The Executive Summer List: What to Read, Listen to and Watch on Your Break

The most valuable thing an executive can pack this summer is permission to stop.  For many, the summer months bring a holiday, a change of scene or simply a few quieter weeks as colleagues, clients and customers take time away. For others, it may be business as usual but with a slightly different rhythm and, perhaps, a little more space to think. Wherever you find yourself this summer, that space is worth protecting.

Senior leadership runs on judgement, and judgement can degrade when the calendar never lets up. Time away from the immediate demands of the role restores the energy, perspective and creative range that boards are paying for. The leaders who protect their recovery return sharper than those who spend every quieter moment answering emails.

We made a similar point in our leadership lessons from the World Cup: organisations that invest in resilience before a crisis are the ones still standing when it arrives. The same discipline applies to individuals. Creating space to step away, recharge and see things differently is part of sustaining good leadership over the long term.

A break, however you take it, can do more than restore energy. It can also feed curiosity. The best holiday material entertains first and instructs almost by accident: a podcast that introduces a new perspective, a book that quietly reframes how you think about talent, or a series about a family empire imploding that somehow leaves you thinking differently about power, culture and succession.

So, whether you are heading abroad, staying close to home, working through the summer or simply finding a little more breathing room in the diary, here is our summer list for the journey, the garden, the commute or the quieter evening. A mix of the entertaining, the substantial and the technical, with details of where to find each one.  You don’t need to be on a beach to take a break. You just need to give yourself permission to stop and perhaps something interesting to think about when you do.

For the pool, the garden or the commute: what to listen to

Founders, with David Senra. The podcast loved by some of the world’s most powerful CEOs, according to a recent Fortune profile, it counts Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Dell CEO Michael Dell and Spotify’s Daniel Ek among its fans. Senra reads one business biography a week, pen and ruler in hand, and distils what history’s great operators actually did. He recorded for more than five years to almost no audience before it took off, and the show itself is a lesson in his favourite theme: keep control, obsess over quality and the money follows. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or at founderspodcast.com, and look out for his new long-form interview show featuring what he calls “extreme winners”.

The Rest Is Money. Robert Peston and Steph McGovern make sense of the week’s business and economic stories twice a week for Goalhanger, from what fiscal devolution under Andy Burnham means for markets to interviews with authors and traders. It is sharp enough for a professional audience and light enough for a beach walk. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music.

The Bottom Line. Evan Davis’s long-running Radio 4 conversation show gets bosses to explain how their industries really work, from keeping oil flowing after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to the economics of record-breaking trainers. Perfect 28-minute episodes for airport queues, with the Decisions That Made Me spin-off for career-defining moments. Thursdays on BBC Radio 4 and any time on BBC Sounds.

For the beach, the sofa or the quieter hours: what to read

Open, by Andre Agassi. The memoir David Senra returns to more than almost any other book: the story of a man who hated the thing that made him famous and had to find his own reasons to keep going. For any executive wrestling with motivation, reinvention or the gap between success and satisfaction, it is the most enjoyable leadership book ever written that never mentions leadership. Widely available in paperback and on Audible.

Apple: The First 50 Years, by David Pogue. One of the most talked about business books of 2026, the CBS journalist’s history of Apple zooms out from Steve Jobs to the brilliant, bizarre cast who built the company, and to its impact on how we communicate, pay, listen and design. Packed with nostalgia and genuinely fun, with focus as its central lesson. In hardback, ebook and audio from all the usual retailers.

The Infinity Machine, by Sebastian Mallaby. An instant New York Times bestseller and the standout AI book of the year. The biography of Demis Hassabis, the North London chess prodigy turned Nobel laureate now running Google DeepMind was built on more than thirty hours of interviews. It is the story of a rare figure who is both world-class scientist and world-class competitor, and a window into who is actually shaping the technology reshaping board agendas. Published by Penguin.

Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s Open AI by Karen Hao. The technical pick. Drawing on more than 260 interviews, Hao traces OpenAI’s founding tensions, the 2023 board crisis and the labour, water and compute infrastructure underneath the products, winning the National Book Critics Circle award for nonfiction. This offers a deep, instructive background in AI governance to take back to your board.

For the journey or evening wind down: What to watch

Industry (BBC iPlayer). All four seasons of the BBC and HBO finance drama are streaming, and the latest run shifts into full thriller mode as a splashy fintech collapse rips through the London markets. Beneath the noise it is a study of ambition without guardrails and of what happens to institutions when incentives and ethics part company. Written by two first-timers who formerly worked in finance, it gives an inside view on how the City works and its murkier side showing burnout, addiction and corruption.

House of Guinness (Netflix). Steven Knight’s drama about the heirs to the Guinness brewery, likened to a frothy-topped Succession, begins with a will that forces four reluctant siblings to run the empire together. It is a masterclass in succession planning gone sideways, wrapped in 1860s Dublin and filmed across the North West of England and Wales. A second season has just been confirmed, so now is the moment to catch up.

The Studio (Apple TV+). The Emmy-winning satire of Hollywood leadership follows a newly promoted studio boss trying to please talent, investors and his own ambitions all at once. Every executive who has ever inherited a big job with impossible stakeholders will laugh with a wince of recognition.

Control, succession, reinvention, governance: the themes running through this list are also the themes shaping the executive agenda. Senra’s founders guarded quality obsessively; Hassabis pairs scientific depth with competitive drive; The Guinness siblings show what happens when succession is imposed rather than planned. These are the same capabilities boards are testing for right now, a point we explored in The Rise of the AI Strategist.

Whether you’re taking an extended break or simply finding a little more space in the summer months, protect that time fiercely and let the ideas do their work while you rest, recharge and think.

Summer reading, podcasts and watching: frequently asked questions

Why should executives properly switch off over summer?

Because judgement, creativity and stakeholder patience are finite resources.  They are harder to sustain when the calendar never lets up and only replenish when you create genuine space to step away. A leader who returns rested and refreshed is better placed to make good decisions after returning from a break than one that continues to work non stop.

What should I read, listen to or watch if I only have a few hours?

Start with three episodes of Founders or consider Open by Andre Agassi. Both entertain first and teach almost by accident, which is exactly what good holiday material should do.

Do I need a technical background to read the recommended AI books?

Not at all. Mallaby and Hao are journalists writing for general readers, and the value for executives is in the people, power dynamics and governance questions rather than the maths. If boards expect AI literacy that is specific, these two get you a long way there.

3 minute read

Global growth is slowing, AI is reshaping what boards need from their senior leaders, and executive mobility is accelerating in response. Our Q3 global economic outlook covers the hiring picture across the US, Europe, MENA and Asia, and explains what executives in each region need to do to be well-positioned for future career opportunities.

