From specialist to generalist-in-chief: A CEO's guide to managing what you don't know

Fast Company

4 days ago

By now, most CEOs know the playbook has changed. In 2025, the speed of AI adoption has propelled every function—finance, marketing, operations, and legal—into a state of transformation. But here's the real challenge: as a CEO, you're expected to lead these transformations in areas you may not fully understand.
According to Gartner's 2024 CEO survey, 87% of CEOs believe the benefits of AI outweigh the risks. And yet, most aren't AI experts. Luckily, they don't need to be. What they need is the ability to lead experts—people who often know far more about their domain than the person leading the company.
That's the paradox: You don't land the CEO seat without expertise, but once you do, your value isn't about knowing more—it's about leading better.
I started my career in product management. Running a full P&L at Salesforce helped. But nothing prepares you for negotiating debt with a room full of VCs. That's when you learn that being a great CEO means enabling the experts around you, not trying to out-expert them.
You can't fake expertise. But you can build a team of experts—and lead them well. Here's how.
BUILD THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS
One thing I see over and over is the tendency of new CEOs to create silos. Marketing says one thing, sales another, and finance a third. The CEO bounces between them like a human Teams thread. Everyone's frustrated. Nothing moves.
It's a simple fix: stop playing the telephone game. Bring people into the same room.
The best way to stop the cycle is to hold meetings where those leaders can hear each other, and you can listen to them together. At Alteryx, we hold regular pipeline meetings with sales, marketing, operations, and finance leaders in the same room.
This isn't just about being efficient. It's about making better decisions. When people hear each other out, they build shared understanding. And once that happens, I make a decision, and we move. That's what leadership looks like.
LEAD WITH ALIGNMENT, NOT AUTHORITY
Of course, you can't personally make every decision. But you can make sure every decision is pointing in the right direction.
That's the shift from domain leader to CEO: you stop optimizing for output and start optimizing for alignment. And that means spending less time on the 'how' and more on the 'why.'
At Alteryx, I use a version of the V2MOM framework: Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, Measures, to ensure the company has a clear sense of direction. Everyone on my leadership team builds one based on the one I create for the entire company. Everyone sees each other's. No secret projects. No mysterious priorities. Just transparency and alignment.
And I've developed a simple gut-check question that I often come back to: Would this team make the same decision if I weren't in the room? If the answer is yes, I've done my job. If it's no, it's time to revisit the 'why.'
ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
Speaking of asking questions, this part often trips people up. When you're not the expert in the room, it's easy to fall silent—or try to sound smarter than you are. Don't do either.
Your job is to ask the questions that make your team better. Here are a few I rely on:
• What would have to be true for us to grow this 10X?
• If we need to hit this company-wide goal, how can your team help us get there?
• What would you change if you started this from scratch today?
• What assumptions are we not questioning?
You'd be surprised by what shows up when you create space for reflection.
The only types of questions I try to avoid are ones that rehash the past. I care a lot less about what we tried six months ago than I do about what we'll do next quarter.
METRICS AS A GUIDEPOST
When managing outside your lane, metrics help you stay grounded without micromanaging. Not because the numbers replace judgment but because they give you a shared language to talk across functions.
I work with my exec team to build a simple dashboard I can use to spot patterns and pressure points. It's not a report card—it's a pulse check. And when something looks off, it gives me the opening to ask: 'Is this a trend or just a blip?' Then, we can get to the root of what might be explaining this shift.
The goal isn't to catch someone off guard. It's to stay aligned and focused.
Being a CEO doesn't mean knowing how to do every job. It means creating an environment where the people who do know can succeed.
It means aligning smart people. Asking better questions. Getting those people in the room and listening.
You don't need to be the smartest in every room. You just need to be the one who helps make the room smarter.