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This article was originally published by Fast Company.
But Tuck Rickards, managing director and co-head of global technology practice for Russell Reynolds Associates, believes that misses the deeper truth. “AI isn’t just a tool,” he says. “It represents a generational business-model shift.” And only a small fraction of CEOs grasp the magnitude of the moment.
“There’s a tremendous opportunity for leaders who lean into it,” Rickards says. In his view, the difference between CEOs who succeed and fail will come down to three essentials: clarity, conviction, and capabilities.
Clarity begins with a willingness to rethink the fundamental architecture of the business. According to Rickards, very few leaders are crossing that line. “Our data shows that only about 5% to 10% of CEOs, across both tech and non-tech sectors, have made a true personal commitment to pivot their organizations to an AI-first model,” he explains.
That finding reflects insights from more than 200 recent conversations with CEOs across sectors. Many understand AI’s potential, but few have yet redefined how it fits within their business model, strategy, and leadership approach. The result is a widening gap between those who are experimenting and those who are truly transforming.
The difference between dabbling and committing is huge. AI requires reimagining the entire business as a technology platform, Rickards says. “You’re not just running a business anymore—you’re reinventing it.”
“Technology and AI aren’t just light enablers anymore,” Rickards says. “You have to be thoughtful about platforms and about how AI agents are new colleagues you bring into the room.” It’s a radically different way of operating, and one that legacy CEOs struggle to fully embrace without first achieving clarity on the future business model.
With clarity in place, conviction becomes the next move. And it’s the part most CEOs find intimidating.
“This is a complicated and scary choice for leaders,” Rickards says. “It requires a willingness to take a risk with your legacy.” The easier path is always to stay the course, delay the decision, or hand over the challenge to another leader.
When history looks back at the organizations that have navigated technology shifts most successfully, it’s often those that found the courage to act decisively at moments of uncertainty. Bold leadership isn’t always the safest path — but when disruption is most acute, it’s often the only way to move an organization forward.
Walmart’s decision to pursue digital reinvention more than a decade ago — at a time when a certain online retailer seemed untouchable — exemplifies that kind of conviction in Rickards’s view. “They made a bold bet to compete head-on with Amazon,” he says, “and today they have a very competitive position.”
“Three years ago, Microsoft chose AI not as another product line, but as the company’s major theme,” Rickards says. Their AI-first repositioning—built through investment in OpenAI and the introduction of Copilot—showed an appetite for challenging assumptions, reorienting the entire company.
These decisions were bold and in many cases unpopular, but they reshaped industries. “If CEOs want to secure not just their own legacy but the long-term strength of their organizations,” Rickards says, “they have to take the steps that position them for future success.” That means choosing the leap before it becomes inevitable.
This level of conviction is becoming increasingly important as CEO tenure shortens and leadership transitions accelerate. According to Russell Reynolds Associates’ most recent CEO Turnover Index, average tenure has dropped from 8.1 to 6.8 years, and more than 70% of CEO transitions in the first half of 2025 were unplanned. Boards are under pressure to find leaders with both the conviction and the capability to lead through systemic transformation.
Once a CEO has clarity on the destination and conviction to pursue it, the organization needs to build the muscles to execute. Rickards emphasizes that “capabilities” doesn’t mean turning every company into an AI company. “It means using this moment as a catalyst to reinvent your business model, how you work, and the products and services you offer.”
In his view, the fundamental change is becoming a more insight-driven and data-driven enterprise. That means modernizing technology platforms, rethinking operating models, and ensuring boards and leadership teams are equipped to guide a tech-centric future. This is where many organizations stumble, he adds, because without clarity and conviction, capability-building becomes disjointed and incremental.
Rickards sees the current moment as a genuine leadership crossroads. “This really is a moment of choice for CEOs,” he says. And that choice will shape the long-term winners and losers of the next decade. Some CEOs will step forward and embrace the responsibility of reimagining their organizations for the AI era. Others will wait, rationalize, or retreat.
AI transformation, in the end, is a leadership decision, Rickards says. And for CEOs who can meet the moment with clarity, conviction, and capability, the opportunity ahead is legacy-defining. “It’s not about the buzzwords,” Rickards emphasizes. “It’s about gaining clarity on what’s possible and building the conviction to take the next hard step.”
Tuck Rickards is a senior member and former leader of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Technology practice. He is based in San Francisco.
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