with a business I knew was looking to replace its CEO. They wanted to pivot to a SaaS go-to-market motion without raising cash until they could go private. They needed a finance officer with CEO skills, and I’d proved my operational and strategic chops at my last job.
When I led my first public company as CEO, albeit at the still relatively young age of 38, I had developed a strong leadership “muscle memory” that I’ve continued to hone to this day.
If tomorrow’s chief executive needs well-rounded experience to be ready for the role, then the work of building that leader has to start no later than the early days of their careers, or better yet while they’re still in school. The sports and music industries have sophisticated systems for scouting raw talent from a young age. We can use a similar structure and performance criteria to cultivate the next generation of leaders.
I’ve now had the pleasure of hiring and promoting many young professionals along the path to the C-suite. Three key qualities help me identify promising CEO talent:
Raw ability aside, are they coachable? The most capable people I know apply what they’ve learned from others to adapt their approach in the field.
Do their peers listen to them, regardless of their title? People who built respect without relying on hierarchy tend to fit into management roles effortlessly.
Are they happier when their team succeeds, or when they succeed? Ego-driven leaders eventually burn out under C-suite pressure.
These are some of the mindsets that distinguish excellent CEOs . They’re also natural attributes that show up early in a career, no executive experience needed.
Filling the talent pipeline from within the company
You don’t need to enlist your young leaders in an expensive CEO academy once you’ve spotted their potential.
One practical approach is to give them a cross-functional assignment, something that solves an actual business problem and requires them to influence people they don’t manage. Give them executive sponsors outside their reporting line. Once a month, have your young leaders debrief their executive sponsor on how they managed stakeholders, made decisions, and found opportunities to improve for next time. They can also occasionally give strategy presentations to the board or executive team so they learn how to manage up.
I’ve found this model affordable since it tackles work the organization already needs done. More importantly, it turns succession planning into an ongoing practice. If companies want the talent pipeline ready when they need it, they have to start filling it with young, capable leaders for whom the CEO title is still a pipe dream.
