Leading in 2025 will require multidisciplinary vision, adaptability and the ability to connect ideas in an AI-driven world.
But sometimes the signs are clear and visible to everyone. For the next generation of CEOs, the message is unequivocal: the key to success lies in the ability to adapt and a broad view of knowledge.
Gone are the days when basing a career on specialisation within a single field guaranteed effective leadership of an organisation. Today, leaders urgently need to adopt a multidisciplinary approach, capable of not only breaking down silos but also fostering the exchange of ideas between them. Otherwise, they risk being left behind.
If this seems like a paradox, it is not strange.
As Malcolm Gladwell taught us , investing the famous 10,000 hours in a discipline is a crucial step towards mastery. Similarly, the concept of grit proposed by Angela Duckworth remains relevant: commitment, dedication and the ability to face difficult challenges are still essential.
However, the paradigm has changed. While deep knowledge in an area remains essential for success, it is no longer sufficient. Today, the key lies in the ability to integrate different perspectives, adapt quickly and challenge the boundaries of traditional knowledge.
In Sam Altman ’s 2025 , transformative success is achieved not by walking a single 10,000-hour path alone , but by walking multiple paths in parallel. Like water flowing through a rice paddy, the foundation for success in the coming year will be built on simultaneous mastery of multiple disciplines, flowing to where the greatest opportunities present themselves.
CEOs who dare to step out of their comfort zone and integrate knowledge from different fields are much more likely to thrive in a constantly changing world. That’s why the concept of scope is key to leadership in 2025. The question is: how to cultivate it ?
AI imposes a new reality for CEOs
The evolution of modern work is not a new phenomenon. In fact, job descriptions today already differ significantly from what they were just a decade ago.
Today, companies demand professionals capable of alternating between marketing analysis, brand management and digital communication in the course of a single day, a requirement that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. What used to require the intervention of several highly trained specialists now often falls to a single role, reflecting a broader structural transformation: work is no longer linear, a reality that particularly impacts the figure of the CEO .
Yes, Adam Smith ’s famous pin factory still offers valuable lessons about efficiency and specialization. However, artificial intelligence is reconfiguring that equation in two fundamental ways.
First, AI made specialized knowledge more accessible and less scarce, reducing the value of its exclusive domain over time.
What takes an individual years to learn, artificial intelligence can process in seconds. Tools such as large language models and generative AI (Gen-AI) are capable of analyzing complex data at breakneck speed and synthesizing niche research that would have once taken specialized teams months of work.
It is true that, today, the precision of these tools is not perfect and the quality of the results depends largely on the quality of the instructions and the chaining of commands.But for anyone who believes we’ll make it to the end of 2025 without AI capable of matching the expertise of highly specialized business professionals, «I have a bridge to sell you.»
But the revolution doesn’t end there. AI not only democratises access to specialised knowledge, it also amplifies our ability to execute. Every person becomes a potential powerhouse of action, provided they know how to use the available information strategically.
And this is where the need to develop a broad understanding of the world, business and the environment comes into play. Spending 10,000 hours digging a ten-mile hole may lead you to find gold, but it can also make you lose sight of the opportunities that exist just a few feet away. Embracing the adjacent possible is key.
For leaders, this means taking a broader, multidisciplinary perspective. Rather than endlessly digging into a single specialization, CEOs must learn to identify and assess multiple opportunities, directing their teams toward the strategic points where it pays to drill down.
As a result of this new reality, the role of the CEO is evolving . It is no longer just about running a company in traditional terms, but about becoming a coordinator, a facilitator and a connector of ideas, talents and opportunities.
Examples of this transformation can already be seen in figures such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Mark Cuban, who have leveraged their core knowledge to branch out into disparate industries from space exploration to biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
Whether digging tunnels beneath vast cities or driving artificial intelligence in healthcare, these leaders have shown that success depends not on a single, deeply specialized skill but on the ability to capitalize on knowledge across domains and connect seemingly distant dots.
Ultimately, a CEO’s day-to-day life must evolve from the classic «I run this company» to the broader «I am the shepherd of this company . » Leading your team effectively requires much more than technical knowledge or deep experience in a single field; it requires a strategic vision that allows you to know where to graze and when to move forward.
How can CEOs expand their reach?
How can a CEO, mired in endless responsibilities, intentionally cultivate a broad vision without sacrificing the benefits of focus and determination?
Contrary to popular belief, developing a broader approach does not mean dispersing efforts in a chaotic manner. Having a broad scope does not mean lacking focus or commitment.
Instead, it is useful to think of it as the art of cultivating a set of intellectual weaknesses , analogous to those social weaknesses that, under certain circumstances, can generate extraordinary results.
At its simplest, this means giving yourself permission to briefly explore intriguing topics, venturing into side projects that may not promise an immediate return on investment but could be the seeds of future innovation, and simply “getting excited” about an idea until the impulse arises to move on to another.
Embracing the Mindset Shift: From Narrow Purpose to Broad Intellectual Passion
It is time to consider the diversity of interests as an asset and not as a betrayal of each leader’s core experience.
Angela Duckworth ’s concept of tenacity highlights the importance of sustained commitment. However, if interpreted too rigidly, it risks limiting professional development. Instead, such commitment can extend to a portfolio of diverse interests, each of which contributes to enriching overall leadership acumen.
The key is to analyze how the main experience interacts with the new fields that are being explored and to dare to venture into completely unknown areas.
After all, this is how we learn and grow.
Broaden the intellectual horizon
Curating Diversified Reading Lists
Reading deeply is valuable, but reading widely is equally valuable. The key is to combine academic publications, historical accounts, biographies of pioneers, and articles by contemporary thought leaders. By exposing the mind to multiple perspectives, the possibilities of making unexpected connections—ones that may reveal opportunities that others have not yet detected—are multiplied.
Prepare for unexpected collaborations
Silos exist because we build them ourselves. Breaking that cycle and stepping outside the professional bubble requires a conscious effort: committing to dialogue with colleagues from completely different departments or disciplines.
Asking key questions can open unexpected doors: How do their processes work? What are their biggest challenges? What innovations excite them?
These conversations can lead to novel tools, approaches or applications that fit perfectly into your work environment.
Cultivating weak intellectual ties through parallel projects
Not everything needs to generate an immediate return on investment or necessarily scale up to become a competitive advantage . Learning to paint or program, enrolling in an online psychology course , or studying a new language are activities that, although they may seem alien to the business world, can reconfigure the way of thinking and open new perspectives.
For a CEO, this mental plasticity can make the difference between incremental improvement and breakthrough innovation.
Adopting a Theme+ Mindset
When assessing your current skills—whether in marketing, software engineering, or economics—ask yourself: What is the “plus” component that could catapult me beyond the obvious applications?
The key is to identify peripheral areas that feed your specialization. For example, a software engineer might benefit from design thinking, an economist from data science, and a business leader from behavioral psychology. Spending time learning at least the basics of these disciplines expands analytical capacity and fosters innovation.
Variety as a habit
At its core, variety is nothing more than a habit of intellectual curiosity coupled with selective exposure to new ideas. It is not about being a world-class expert in every field—nor would that even be desirable—but rather about achieving a sufficient level of understanding in different areas to detect synergies and broaden strategic vision.
With artificial intelligence as an ally, knowledge is no longer an insurmountable barrier. Often, a slight idea of the first step to take is enough to be surprised by how far you can go.