The IMF projects global growth of 3.0% in 2026, down from around 3.3% across 2024-25 (IMF). ManpowerGroup’s Q3 Employment Outlook Survey puts the global Net Employment Outlook at 26%, with outlooks weakening in 33 of 42 countries. Hiring is not contracting evenly, however. Specific geographies and sectors are generating intense executive demand while others stagnate. The executives finding opportunity are those who understand where the demand is and what it requires.

Where the demand is

The US leads with the strongest hiring intentions in nearly five years, NEO 45%, up 15 points year-on-year. 78% of US companies now use AI in at least one function and the race to find executives who can govern and scale it is intense across technology, healthcare, financial services and energy.

India records among the strongest Net Employment Outlook globally and projects demand for over one million AI roles against a 53% skills deficit.

The Gulf states collectively need 2.5 million skilled professionals over three years; 56% of GCC employers are expanding headcount.

Europe is the weakest region at NEO 16%, but the EU AI Act, with general compliance obligations from August 2026, high-risk system obligations from December 2027, and fines up to €35 million for prohibited uses, is generating specific and urgent executive demand for AI governance, data compliance and risk leadership.

What boards actually want

A leadership narrative that travels. The ability to communicate complex transformation credibly across geographies, cultures and stakeholder types is the capability most consistently cited as the differentiating factor.

Commercial judgement beyond your home market. Executives who understand capital allocation across currency environments and regulatory frameworks are in short supply at senior level.

Cross-border positioning. Growth is concentrated by both geography and sector. Executives who can demonstrate what they bring to a specific market, not just what they have done at home, move faster and achieve better terms than those offering undifferentiated international experience.

What this means for Executive positioning  

What this means for your positioning

• US: The US is the strongest hiring market in nearly five years, but the competition is global and US boards are buying sector depth, not international experience in general. Pick your entry point – technology, healthcare, fintech, energy – and position around it specifically. The AI leadership gap is real; if you can show specific outcomes (which tools, which decisions, what commercial result), you are addressing something US organisations cannot easily fill domestically. Get into US search firm networks before you need them.
• Europe: AI governance is the EU’s defining executive opportunity. The EU AI Act’s extraterritorial scope means you do not need to relocate to be relevant – any organisation whose AI touches EU markets is in scope. Lead with compliance-to-operations capability and position it as a board-level asset, not a legal function. The Netherlands and Nordics offer more accessible entry than Germany or France for non-EU executives.
• MENA: In Gulf markets, direct introduction is a prerequisite. Build relationships with regional search firms before you need them. In Saudi Arabia, board-level familiarity with Vision 2030 priorities is expected; know the agenda before the first conversation. The financial case is real: £1m AED annual salary in the UAE (equivalent to £220,000) requires a UK gross of approximately £385,000 to match in take-home terms.
• Asia: Singapore and India require completely different positioning. Singapore suits executives who can lead regional operations across diverse, geographically dispersed teams; India suits those who can translate technology investment into commercial growth at scale. In both markets, introductions and network visibility come before opportunity; work with search firms that have genuine local presence, not global mandates run from London.

Read the full Rialto Q3 2026 Global Executive Outlook below, the Rialto Q3 UK Outlook here or get in touch for a free initial consultation on your career strategy.

3-minute read

Amid tumultuous geopolitical issues, fluctuating energy prices, inflation worries and AI disruption causing a human workforce crisis, the UK is facing more upheaval and uncertainty with its seventh Prime Minister in a decade. What does it all mean for executives seeking transition, progression or just trying to stay ahead of the ever-changing landscape?

This quarter’s Rialto Executive Outlook examines what the economic trends and data really mean – and how senior leadership can best respond and prepare.

Redundancies are rising, visible vacancies sit at a five-year low and Andy Burnham’s arrival as Prime Minister has added political uncertainty to an already complex landscape. Yet Q3 hiring intentions are the strongest in two years. The UK’s Net Employment Outlook of 37 (ManpowerGroup) places it fourth in the world. The contradiction is the story: organisations are eliminating roles AI can automate while urgently seeking executives who can lead that transformation. Structural change is sharpest at the top.

Where the market is moving

Growth is real but concentrated. Defence, cybersecurity, fintech, healthcare technology and green energy are generating the strongest executive demand. Technology and Information leads sector hiring intentions at NEO 46. The fastest-growing titles are Chief AI Officer, Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Transformation Officer.

70 to 80% of senior appointments are still made without a public vacancy. The hidden market is active. Interim placements rose 29% year-on-year globally in 2025 and the supply-demand balance for interim leadership is among the most favourable in five years.

What boards actually want

AI literacy that is specific. Generic claims about embracing AI are dismissed. Boards want to know which tools you have used, what decisions they changed and what guardrails you put in place.

A transformation narrative that travels. The ability to communicate complex change credibly across board, investor, employee and regulator audiences is the capability search partners most frequently cite as the differentiating factor.

Commercial judgement beyond one function. Executives who can read the full P&L and speak to capital allocation consistently outperform those who cannot.

Sector versatility. Executives who can credibly cross from legacy to growth sectors, with a clear articulation of what transfers, are moving faster and achieving better terms.

What this means for your positioning

• AI-literate candidates are achieving materially better terms than peers with equivalent functional experience. If AI is a gap, close it before your next search conversation.
• Search firms are assessing AI and transformation capability before presenting shortlists. Your profile is reviewed before any approach is made. Have specific examples ready.
• The executive who appears in search firm networks before a role exists has a structural advantage. Build those relationships now, not when you need them.
• NED fees on FTSE 350 boards run from £40,000 to £70,000 per year. For executives in transition, a NED or advisory appointment maintains visibility and drives the network activity behind most senior appointments.
• Burnham’s agenda on water, energy, transport, housing and infrastructure is still forming. Boards in those sectors need to be mapping exposure now rather than waiting for the detail.

Five actions for executives in Q3 2026

1. Audit your AI literacy against board expectations.
2. Develop a transformation narrative that goes beyond your function.
3. Build visibility in the hidden market before you need it.
4. Consider interim, advisory and NED routes alongside permanent roles.
5. Position around growth sectors rather than legacy sectors.

Read the full Rialto Q3 2026 UK Executive Outlook below, the Rialto Q3 global outlook here or get in touch for a free initial consultation on your career strategy.

The Value of Strategy, Team-building and Adaptability and Trust

4 minute read

When established giants fall and underdogs outperform expectations at the highest level of competition, it is rarely through chance.  Whether seeking an executive transition or leadership through transformation, leaders can learn as much from the gutsy and spirited fight of the minnows as they can from the slick performances of the favourites.

The FIFA World Cup is more than football’s biggest tournament. It is one of the world’s clearest demonstrations of leadership under pressure, where strategy, resilience and decision-making are tested in full public view. Every match mirrors challenges executives face every day: responding to unexpected setbacks, adapting plans in real time, making high-stakes decisions and leading teams through uncertainty.

