Future Fortune 500 CEOs: 11 up-and-comers that leadership experts see as generational standout bosses
For C-suite executives, having decades of experience is no longer enough to handle the unprecedented challenges of today’s shifting corporate landscape. Vulnerability, humility, and self-awareness are among the qualities that first-time CEOs must cultivate. Who will stand out in this new landscape? With the help of executive search veterans and industry experts (who asked not to be named so as not to show favoritism), Fortune has identified 11 CEO stars in the making—many of them already in the C-suite, and all potential large-company CEOs. They range in age from 33 to 56, and each was identified by one or more experts who see a generational standout leader in the making.
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Because executives develop in different ways, we’ve created categories for the 11 individuals. Three have built unconventional résumés that wouldn’t have put them on a CEO track in previous eras. Three have succeeded at tech companies or tech-related jobs without majoring in STEM disciplines (and of those, one is already a CEO but is likely to go on to even larger roles). Two are not yet in the top job but hold such broad responsibilities that they could step into a CEO job today. And three are women in the world’s largest and most turbulent industry, health care, which is increasingly female-led—and is developing leaders who will transform other sectors as well.
Big-company tech success
Sarah Bond
Corporate Vice President
Xbox
Microsoft
Bond, 44, brings a classic résumé: Yale bachelor’s degree, Harvard MBA, McKinsey consultant, and corporate strategist at T-Mobile before joining Microsoft in 2017. She now leads the division of Xbox that builds and commercializes products and services for game creators. That makes her a key player in a major strategic transformation: Microsoft’s ambitious effort to reorder the gaming ecosystem so anyone can play any game anywhere on any device. Among other challenges, Microsoft must change the way developers create games. Bond is also on the boards of two publicly traded corporations: Zuora (software) and Chegg (services for students). A headhunter calls her “a superstar up-and-comer” and “an inspiring leader.”—Geoff Colvin
Brady Brewer
Chief Marketing Officer
Starbucks
Among other duties, Brewer, 49, oversees Starbucks’ groundbreaking digital loyalty program and digital payments system, which analysts laud as crucial elements in the company’s success. He was an early adopter of the concept of combining marketing and technology: After majoring in marketing at the University of Washington, he worked at two startups, the visual communication software company Visio and the marketing analytics company Avenue A, both later bought by Microsoft. In 22 years at Starbucks he has broadened his experience beyond marketing and the U.S., with five years in Hong Kong and three years in Tokyo as chief operating officer of Starbucks Japan. A headhunter says that in addition to being “the brains behind their loyalty program and Starbucks payments,” he’s also “so inspiring.”—G.C.
David Rawlinson
CEO
Qurate Retail
Rawlinson, 47, is making a name for himself as the leader to bring on board through a corporate pivot. A graduate of famed military school the Citadel, Rawlinson went on to Harvard for an MBA and then to positions in the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Prior to his appointment as Qurate’s CEO in 2021, Rawlinson shepherded NielsenIQ, a retail and consumer goods data company, through its spinoff from Nielsen’s TV ratings arm. And when he was president of online sales at industrial supplies company W.W. Grainger, he was key to building its e-commerce business. Greg Maffei, executive chairman of Qurate Retail, said it was Rawlinson’s ability to bring an “outside perspective to a well-established business” that made him the person to lead Qurate.—Paolo Confino
Very unconventional
Andrew MacDonald
SVP of Mobility
Uber
Macdonald was tapped to lead Uber’s global rideshare business in 2019, though he’s been with the company since May 2012, working his way up to vice president of Americas operations and global business development before his current role. Macdonald, 39, oversees the company’s rideshare business globally, as well as other divisions including car sharing and micromobility (bikes and scooters). The company has greatly disrupted the taxi industry since its founding in 2009, but Macdonald has spearheaded efforts to collaborate with the industry, aiming to list every NYC taxi—and then every taxi in the world—on Uber.—Paige McGlauflin
Eric Glyman
Cofounder and CEO
Ramp
Glyman, 33, cofounded Ramp in 2019 with a simple idea: offer companies a corporate credit card and software designed to help them spend less. Traditional corporate cards emphasize other benefits and may offer rewards points to incentivize spending. Ramp helps employers direct and monitor what employees spend and speeds up expense reports and accounting for end-of-month closings. Ramp’s most recent private investment round, in March 2022, valued the company at $8.1 billion. One executive search advisor sees Glyman as a potential payments industry giant—a next-generation Ajay Banga (former CEO of Mastercard) or Al Kelly (executive vice president of Visa).—G.C.
