Two major CEOs have told CNBC in recent months that the rise of artificial intelligence contributed to their decisions to hand over the reins and step down from their roles.
This is one of the latest insights into how America’s business leaders plan to transition to AI.
coca cola CEO James Quincey told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday that his decision to step down from his role was influenced by a larger “wave of organizational momentum.”
“My job is also to think about the best team to put on the field to get the next wave done,” Quincey said. “And I concluded that it was actually time to bring someone else into the field for the next wave of growth.”
Quincey, who has been CEO of the beverage giant since 2017, will be succeeded by current COO Enrique Braun at the end of this month.
“In the pre-AI, pre-AI generation mode, we made a lot of progress. But now there are big new changes happening,” Quincey said.
Although he is committed to advancing technology, he believes the beverage company needs “people with the energy to pursue a completely new transformation of the company.”
Quincey said he believes that person is Brown, who will be a unique asset to take the company to its next chapter.
Quincy’s comments reflect the sentiments of the former Quincy walmart That’s what CEO Douglas McMillon said in December, before stepping down from his role.
McMillon, who has held the global retailer’s CEO position since 2014, told Squawk Box at the time that he had decided to hand over the role to someone else “sooner.” John Furner, who was head of Walmart US, took over the top job on February 1st.
“Given what’s happening with AI, we could use AI to start the next big transformation, but we couldn’t finish it,” McMillon told CNBC.
“About a year ago, I really started to feel about my next venture. I started seeing visions of what agent commerce was going to look like, AI shopping, and I started thinking about all the things that needed to happen over the next few years. And I really started thinking that now was the right time (to step down),” he said.
Walmart’s move to list on the Nasdaq in December symbolizes the progress the company has made in technology, McMillon said.
The retailer is deploying AI to optimize its supply chain, provide customer assistance, and more.
“I think what we’re seeing from the team at Walmart is that they’re going to continue to expand on what we’ve already started, build some new things on top of that, and then use AI to transform everything,” he said.