England’s win over Mexico showed the value of composure under pressure, adapting to adversity after a red card threatened to derail their campaign. Cape Verde, the smallest nation ever to reach the knockout stage, pushed reigning champions Argentina to extra time through preparation and self-belief. Meanwhile, traditional powerhouses Germany, Brazil and the Netherlands were eliminated by emerging contenders who were better prepared – and perhaps more committed – on the day; who proved greater than the sums of their parts.

These results weren’t simply footballing upsets. They were the product of preparation, adaptability, disciplined execution, intelligent leadership and exceptional teamwork, the same qualities now separating organisations that keep growing and stay relevant from those coasting on past success as AI and constant disruption reset the competitive landscape.

1. Prepare for every challenge with focused intentionality.

England’s manager Thomas Tuchel adapts fixture by fixture rather than applying a fixed system regardless of opponent. Facing Mexico with ten men, he ripped up his plan, switched to a back five, and held a one-goal lead for half an hour in the thin air of the Azteca. It worked because the response was built for the situation in front of him, not the one he’d prepared for.

A fixed playbook is a liability in a fast-moving, AI-driven market. The leaders who win reassess continuously, adapt quickly and stress-test themselves against the challenges they aspire to overcome.

2: Don’t mistake reputation for current form.

Brazil are out, beaten by Norway. Germany went out on penalties to Paraguay, the Netherlands to Morocco, and two-time champions Uruguay never recovered from being held by debutants Cape Verde.

Market leaders fail the same way. Rank, history and brand may earn a place in the competition, but they don’t guarantee success in the next fixture. Leadership requires continual self-reflection and the willingness to challenge assumptions before the market does.

3. Recruit beyond your immediate pool – and hold on to your talent.

Cape Verde (population around 525,000) and Curaçao (around 156,000) built their squads largely from the diaspora, treating their talent pool as global rather than local. Cape Verde’s defender Roberto Lopes was first approached through a LinkedIn message he ignored as spam. And the story has a human heart: 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha made seven saves to shut out Spain, then took Argentina to extra time, saving even from Messi, before a deflection settled it.

The strongest candidate is rarely the one already inside the building.  Finding exceptional people is only half the job; keeping them through culture, loyalty and meaningful experiences creates an advantage competitors cannot easily buy.

4. There is real strength in defence.

Football is usually about the goals and the strikers who score them, just as business can fixate on the bottom line and the obvious performers. This tournament has rewarded defensive discipline just as much as attacking brilliance: England defending a lead with ten men at a ferocious Azteca, Cape Verde snuffing out Spain, goalkeepers performing heroics.

In business, governance, data security and the other less visible defence mechanisms are what keep you in the game.  The same applies to leadership capability. Organisations that invest in coaching, resilience and judgement before a crisis are the ones still standing when it arrives.

5. Build for what outlasts the immediate campaign.

The US Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer have planned for this World Cup since winning hosting rights in 2018, treating it as a launchpad for lasting growth rather than a six-week spike in attention.  Creating lasting value is what matters in business. Organisations that invest in long-term capability, rather than short-term momentum, create advantages that outlast any single campaign or initiative.

6. Make AI tools accessible to all to lift performance.

FIFA and Lenovo’s Football AI Pro gives all 48 competing nations, not just the wealthiest federations access to advanced performance data, helping smaller teams compete more effectively.

For executives, the constraint has shifted from access to strategic clarity. The organisations gaining the greatest advantage are combining AI with strong leadership, governance and the capability to ask better questions.

7. Stakeholder trust in your personal or organisational brand is everything.

The tournament organisers and team worked so hard to build the reputation of US soccer – but their organisation and performance disintegrated in their last 4-1 loss to Belgium with many suggesting the overturned red card furore played its part. It also brought FIFA and its embattled President Gianni Infantino into disrepute. Executives cannot afford to bend compliance for quick wins.

What connects all seven?

The game is football. The lessons are leadership.
Success belongs to the organisations that prepare with intention, adapt faster than their competitors, build capabilities that outlast the immediate challenge. They widen the talent pool, embrace shared tools, defend as seriously as they attack and invest for the long term. The executives that lead them understand the value of trust and carry a healthy respect for the competition; they treat their careers as a continuous learning process where success is earned every day, not deserved.

Download the full insight, including FAQs below.

2 minute read

AI is now deployed in at least one function in 88% of organisations. Yet 56% of CEOs report capturing neither revenue nor cost savings from it.   The gap between AI deployment and business value is rarely caused by the technology itself. It is more often the result of a missing strategic framework that links AI investment to business priorities, measurable outcomes and executive accountability.

Crucially, this is not a middle-management execution issue. It sits at the top of organisations, where strategic direction, prioritisation and ownership of outcomes are set. In many cases, AI is being deployed without the level of executive clarity required to convert activity into value.

This challenge is now showing up at the leadership level. In an exclusive Rialto survey of professional clients, supported by feedback from our strategy consultants and executive career coaches, the single biggest capability gap threatening executive relevance was said to be the inability to connect AI to commercial strategy. Forty-four per cent of respondents named it as their primary concern.  Nothing else came close.

What AI strategy actually means

Strategy, in this context, is not a slide deck or a digital transformation roadmap. It is the answer to four specific questions that every board should be asking at a minimum and every C-suite executive should be able to answer clearly:

1. What commercial problem is AI solving, and for whom?
2. Which measurable outcomes define success, and over what timeframe?
3. Who is accountable for delivery, and how is that accountability embedded in leadership reviews?
4. What governance structure ensures that AI decisions are made with appropriate oversight?

Through its work with senior leadership teams, Rialto has consistently observed that organisations unable to answer these four questions often struggle to convert well-intentioned AI experimentation into a defined route to measurable business value.

Once these foundations are established, organisations are better positioned to address the practical challenges of implementation, including managing governance, accelerating decision-making and cross-functional collaboration.

The question for any executive reading this is whether their ability to align AI with commercial objectives, set measurable outcomes and govern for results is visible to the people who make decisions about leadership, succession and future organisational capability. In a market increasingly shifting from experience-based to skills-based evaluation, boards are asking not only what leaders have achieved, but whether they possess the capabilities required for the next phase of growth and transformation. Demonstrable AI leadership capability is rapidly becoming one of those differentiators.

Download the full insight, including FAQs below.

Once an executive transition is underway, the question about when and how to use AI shifts from strategic to operational. How much should you lean on it? Where does it genuinely save time and sharpen your approach? And where might it quietly undermine the credibility you have spent a career building?