Ryan Roslansky
CEO
LinkedIn
Roslansky was former CEO Jeff Weiner’s first hire at the Microsoft-owned professional platform in 2009, after working for him at Yahoo for five years. Roslansky, 45, eventually became chief product officer, before being named CEO in June 2020. The networking platform has exploded in popularity since Roslansky’s appointment and the advent of the Great Reshuffle, a term that Roslansky coined to describe the record high wave of professionals voluntarily leaving their jobs. LinkedIn grew to 850 million members in fiscal year 2022, from 700 million in 2020, and grew revenue by 71% in that same time period. He oversees over 20,000 employees across 36 global offices.—P.M.
Health care
Que Thanh Dallara
EVP & President Medtronic Diabetes
Medtronic
Dallara, 49, is just a year into her role as executive vice president and president at Medtronic Diabetes. The division brought in $2.3 billion in revenue last year, 7% of the medical device giant’s $31.7 billion in 2022. And 2023 is looking promising after the FDA recently approved the company’s automated insulin delivery system with a built-in sensor. Dallara’s job combines her tech expertise from four years at Microsoft with her experience working on control systems at Honeywell. She says customers are at the center of her work. Medtronic CEO Geoff Martha notes: “She is not only transforming our diabetes business but is influencing how we manage execution rigor and prioritization across Medtronic.”—Kinsey Crowley
Ashley McEvoy
Executive Vice President & Worldwide Chairman of MedTech
Johnson & Johnson
McEvoy, 52, has built a career that seems ideal preparation for a health care CEO. As worldwide chairman of the MedTech division (2022 revenue: $27 billion), she oversees a leader in medical devices, including heart pumps, replacement knees, surgical staplers, and breast implants. MedTech’s 60,000 employees are 40% of Johnson & Johnson’s total. Earlier she was president of J&J’s McNeil consumer business, which makes Tylenol, Zyrtec, Mylanta, and other over-the-counter drugs. J&J has recently divided itself in two, with its consumer businesses forming a separate company called Kenvue. McEvoy’s MedTech and the company’s pharmaceutical businesses will remain together under the Johnson & Johnson name. A headhunter says McEvoy is “incredibly well-respected and on a strong leadership trajectory.”—G.C.
Heather Cianfrocco
CEO
Optum Rx
UnitedHealth Group
Cianfrocco is in her third CEO role at UnitedHealth Group. At age 49, she now leads the pharmacy benefit company Optum Rx, which brought in nearly $100 billion in revenue last year. She previously held the CEO spot at UnitedHealth Group’s OptumHealth services and at UnitedHealthcare Community & State division—highlights of a 15-year tenure at the company. A headhunter says Cianfrocco can lean on this experience to navigate the complex health care industry, calling her “incredibly strong and accomplished.” She also holds a master’s in health care delivery science from Dartmouth and formerly practiced as a health care corporate and securities lawyer in Pennsylvania.—K.C.
Stars ready now
Shailesh Jejurikar
Chief Operating Officer
Procter & Gamble
Jejurikar’s tenure at the consumer goods manufacturing company spans three decades. He started as an assistant brand manager of personal health care at P&G India in 1989, and eventually become CEO of the brand’s fabric and home care sector—P&G’s largest business unit worldwide. Jejurikar, 56, has served as chief operating officer at P&G since October 2021, taking over the role from Jon Moeller, the current president and CEO and board chairman. The first Indian to serve as COO, Jejurikar oversees P&G’s businesses in Latin America, India, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe, and leads several business functions including manufacturing, distribution, and market operations.—P.M.
Kathryn McLay
President & CEO
Sam’s Club
Walmart
McLay would already be a famous CEO if Sam’s Club were a freestanding business rather than a unit of Walmart. She took the helm at the membership-based retail warehouse chain in late 2019, then managed it through the pandemic, boosting revenue 42% to $84 billion in the latest fiscal year. McLay, 49, joined Walmart as strategy vice president in 2015 after 14 years with Woolworths Group, the largest retailer in her native Australia. Before taking profit-and-loss responsibility at Sam’s Club, her résumé prepared her for top-level leadership: auditing and logistics jobs at Woolworths, supply-chain management at Walmart, and responsibility for operations at the company’s small-format Neighborhood Markets stores. G.C.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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