Could AI Be Putting CXO Roles at Risk?

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Since 2022, artificial intelligence has moved from experimentation to everyday use across industries. A 2025 McKinsey report found that 62% of organizations have already experimented with AI agents, signaling how quickly these systems are embedding themselves into core workflows. This growing trend has often raised concerns about the technology causing layoffs and replacing manpower. 

A Pew Research study of 5,273 U.S. workers revealed that 52% feared AI in the workplace. Meanwhile, a Reuters survey found that 71% of Americans are worried that AI will permanently put large numbers of people out of work.

This narrative often puts entry-level and middle-level workers at risk. 

However, a string of top executive exits has now led the US tech industry to ask: could AI also be putting CXO roles at risk?

The recent departure of James Quincey from Coca-Cola marked the latest shake-up, with the former CEO himself sharing that the decision was influenced by broader “waves of organizational momentum.”

“My job is also to think about who’s the best team to put on the field to get the next wave done,” Quincey shared with CNBC. “And I concluded that, actually, it was time to put someone else on the field for the next wave of growth.”

“In a pre-AI, pre-GenAI mode, we made a lot of progress. But now there’s a huge new shift coming along,” Quincey said. He acknowledged that Coca-Cola needed someone with energy “to pursue a completely new transformation of the enterprise.”

Quincey’s sentiments were echoed by Douglas McMillon, who made an exit from retail giant Walmart. McMillon, who had held the position as CEO since 2014, shared of handing over the role to someone “faster.”

“With what’s happening with AI, I could start this next big set of transformations with AI, but I couldn’t finish,” McMillon told CNBC.

“He’s uniquely capable of leading the company through this next AI-driven transformation. He’s a merchant, an operator, an innovator, and a builder,” McMillon said of the current CEO, John Furner.

Quincey and McMillon aren’t the only ones grappling with the impact of AI on what leadership will look like now and in the future.

​Recently, industry veteran and Adobe’s longtime CEO Shantanu Narayen announced his decision to step down after 18 years amid investors’ impatience with the software company’s AI transition. 

​“The next era of creativity is being written right now — shaped by AI, by new workflows, and by entirely new forms of expression. Adobe has never waited for the future to arrive. We’ve anticipated it. We’ve built it. And we’ve led it,” he shared in an internal memo, adding that Adobe’s motto of Empower Everyone to Create represented a larger opportunity in the AI era.

Narayen’s departure comes in the wake of a significant sell-off in software-as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud stocks that occurred in February. During this period, Adobe’s shares plummeted by approximately 23%, reaching their lowest point in nearly three years. Wall Street analysts are now debating whether the rise of AI could diminish the demand for traditional software tools, prompting companies to reevaluate their pricing strategies, competitive advantages, and data lock-in practices.

In 2026, AI is changing more than how work gets done—it is changing who gets to lead. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is testing an AI CEO agent to assist him in his job. During the India AI Impact Summit in February, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared that in the future, AI “would be capable of doing a better job being the CEO of a major company than any executive.”