New leaders are expected to carry the company through AI, yet outside technology the job ads barely ask for it

The survey by Korn Ferry, the executive search firm, which Fortune cited on 7 November, covered more than 1,300 heads of HR and senior executives from over 75 countries. Only 6% of them think their senior leadership is fully prepared to lead the company through the changes AI brings. In the Fortune piece Susan De La Vega of Korn Ferry advises starting at the top: leaders should learn the tools first. If companies agree with that, they ought to be asking the leaders they are hiring now for experience with AI.

Data from TOPHEADSWe took senior and deputy-level vacancies that we first saw between 1 September and 12 November, 10,219 in all. AI is mostly required of technology leaders: in 855 vacancies out of 2,956. For other senior leaders AI is written into the requirements in 252 vacancies out of 5,500. For chief executives that is 34 out of 997, for finance leaders 36 out of 1,763. Against July and August the shares have barely moved: for technology leaders it was 29.0 in 100 and is now 28.9.

Why that is. We see three explanations and could support only one with data. First: AI is handed to one person. Since 1 September we have come across 71 vacancies for a head of AI. That explanation we could not test on our data. Second: companies write about AI without making it a condition. In vacancies for other senior leaders AI appears in the text 730 times out of 5,500, almost three times as often as in the requirements. Third, the most likely and the one we cannot prove: companies still think AI is the technology function’s business and that the rest of the leadership will be asked later.

For a candidate outside IT. Hardly anyone asks for experience with AI, so whoever shows it stands out more than someone with a “digital transformation” line in their CV. For an employer. If the board talks about AI as strategy and the job description says nothing about it, the candidate will never know it is expected.

The board announced an independent review on 8 November, after press reports that the founder and chief executive may have been targeted by a foreign intelligence service. The same day Jensen Huang wrote to staff that he had been unfaithful to his wife, and acknowledged a relationship with a woman whom, according to press reports, US intelligence considers an agent of China. The board then expressed confidence in Huang and said it saw no reason to believe company secrets had been compromised. Three days later The New York Times reported a second relationship, with a company employee; we are not naming her. The board accepted Huang’s resignation from all posts on 11 November. The company gave no reason.

On 12 November, the day of the announcement, NVIDIA shares fell 4.34% and closed at $166.19. The same day AMD gained 5.86% and Broadcom 5.54%, while the indices barely moved. So it was the company itself being sold, and its competitors being bought that day.

NVIDIA’s board settled this in three days. Telling them about a relationship like that yourself, and early, costs less than explaining it after the newspaper has it. What your own code of conduct and contract say about such relationships is worth discussing with a lawyer: an employer’s rights differ from country to country.

In England, Scotland and Wales a claim for unfair dismissal can at present be brought after two years with the same employer, and the award is capped. From 1 January 2027 six months will be enough, and the cap on the compensatory award goes: the tribunal will count actual and future losses with no upper limit. After the same six months an employee can ask for written reasons for the dismissal.

What matters is the last day of employment: if it falls on 1 January or later, the new rules apply. If you are negotiating an exit now, work out with a lawyer where the end of the notice period lands: without the cap the employee’s position is stronger. The new rules do not extend to Northern Ireland.

In New York State, from 19 December 2026, agreements that require an employee to repay money for leaving before a set date become unenforceable. A signing bonus and relocation money can still be reclaimed if the person left of their own accord or was dismissed for misconduct, and if the job was described honestly. Where the role is made redundant there is no repayment.

In California a similar ban takes effect on 1 January 2027, but with conditions: a separate agreement, five working days to consult a lawyer, repayment without interest and pro rata, and a retention period of no more than two years. In New York the rule applies only to agreements entered into after 19 December 2026. If you are discussing a job offer in either state, go through what it says about repaying a bonus with a lawyer.

Our list has five new chief executives; three came from the board or from among the founders, and both finance chiefs were hired from outside. Five cases in a week are not yet a trend.

A snapshot of the week to 13 November from our AlgoTradingMap, with no comparison against earlier weeks. The share includes vacancies for a head of UK legal at OKX, a deputy chief regulatory officer at Coinbase and market surveillance specialists at Kraken. In Britain, from 30 September until the end of February, crypto firms are filing licence applications. Whether the hiring is connected to that we do not know.

Chief Statistician, International Energy Agency, Paris. This is the person responsible for the figures the whole energy market cites. The team is about 45 people. They ask for a degree in a quantitative field and at least ten years in senior roles in energy statistics. The ad states the pay: from €14,279 a month, and it is exempt from French income tax. A three-year contract, renewable. Applications close on 6 December.

Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet Psychiatry, London. The vacancy is at Elsevier, and what makes it rare are the requirements: a medical degree or a research degree with postdoctoral experience, and years of editorial work. Two editors report to the post. The journal has been published since 2014, and its editor decides which work on mental health doctors and policymakers will read. There is no figure in the ad.

Bureau Chief for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Reuters, Berlin. Fluent German and English are required, as is experience managing an editorial budget. AI is in the requirements too: understanding the tools and taking responsibility for how they are used in the newsroom. Applications close on 23 November. Reuters is the only one of the three with AI in the requirements.