Used with clear intent, AI can add genuine value in the early stages of a transition that previously cost executives considerable time and effort. The gap between executives who use it effectively and those who do not is less about the tools themselves and more about the clarity they bring to the task. The executives getting the most from AI are specific about what they are asking it to do. They use it to pressure-test positioning, compress research, prepare for interviews and sharpen the consistency of their personal brand narrative. They treat it as a thinking partner, not a ghostwriter. They rarely ask it to produce anything they actually intend to send.

Nor do they entirely trust it – and with good reason. They know it is a useful preparation and sense checking tool, but it can never (at least in its current capabilities) offer the nuance, industry and sector knowledge or emotional intelligence required in senior-level decision-making.

There is also a quieter but important consideration: data exposure. Feeding full career histories, board-level experience, compensation details or strategic thinking into public AI tools carries risk. For executives operating under NDAs, fiduciary duties or sensitive market conditions, this is not a marginal concern and should be understood before the first prompt is used.

Rialto consultants support professionals seeking or considering an executive transition to understand where AI genuinely adds value and where caution is required. We help clients identify and address capability gaps, strengthen executive positioning and build a robust, defensible narrative that meets the expectations of senior hiring processes.  AI can and should be used during an executive transition, but understanding where it strengthens the process and where human judgement, experience and relationships remain irreplaceable. That judgement cannot be reliably outsourced to Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini.

Does GenAI open new opportunities – or limit them?

Multiple sources consistently point to 70-80% of senior executive roles never being publicly advertised. They are filled before they reach the open market through networks, trusted relationships and retained search.

AI tools are built for visible markets. They can help you compete in the 20-30% of roles that are publicly posted. They have no meaningful access to the rest.

Executives who spend a transition optimising their profile for job boards while neglecting relationship-building and strategic visibility are severely limiting their options and reach.

Non-executive and portfolio career conversations rarely begin with a CV; they start with an introduction, often years before a board seat becomes available. Internal moves, whether a promotion, a lateral step across a portfolio or a repositioning after restructure, are decided by sponsorship, political capital and the visibility you have already built. Neither responds to keyword optimisation.

Where AI becomes a liability in Executive Transition

Recruiters and boards are increasingly alert to AI’s levelling effect, where almost anyone can enhance language, polish positioning and inflate perceived capability. As a result, candidates can no longer assume that an immaculately polished application will secure an interview.

UK research by CV Genius found that 80% of hiring managers dislike AI-generated CVs and cover letters, 74% can spot an AI-written job application and 57% are less likely to hire applicants who appear to have used AI tools. At senior level, where search professionals are specifically assessing authenticity, cultural fit and the distinctiveness of a leadership narrative, generic AI buffing will often see even brilliant candidates rejected at the first review.

Importantly, recruiters do not have the time to deconstruct a narrative to separate substance from polish. Where AI has inflated positioning beyond lived experience, candidates risk being exposed at interview when depth, specificity and judgement are tested under pressure.

The texture of real leadership experience is difficult to fabricate. When asked to describe a transformation initiative, a credible executive can move beyond outcomes to the reality of execution: the stakeholder resistance encountered along the way, the trade-offs made under pressure, the moment board confidence nearly shifted, or the individual whose support proved harder to secure than anticipated. These details are not embellishment but the structure of credible leadership narrative.

AI-generated accounts, by contrast, tend to be smooth. They are logically coherent but lack resistance. They describe what was achieved, but not what was navigated. Experienced panels listen precisely for that difference – the friction, the constraint and the judgement calls made under ambiguity.

This is also where the gap between narrative and lived experience becomes most visible. Human coaches and advisors play an important role in helping executives surface and articulate this underlying complexity – ensuring that achievements are grounded in context, not just presented as outcomes.

The risk of getting this wrong also extends well beyond a single interview process. The executive search ecosystem is small, interconnected and highly conversational. A candidate who has over-claimed, or who under-delivers under scrutiny, can remain visible within a network where reputational memory is longer than most executives assume.

Where AI is relevant in an active transition

AI is a legitimate and increasingly powerful tool in executive transition. Used well, it can help senior leaders reduce time spent on preparation, structure thinking and improve efficiency in parts of the executive transition process. However, its value lies in complementing, not replacing, the judgement, challenge and contextual insight provided by experienced executive transition advisors and coaches.

At Rialto, many of our consultants have themselves operated in senior leadership positions. That experience matters. Executive transition is rarely just about producing stronger documents or preparing for interviews; it is about navigating complex career decisions, market realities, leadership positioning and personal transition with clarity and credibility. AI can support elements of that process, but it cannot replicate lived executive experience, market intuition or the depth of challenge that comes from an experienced advisor who understands both leadership and transition first-hand.

CV and LinkedIn optimisation. AI can be effective in helping executives test the clarity of their narrative and improve readability so that it lands with an audience that spends seconds, not minutes, reading it. It can flag inconsistencies in language, improve compatibility with applicant tracking systems and help you crystallise a complex career history into coherent positioning.

At senior level, however, effective positioning requires more than polished language. Executive coaches and transition advisors help ensure that a profile reflects genuine leadership substance, market relevance and strategic differentiation, rather than simply producing a more refined version of generic executive language.

Research and market intelligence. AI can compress the research phase of a job search considerably. It can map board and leadership team structures, analyse sector trends, summarise publicly available company information and support hypothesis-building around target organisations; tasks that previously took days now take hours.

For an executive building a credible, sector-specific case for their next move, this is time well spent. However, as above, it should never replace investment in human relationships. Experienced executive advisors bring contextual understanding that AI cannot access: insight into leadership dynamics, board priorities, organisational culture, succession considerations and the informal market signals that often shape senior hiring decisions before roles become visible externally.

Interview preparation AI can also act as a useful initial partner when preparing for interviews. It can help structure responses and test articulation of strategic thinking.

However, executive interviews are rarely assessments of technical answers alone. Senior hiring processes evaluate credibility, judgement, self-awareness, resilience and leadership presence under pressure. Experienced coaches help executives prepare for these dimensions through challenge, feedback and informed perspective grounded in real leadership experience, something AI cannot authentically replicate.

Personal brand development. AI can help executives build the consistency and strong identity that makes them discoverable to the right recruiters and influencers across LinkedIn, thought leadership content and board-facing narrative. For leaders with strong underlying credentials who have never invested time in communicating them effectively, this is a meaningful accelerant, but it is only part of the story.

Strong executive brands are not built through polished content alone. They are built through credibility, clarity of leadership identity, track record and differentiated perspective. AI can help refine articulation, but it cannot create the underlying substance that ultimately distinguishes senior leaders in competitive markets.

Across all of the above four uses, the executives getting the most from AI treat it as a thinking partner rather than an authority. They use it to sharpen thinking, test positioning and accelerate preparation, while relying on experienced human counsel to challenge assumptions, interpret context and support the deeper strategic decisions that shape long-term career trajectory.

