While few CEOs like to brag that they’re “shameless about stealing great ideas,” as Apple cofounder Steve Jobs once said, they’re less reticent when it comes to poaching great people. Unlike ideas, of course, people aren’t patented and possess free will, which is only occasionally cramped by non-compete agreements. And poaching top talent is a time-tested way to accelerate growth, launch new divisions, or develop instant expertise that can take a company to the next level.
Exhibit A this week is an announcement from Qualtrics that Microsoft veteran Gurdeep Singh Pall has joined the experience-management software company as its first-ever president of AI strategy. As Qualtrics CEO Zig Serafin told me, hiring one of the people who helped spearhead Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership is “a dream” that he hopes will “help us continue to be leading out front” in the next era.
Having spent almost 18 years at Microsoft himself, Serafin argues that “there’s really no place on the planet” where one can get so much exposure to leading-edge thinking and opportunities to execute on it across diverse industries in high-impact ways.
Some might beg to differ with that assessment, of course, but it’s worth noting the number of former Microsoft employees who’ve been popping up elsewhere lately. The short list includes Lila Tretikov at NEA, Vahé Torossian at Builder.ai, Xuedong Huang at Zoom, Rashmi Misra at Analog Devices, Tim Solms of Slingshot Aerospace, Brian Janous of Cloverleaf Infrastructure, Peggy Johnson of Agility Robotics and many more. Why each of them left Microsoft is a mystery that they’ve probably explained over a drink with close friends.
What we do know is that many former Microsoft leaders have ended up in AI-focused companies or roles. That bolsters the company’s status as an academy for AI talent, in the same way that Procter & Gamble has trained leaders in marketing and consumer packaged goods, Goldman Sachs has groomed leaders in finance, and PepsiCo has incubated Fortune 500 CEOs. Then again, talent can flow both ways: Microsoft in March recruited Mustafa Suleyman, cofounder of AI research lab DeepMind. Meanwhile, Elon Musk says he’s increasing salaries at Tesla because OpenAI is trying to poach his people.
Welcome to the AI talent wars. With business at the beginning stages of understanding how AI will transform what they do, it’s not yet clear whether the leaders of the next revolution will be those armed with technical know-how or ‘softer’ skills. Serafin values both, praising Pall as a technical leader who’s skilled at understanding how AI impacts human interactions. “The way you do something with the insights that you get with AI will define the next generation of leading companies,” he says.
Separately, as my colleague Alan Murray winds down his transformative stint as CEO of Fortune, many CEOs are telling us what the brand means to them. Here’s a comment from Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco:
“Access to objective and in-depth business and technology reporting has never been more important. Fortune continues to be a trusted resource, offering thought-provoking and educational perspectives on key topics that matter.”
More news below.
Diane Brady
@dianebrady
diane.brady@fortune.com
TOP NEWS
Ibotta IPO
Shares in Ibotta, a digital marketing firm backed by Walmart, will start trading Thursday. The company’s IPO raised $577 million at $88 per share, above the marketed range. At that price, Ibotta would be valued at $2.67 billion. The IPO market is starting to recover from last year’s slump, including last month’s highly anticipated offering from social media platform Reddit. Fortune
Micron money
U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology is set to get $6 billion in government money as the latest CHIPS Act recipient. TSMC, Intel, and Samsung have all received multi-billion-dollar grants to expand U.S.-based chip manufacturing. Micron has pledged to spend up to $100 billion over the next two decades on its under-construction chip plants in upstate New York. Bloomberg
Amazon’s intelligence outfit
Amazon used a secret retailer, Big River Services International, to collect information on other ecommerce platforms like Walmart and eBay. Big River would try to get merchandise—initially scoured from “going out of business” sales in Seattle—listed on Amazon competitors to learn more about pricing, logistics, and other details. An Amazon spokesperson says that benchmarking is a “common practice,” and the company suspects other retailers are doing similar research by trying to sell goods on Amazon’s platform. The Wall Street Journal
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
Another departing Goldman Sachs veteran on why the bank is losing top women: ‘The Street wants to cultivate and access this amazing talent’ by Luisa Beltran
Netflix’s password crackdown has stirred up a wave of subscription revenue that still has a lot of room to run by Rachyl Jones
Why the CEO of a $12 billion pet services company still responds to customer emails himself by Fortune Editors
Commentary: The U.S. and China are leading the world in AI innovation—but the U.K. can punch above its weight. Here’s how by Victor Riparbelli
Gen Z favorite Dr. Martens is struggling as its CEO steps down—and it might be because the shoes last too long by Jasmine Li
This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.
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