Executive Transition Support with Rialto

Ask an AI tool how to land your next executive role and you will get a credible-sounding answer in seconds. Ask a Rialto consultant the same question and the first response will usually be a different question: what are you actually trying to build, and what are you willing to leave behind or invest in to achieve it?

Rialto works with leaders navigating executive transition, AI driven transformation and organisational change. We help clients understand where AI adds value, and where it introduces unnecessary risk or distortion.

Our consultants bring contextual market knowledge, network access and the kind of long-term professional relationship required at senior level: the ability to challenge narrative, interpret market signals and support decision-making beyond the next role.

If you are in an active transition and want support navigating the tools and the process, we would welcome a conversation.

You may also be interested in reading our insight, Should Executives use AI to Plan their Careers?.

Frequently asked questions

Can recruiters tell if you have used AI to write your CV? Often, yes. UK research suggests that around three quarters of hiring managers can identify AI-generated job applications, and over half are less likely to progress candidates who appear to have leaned heavily on AI tools. At executive level the risk is higher because search consultants are specifically looking for distinctive voice, authenticity and lived experience that AI struggles to fabricate convincingly.

How do I find executive jobs that are not advertised? Around 70-80% of senior roles are filled through networks, trusted referrals and retained search before reaching public job boards. The most reliable route is to invest, well before a transition, in relationships with search professionals in your sector, peer networks and board contacts. Visibility through considered thought leadership, board memberships and a credible LinkedIn presence also helps you appear on shortlists you never see advertised.

Can AI help me prepare for an executive interview? Yes, for structuring thinking and practising articulation. It can help you anticipate questions, practise articulating your strategic thinking and pressure-test your answers. However, it cannot replicate live human evaluation. Preparation should therefore always be tested through real conversation with experienced professionals who understand the constantly changing expectations of the audience you will face.

Artificial intelligence is now more routinely being used by executives to support career exploration, positioning and executive transition planning. From CV refinement to market research and narrative development, its use is no longer experimental. However, its usefulness in senior-level decision-making remains far less clear.

Among Rialto clients navigating executive transitions, two concerns are raised consistently: whether recruiters can detect AI-assisted applications, and whether AI should be trusted to design an executive career strategy.

The short answers are: they can so use it appropriately; let it provide insight, but never rely on it unthinkingly.

Both questions reveal something important about where executives currently are with these tools: curious, cautious and not entirely sure where the line is. That uncertainty is understandable. AI tools have become genuinely sophisticated, but the marketing around them has consistently outpaced the honest conversation about their limitations. Getting this wrong at senior level carries real consequences, particularly in the face of structural downward pressure in parts of the job market.

How AI should be positioned in executive career planning

A few things are worth holding in mind:

1. AI is genuinely useful for initial testing of your positioning, accelerating research and refining your personal brand narrative as an executive. The moment you let it generate your story or your decisions, you lose the clarity and authenticity that define genuine leadership.
2. Executive transitions rarely follow on-paper logic. They involve identity, emotion and personal circumstances as much as logistics. Up to half of executive transitions are later viewed as failures or disappointments, rarely due to technical capability, but more often because of mismatch, which can be exacerbated by the use of AI .
3. At senior level, AI should be seen as an input into thinking, not a substitute for human thinking.

Using AI to support executive career planning

1. Clarify what you actually want from the next stage

Authenticity and honesty in career planning are essential to avoiding destabilising wrong steps. This starts with working through difficult questions: what you really want and need from a role, what you are willing to offer, where your limitations may be at this stage of your career and where you see yourself in five to ten years.

Is this the right time for a leap upwards? Will the role offer the right level of challenge? Are you moving into a declining sector out of urgency, when you might be better to pause, reskill or pivot into a growth area?

These are precisely the conversations Rialto consultants are having weekly with senior leaders across sectors. Do get in touch if we can support you in this way.

AI can help structure these questions, but it cannot interrogate your assumptions with the depth or challenge required at this level. (Read previous insights on High Performer to Executive Leader and High Stakes Executive Career Pivots.)

2. Interpret market reality and timing

Understanding market conditions is critical. The UK senior job market has tightened sharply. ONS data shows vacancies at their lowest level since early 2021, with 2.5 unemployed people per vacancy. What sustains executive relevance in this environment is AI-ready leadership capability and nuanced emotional intelligence, which boards are now actively assessing, not generic and indistinct AI-generated responses.

In this environment, timing and positioning matter as much as capability.

AI is genuinely useful for stress-testing your positioning, accelerating research and refining your personal brand narrative as an executive. It can support rapid research and scenario testing, helping you map sectors, roles and emerging trends.

However, interpretation – what is relevant to your specific profile and trajectory – remains a human judgement, not an AI one.

3. Assess your transferable authority

The executives who build resilient careers in the AI economy share certain characteristics that have nothing to do with their CV software or responses to Gen AI prompts.

They understand their transferable authority: what they have achieved, but also the specific credibility, network and strategic perspectives that are genuinely transferable across contexts.

They invest in their visibility within the markets where the next opportunity is most likely to emerge. They have relationships with search professionals, peers and board members that exist before any transition begins.

And they have worked through the harder questions about the kind of role they want to do next, the conditions in which they perform best and the sectors and organisations where their capabilities will be genuinely valued.

While AI can help refine how this is articulated, it cannot build the underlying capital.

4. Validate decisions through trusted advisors or executive career coaching

Executive transitions are rarely technical exercises. They are high-stakes decisions involving identity, confidence, timing and risk.  This is where trusted advisers, mentors or coaches play an essential role: challenging assumptions, identifying blind spots and grounding decisions in lived market experience and emotional intelligence.

At senior level, career progression is not purely linear – and nor should it be. The strongest executive transitions often emerge from a combination of deliberate planning and opportunistic recognition – the ability to identify moments where a role, challenge or organisation presents a unique intersection of timing, capability and unmet need.

A move will rarely fit neatly into a pre-defined trajectory, but a well-timed and considered one should enhance an individual’s distinctive position in the market over time.

The role of trusted external counsel is to test these decisions with objectivity: to distinguish between momentum and opportunity, between reactive change and strategic advantage, and between short-term appeal and longer-term positioning strength.

A large language model does not have the context, the professional relationship or the emotional range to navigate any of that alongside you.

What AI Cannot Replace in Executive Leadership and Career Planning

Emotional intelligence and context cannot be automated. Leaders of high-performing teams consistently identify emotional and social intelligence among the most important success factors and as human capabilities that technology cannot replicate.

Boards and search committees know that organisational growth and security depend on hiring genuine AI talent: executives and senior leaders who can navigate AI transformation, not just those who can show they are familiar with AI tools.

There is a meaningful difference between a leader who has used ChatGPT to polish their profile and one who can articulate a credible, considered position on workforce transformation and organisational redesign.

Executive Career Planning with Rialto

At Rialto, we help clients identify exactly where AI tools add value and where to step back.

Our consultants bring contextual market knowledge, network access and the kind of long-term professional relationship that career strategy at senior level actually requires.

If you are thinking seriously about your next move, or about building the kind of executive career that will remain relevant as the AI economy matures, we would welcome a conversation.

(See our companion insight, Using AI in an Active Executive Transition – and Where It Can Trip You Up.)

Frequently asked questions

Should I use tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude to help plan my career?

For research, stress-testing your positioning and understanding the markets where your capabilities are most valued, yes. For generating your strategy, your narrative or your decisions, no. The executives who get the most out of AI treat it as a thinking partner that sharpens their own thinking, rather than a content generator that does the thinking for them.

Will AI replace executive search?

No. Executive search at the most senior level is built on relationships, judgement and the ability to assess cultural and strategic fit. AI tools support search consultants with research, scheduling and shortlisting, but the core work of senior search remains human and relational. If anything, the rise of AI is increasing the value of trusted human advisers, not reducing it.

What is AI-ready leadership capability and why do boards care about it?

AI-ready leadership capability is the ability to lead an organisation through AI transformation. It includes making sound judgements about where AI should and should not be embedded into decision-making, redesigning workforce structures and roles, and bringing leadership teams and boards through the change. Recent UK research from the CIPD shows that boards are now actively assessing for this in senior hires. Familiarity with AI tools alone is no longer enough.

Why Leadership Transitions Are Harder Than They Look

4 minute read

Many successful executives are promoted for technical excellence, commercial results and operational delivery but the transition to an executive leadership role requires an entirely different mindset, capability set and level of self-awareness.

Many successful executives are promoted for technical excellence, commercial results and operational delivery.

They are the people who manage complexity, win clients, drive growth and consistently deliver results. It is therefore understandable that organisations look to these individuals when building their leadership pipeline.

The assumption is simple: if someone can perform at that level, surely they can lead others who do the same.

It is a reasonable assumption — and it is frequently wrong.

The skills that create a high-performing specialist are not always the same skills required for executive leadership.

The executives most vulnerable during this transition are rarely the mediocre performers. They are often the high performers: the specialists and experts who have spent years perfecting the capabilities that built their reputation, only to find that some of those same capabilities can become obstacles to continuing growth.

The challenge is not a lack of ability.

It is recognising that success at one level does not automatically prepare someone for success at the next.

The Promotion Paradox: When Performance Stops Being Enough

A transition into executive leadership requires a fundamental shift.  A highly capable functional leader may excel within their area of expertise but find that moving into a broader executive role requires a different level of strategic influence, enterprise thinking and leadership capability.

The best technical expert may not yet be equipped for the wider commercial demands of executive leadership.  For example, a finance leader who has excelled operationally may need to develop a different approach to strategic influence.  A successful sales leader may need to move from personal delivery to creating the conditions where others can succeed.

The issue is rarely intelligence, ambition or commitment.  The challenge is that promotion is often granted based on past performance, with an assumption that the individual will naturally grow into the role.  Some do but many do not.

The very qualities organisations reward — technical mastery, personal drive, high standards and proven delivery — can become limitations at executive level if they are not consciously examined and adapted.

The Leadership Behaviours That Hold High Performers Back

The most common challenge is continuing to operate in the way that created previous success.  High performers are often used to solving problems themselves. They are fast, reliable and capable of finding solutions quickly.

However, at executive level, success depends less on personal contribution and more on building capability in others.  When leaders continue to solve every problem themselves, they unintentionally limit their team’s development and reduce their own   capacity to focus on strategy.  Closely linked to this is the pull towards operational detail. Execution matters, but executive leadership requires the ability to step back, scan the horizon and create direction for the organisation.

High performers can also struggle with accepting that others may approach work differently. The standards that built their own success can unintentionally create dependency, where teams perform well but remain reliant on the leader’s involvement.

The transition requires moving from being the person who delivers the answer to the person who creates the environment where better answers emerge.

The Real Challenge: A Shift in Leadership Identity

The move from high performer to executive leader is not simply about learning new skills.  It requires a renegotiation of professional identity.

Leaders must shift:

• From individual delivery to collective success.
• From expertise to judgement.
• From control to trust.
• From operational execution to strategic influence.

Delegation becomes critical.  Executives must become comfortable allowing others to lead areas they previously owned themselves. This can feel uncomfortable, particularly for individuals whose reputation has been built on personal excellence.

Influence also becomes increasingly important.  At executive level, outcomes depend less on formal authority and more on trust, alignment and the ability to influence across the organisation.

Perhaps the greatest adjustment is learning to operate with ambiguity.  The further leaders progress, the fewer clear answers exist. Time horizons lengthen, complexity increases and decisions must often be made without complete information.

Executive leadership requires judgement, perspective and the confidence to navigate uncertainty.

The Role of Executive Coaching in Leadership Transition

Formal leadership programmes provide valuable knowledge and frameworks, but successful executive transitions also require deeper reflection and behavioural change.

Executive coaching creates the space for leaders to understand how they are experienced by others, identify behaviours that may no longer serve them and develop the self-awareness needed to operate effectively at a higher level.

The most successful leaders are those willing to seek objective challenge before problems emerge.  They recognise that reaching executive level is not the end of development. It is the point where continued growth becomes even more important.

Becoming a True Executive Leader

The transition from high performer to executive leader is one of the most significant inflection points in a career.  The leaders who successfully make this shift are not necessarily those with the strongest track records. They are those with the self-awareness to recognise what they need to leave behind, the willingness to develop new behaviours and the ability to create impact through others.

Executive success is no longer measured by what one person can achieve.  It is measured by the capability they build, the decisions they make and the lasting impact they create through their teams.

Download the full insight below.

When and How to Navigate Strategic Career Changes

For most senior leaders, an executive career pivot is seldom top of their radar. They might be pushed by a redundancy, a restructuring or the slow realisation that the organisation they have given ten years to is no longer the one they joined. By that point, options are typically narrower, and career options are considered under pressure, which can restrict salary negotiations and change the narrative from intention to escape.

While the thought of restarting in an entirely new industry or making an executive career pivot can appear daunting, the risks of failing to acknowledge a rapidly changing market are higher. A planned pivot can also reignite motivation, purpose and satisfaction in ways that staying put cannot.

This matters especially to anyone working in a sector or function undergoing structural, not cyclical, contraction. With the unpredictable advances of AI, all senior leaders should be scanning the near horizon for signs of decline in their own sphere while laying the foundations for a career pivot, as often the time and actions required for this can be underestimated.

This insight considers which leaders need to be moving urgently, which should be building a mid-term plan now and how the transition can be executed in a way that preserves rather than abandons the authority built over a career.

The rewards, the challenges and the cost of staying

A well-executed pivot, made at the right time, can boost careers in several ways: driving salary growth rather than compression, maintaining upward trajectory and reinforcing the psychological security that comes from operating in a market where your skills remain in demand.

However, sector credibility does not transfer automatically. A Chief Commercial Officer who has built their reputation in physical retail will not be viewed as equivalent in B2B fintech on day one. Regulatory frameworks differ, commercial models and vocabulary differ, and the pace and style of decision-making in growth sectors often contrasts sharply with that of large, established organisations. Without at least baseline fluency in the target sector, executives risk a step down in both seniority and compensation. Equally, a pivot that appears reactive rather than intentional weakens the narrative before conversations have even begun.

Against this, the cost of staying continues to compound. According to the CIPD, employer hiring intentions in early 2026 remain at an unparalleled low while the supply of permanent candidates has been growing for three consecutive years. In a softening market, executives in contracting sectors face increasing competition for a shrinking pool of senior roles from peers who have stayed for the same reasons.

A global survey of C-suite executives found that nine out of ten leaders report workforce overcapacity of up to 20% in legacy roles, alongside shortages in AI-critical skills. The executive who waits is accumulating experience that the market is progressively devaluing.

Industries in Decline: Where Executives Should Consider Moving Now

Traditional retail. According to the Centre for Retail Research, the sector shed close to 400,000 jobs in just two years across 2024 and 2025, with 17,349 store closures recorded in 2025 alone. Retail sales volumes still stand more than 2% below pre-pandemic levels, and business rate relief has been abolished entirely from April 2026. Online retail accounts for around a quarter of UK sales and consumer habits shifted structurally during the pandemic in ways that have not reversed. For senior executives who remain in traditional high street retail, the window for a proactive pivot is genuinely narrow.

Legacy financial services. Restructuring is more advanced than many inside it acknowledge. More than 5,000 UK bank branches have closed since 2015, with 432 closures in 2025 alone. Finance job postings dropped 38% in 2025, with AI replacing roles in compliance, reporting and customer service. Salary acceleration is now concentrated almost entirely in professionals who combine finance expertise with digital, automation and risk control capabilities, while traditional operations roles that lack tech capability are experiencing stagnant or declining pay. Decline is most pronounced in branch network management, traditional wealth management and middle-office processing. COOs and CCOs have more transferable authority and more time; branch and processing leaders have less of both.

Legacy media and print. Print circulation has fallen continuously for two decades and the advertising model that sustained broadcast has been structurally disrupted. Executives in traditional media face a specific challenge: the skills they have built – editorial judgement, audience understanding, content commissioning at scale – are genuinely valuable in content-driven technology businesses and brand strategy. But the sector identity requires active management in any pivot narrative.

Sectors in mid-term structural decline: plan now, move by choice

Traditional professional services. Management consulting, legal services and accountancy firms built on time-and-materials billing are not in immediate crisis, but the writing is on the wall. PwC identifies finance, HR, IT and internal audit as areas where AI agents are ripe for automating complex, high-value workflows. The runway is longer than in retail or legacy banking, but it is finite.

Parts of the HR and marketing functions. Chief HR Officers are at a fork: the function weakens as onboarding, learning and screening are automated, or it evolves toward strategic workforce ownership and accountability for human-AI collaboration. Those who have built their careers primarily around operational delivery are at medium-term risk but can reposition within receptive organisations in growth sectors. Marketing directors whose value rests on execution rather than brand strategy or commercial leadership face the same trajectory.

The career growth sectors: where executive demand is running ahead of supply

Fintech. The UK fintech market is estimated at $21.4 billion in 2026, growing toward $43.9 billion by 2031 at a 15.4% annual rate. Lloyds’ Financial Institutions Sentiment Survey, published in September 2025, found that 59% of institutions now see measurable productivity gains from AI, up from 32% a year earlier, with over half planning to increase AI investment in 2026 and nearly half having already established dedicated AI teams. The sector attracted $3.6 billion of UK investment in 2025, second only to the US, and continues to draw executive talent because it is one of the few financial markets actively building rather than rationalising. What it cannot easily manufacture is executives who understand regulated environments, manage complex stakeholder relationships and carry the commercial credibility that the sector requires. That is precisely what two decades in legacy financial services produces.

Sustainability and the green economy. Latest date from the ONS estimates there were 652,100 full-time equivalent employees in UK green jobs in 2024, up 27.8% since 2015. Financial services recorded the highest year-on-year growth in green hires in 2025, up 16.3%, and more than half of green hires now sit in non-green job titles, reflecting how functions such as operations, finance and commercial leadership are being greened rather than replaced. Eighty per cent of sustainability employers plan to hire in the next twelve months and 75% are prepared to hire someone who does not possess all the required skills, intending to upskill them instead.

AI-enabled services and AI governance. LinkedIn data shows AI has already created 1.3 million new roles globally, and the surge in Head of AI positions across the UK reflects a decisive move toward embedded AI strategy and leadership. AI Engineer topped LinkedIn’s 2025 UK Jobs on the Rise list, while more than half of the fastest-growing UK roles did not exist 25 years ago. Executives who can govern AI deployments – who understand accountability, liability and the regulatory frameworks being built around them – command structural premiums that pure technical roles do not.

When to reframe and when to reskill

One of the most common and costly mistakes executives make when planning a career pivot is treating reframing and reskilling as the same thing. Confusing them leads either to unnecessary investment in new credentials, or to relying on narrative alone where real capability gaps exist.

Reframing is required when the underlying capability already exists but its relevance to the new sector is not visible to the hiring market. A retail CCO with twenty years of complex multi-stakeholder commercial experience does not need to learn those skills again in fintech. They need to reframe that experience in the vocabulary of the new context, making the connection explicit and demonstrating why it matters.

Reskilling, in contrast, is required when genuine gaps exist that reframing cannot close. A commercial leader moving into sustainability needs knowledge of frameworks such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and TCFD. Entry into AI governance demands an understanding of accountability, liability, and emerging regulation. These are not superficial gaps and hiring managers in these fields will identify their absence quickly.

Neither path requires going back to university. Targeted programmes such as Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership, the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute’s sustainable finance credentials and the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment all offer targeted routes. For AI governance, structured programmes at London Business School, INSEAD and several UK universities move a CV from interesting to credible.

Forward-facing companies are looking for leaders with that rare sweet spot of relevant experience, transferable credentials and evidence of prior expertise – or at least active interest – and personal investment in the context, not a generalist who has acquired a certificate or a reputed executive from a FTSE company who lacks, or is unable to demonstrate, such qualities and insight into what matters now.

Deciding on an Executive move: Under pressure, and with time

In both scenarios, developing a coherent, credible narrative is crucial. An executive who can articulate precisely why they are moving, what they have built and what it translates into in the new context will consistently outperform one with a stronger CV but a vague or reactive story.

Under pressure, the priority is to identify and protect transferable authority. Map the three or four capabilities that are genuinely sector-fluid that the target sector demonstrably values. Be visible in the right networks before the formal job search begins. Overall, UK job postings remain 19% below pre-pandemic levels, but demand persists in technology systems and solutions, software development and civil engineering. The executive who targets specific pockets of genuine demand is better placed than one searching broadly. This may require a dispassionate external perspective from a coach or mentor who understands what the market is currently seeking.

With more time, the core strategy is to build genuine presence in the target sector before making any formal move. Take advisory or non-executive roles in relevant organisations or develop a visible point of view through writing, speaking or participation in relevant forums. The most effective networking is built around genuine intellectual engagement with the questions the sector is working through, not simply a presence within it.

How to audit transferable authority ready for an Executive Pivot

Before beginning any serious pivot, separate what you have done from what capability that demonstrates, then test whether that capability has a market in the target sector. For example, a retail CEO who has managed 200 stores and grown market share from 8% to 12% has also built the capability to hold large, complex commercial relationships under cost pressure. Properly articulated, that is exactly what a scale-up technology business needs from its leadership.

The audit has three stages: list significant achievements; translate each into the underlying capability it demonstrates; test whether that capability is valued in the target sector and in what vocabulary. The gap between stages two and three is the reframing task. Genuine absences are the reskilling task. LinkedIn research shows that 56% of UK professionals are open to a role in a new industry, yet 20% worry they lack the skills needed for the future. Self-assessment of transferability is notoriously unreliable. An external perspective from a coach or adviser who understands both the source and destination sectors closes that gap faster and more reliably than internal reflection alone.

Future of Executive Careers: Trends Shaping Career Pivots to 2030

The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 estimates that while 92 million roles may be displaced by 2030, 170 million new roles will be created, a net gain of 78 million, with demand concentrating in technology, sustainability, care and human-centred services.

The executives who will command premium compensation in the years ahead are not necessarily the most experienced, or even the most skilled. They are the ones who read the structural signals early, moved with intention rather than under duress, and arrived in growth sectors with a coherent account of what they had built and why it mattered in the new context.

That window remains open but it narrows with each quarter spent waiting for conditions to improve in sectors where they will not. The evidence is consistent: planned pivots preserve authority and trajectory; reactive ones compress both. The market rewards positioning, not hesitation.

The question for every senior leader in a sector facing structural rather than cyclical change is not whether a transition will eventually be required. It is whether, when that moment arrives, they will be choosing from a position of strength or scrambling from one of constraint.

The executives of tomorrow are making that choice today.

3 minute read

As Q2 2026 begins, the UK and European executive landscape has shifted materially. What initially appeared to be a gradual return to stability – with easing inflation, modest growth and an anticipated path towards interest rate cuts – has been disrupted by renewed geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.

The implications for business confidence, executive hiring and organisational strategy are already being felt. Combined with ongoing AI-driven transformation, executives are operating in an increasingly selective and fast-changing market where adaptability and measurable impact have become critical.

UK Economic Outlook: Confidence Under Pressure

The UK economy grew by 1.4% across 2025, its strongest performance since the pandemic, but recent forecasts point to slower growth ahead. Rising energy costs, persistent inflation and reduced business confidence are creating a more cautious environment for investment and hiring.

Higher employment costs, including increases in National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage, are adding further pressure on organisations already managing constrained budgets.

As Richard Chiumento, Director at Rialto, explains:

“The structural reset we have been tracking has been overtaken by an acute shock on top of a chronic one. Organisations that were managing cautiously through a tight fiscal environment now face renewed inflation, constrained monetary policy and further compression of confidence. Leaders need to move faster, not slower.”

Executive Hiring Continues to Tighten

The executive market has become increasingly competitive.

Vacancies continue to decline across most sectors while unemployment has risen to its highest level since 2021. Businesses are delaying permanent hiring decisions, focusing investment on leadership that can deliver immediate commercial impact, transformation and operational efficiency.

This is no longer simply a cyclical slowdown. Organisations are becoming far more selective, placing greater emphasis on demonstrable results, adaptability and strategic leadership.

AI Capability Has Become a Leadership Requirement

One trend continues to outperform the wider market.

While overall UK job postings remain significantly below pre-pandemic levels, demand for AI-related skills continues to grow rapidly. Increasingly, organisations expect executives, not just technical teams, to understand how AI should be implemented, governed and translated into measurable business value.

Boards are asking leaders to demonstrate expertise in AI governance, risk management, productivity and value realisation. AI competence is no longer viewed as a specialist capability; it is becoming a core leadership expectation.

Where Executive Demand Remains Strong

Despite broader market caution, several sectors continue to invest in senior leadership.

Engineering remains resilient, supported by infrastructure investment, defence spending and the energy transition. Financial services continue to seek executives with expertise in regulatory change, risk management and cost transformation, while cybersecurity, digital infrastructure and private equity-backed businesses remain active in the executive market.

Across Europe, demand is also increasing for leaders with cross-border regulatory expertise, AI governance capability and experience navigating increasingly complex compliance requirements, including sustainability reporting obligations.

Executive Compensation: Rewarding Measurable Impact

Organisations are also changing how they reward executive talent.

Rather than relying solely on higher base salaries, many employers are increasing the use of performance-related incentives, equity participation and long-term reward structures. Executive compensation is becoming more closely linked to measurable outcomes such as transformation delivery, revenue growth, cost optimisation and value creation.

For senior leaders, evidence of impact is becoming just as important as experience.

How Executives Can Stay Competitive

The executives who will succeed in today’s market are those who recognise that current conditions represent a structural shift rather than a temporary disruption.

Four priorities increasingly differentiate successful leaders:

• Translate market uncertainty into clear strategic decisions.
• Prioritise the initiatives that create the greatest commercial value.
• Demonstrate disciplined, outcome-focused AI leadership.
• Evidence impact through measurable business results rather than broad experience alone.

As organisations navigate continued economic uncertainty, the executives who combine strategic judgement, commercial discipline and AI capability will be best positioned to create value and remain competitive.

Looking Ahead

Economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability and AI-driven transformation are reshaping executive leadership expectations across the UK and Europe.

The executives who thrive will not simply respond to change, they will anticipate it, guide organisations through complexity and demonstrate clear, measurable impact. In an increasingly selective market, strategic leadership, digital fluency and the ability to translate uncertainty into confident decision-making have become the defining characteristics of executive success.