{"id":916183,"date":"2026-06-29T10:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T15:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/29\/ceos-have-forgotten-the-moderate-playbook-the-stakes-for-relearning-it-have-never-been-higher\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T10:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T15:12:21","slug":"ceos-have-forgotten-the-moderate-playbook-the-stakes-for-relearning-it-have-never-been-higher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/29\/ceos-have-forgotten-the-moderate-playbook-the-stakes-for-relearning-it-have-never-been-higher\/","title":{"rendered":"CEOs have forgotten the moderate playbook. The stakes for relearning it have never been higher"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. <\/strong>American competitiveness has long been a triumph of the moderate, won by those who could find common ground with policymakers to get things done. Some taxes but not too much. Clear rules that protect without stifling innovation. Knowing when to speak up or shut up, appealing to common values among multiple stakeholders. I\u2019m at the Aspen Ideas Festival this week, where there\u2019s a lot of debate about how business can help create that common ground.<\/p>\n

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Right now, silence from CEOs on business issues is making it easier for politicians to present a vision that\u2019s more black and white. I tried to get New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani to speak at a CEO dinner earlier this year, but one of his advisors told me that visibly engaging with CEOs wasn\u2019t a priority at that point. For a Democratic Socialist who\u2019s critical of capitalism and proving to be a kingmaker<\/a> at the national level, it might even be a bad look. (Mamdani has since met with CEOs like JPMorgan\u2019s Jamie Dimon behind closed doors<\/a>.) And pressure from the far right, most notably in Washington, has made CEOs reluctant to speak out<\/a> on issues like climate change, diversity, ethics, immigration and mission-critical issues that might put a target on their<\/em> backs.<\/p>\n

But there are ways for CEOs to reclaim the narrative. Here are three strategies being discussed at Aspen that I\u2019m seeing put into action:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speak to the middle.<\/strong> Dan Smoot, CEO of the space-based intelligence firm Vantor, believes \u201cmost people are right down the middle,\u201d as are many politicians. \u201cIt used to be that being a moderate was the most valuable thing we could do, because that was how we got things done.\u201d Much like Dimon\u2019s offer to help Mamdani create pragmatic policies, Smoot argues \u201cthat industry needs to be working with the government, because we\u2019re moving so fast that we might be leaving them behind.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have clear, consistent values.<\/strong> Costco CEO Ron Vachris speaks about creating equal opportunities<\/a> for employees, and it\u2019s one reason the company is doing well<\/a>. That could mean redefining labels like DEI and ESG to talk about the outcome you\u2019re trying to achieve. In Aspen, Southern Company CEO Chris Womack talked about clean energy as key to an affordable, sustainable and resilient power grid for innovation.<\/p>\n

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Reshape the jobs debate<\/strong>. Ferrovial CEO Ignacio Madridejos, whose company makes the bulk of its $10.9 billion a year from U.S. projects like Texas toll roads and JFK\u2019s Terminal 1, is facing a labor and skills shortage. \u201cThere are not enough students joining our sector,\u201d he told me. Barbara Humpton of USA Rare Earth has told me the same thing, as have others in manufacturing and health care. They could help public-private initiatives like RAISE US<\/a> create a truly future-ready workforce. And if you plan to reap the benefits of AI, invest in preparing people for it. Walmart<\/a> just told its 2.1 million workers that AI tools will improve their jobs<\/a>\u2014and it\u2019s offering every U.S. employee a chance to become certified to use them.<\/p>\n

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at di*********<\/span>@*****<\/span>ne.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Top leadership news<\/h3>\n

Welcome to \u2018RAM-ageddon\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

The computers inside AI data centers need memory chips, <\/span>causing a severe shortage<\/span><\/a> that\u2019s rippling through PC and gadget makers that have hiked prices in recent months to make up for the rising cost of RAM and NAND memory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Qualcomm\u2019s big AI gamble<\/b><\/p>\n

Since taking the reins five years ago, CEO Cristiano Amon has worked to equip the company for the tough but lucrative AI chip wars. <\/span>Qualcomm has reinvented itself<\/span><\/a> to become a major player in newer areas such as tech for cars\u2014including driver-assistance and connected-vehicle systems\u2014and chips to power smart home devices and wearables.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meet Microsoft\u2019s Copilot fixer<\/b><\/p>\n

Jacob Andreou, a polished 33-year-old executive with Hollywood ties and a knack for pitching and presentations, is leading the charge to <\/span>retool Microsoft\u2019s pivotal AI product<\/span><\/a>. Chief Executive Satya Nadella has placed great trust in Andreou to guide Copilot in a more competitive direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

The markets<\/h3>\n

S&P 500<\/b> futures are up 0.67% this morning. The last session closed down 0.05%. <\/span>The<\/b> STOXX Europe 600<\/b> was down 0.12% in early trading. <\/span>The U.K.\u2019s FTSE 100<\/b> was down 0.22% in early trading.<\/span> Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 <\/b>was up 0.15%.<\/span> South Korea\u2019s KOSPI <\/b>was<\/span> down 0.20% today. <\/span>China\u2019s CSI 300 <\/b>was up 1.21%.<\/span> Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng <\/b>was up 1.57%.<\/span> India\u2019s NIFTY 50 <\/b>was down 0.46%. <\/span>Bitcoin<\/b> was at $60K.<\/span><\/p>\n

Around the watercooler<\/h3>\n

Big Short legend Steve Eisman says everyone is buying the wrong AI stocks<\/span><\/a> by Shawn Tully<\/span><\/p>\n

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates\u2019 Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster<\/span><\/a> by Preston Fore<\/span><\/p>\n

The contrarian view for Fed rate cuts: Payrolls will weaken, inflation will plunge, and Kevin Warsh was \u2018largely performative\u2019 in his hawkishness<\/span><\/a> by Jason Ma<\/span><\/p>\n

The 30-year fixed mortgage was supposed to be predictable. Two costs quietly broke that promise<\/span><\/a> by Sydney Lake<\/span><\/p>\n

CEO Initiative Insights<\/h3>\n

\u201cMost organizations know more about an employee’s capabilities on the day they’re hired than they do five years later. That\u2019s a problem in a world where skills are changing faster than jobs. As AI changes how work gets done, workforce readiness starts with understanding what people can actually do today, not what their job title says they should be able to do.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Himanshu Palsule, Chief Executive Officer at Cornerstone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We also welcome new CEOI members: Dycom Industries\u2019 Daniel Peyovich, Vince Tizzio of AXIS Capital, Christopher Caldwell of Concentrix Corp., Robert Stone of City of Hope, EverSmith Brands\u2019 Justin Ghadery, Frederick Lowery of Henry Schein, and vVARDIS co-CEOs Goly and Haley Abivardi. I look forward to rich conversations in the coming weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

CEO Daily is curated and edited by Joseph Abrams, Jason Ma, Claire Zillman, and Lee Clifford.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Diane Brady<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good morning. American competitiveness has long been a triumph of the moderate, won by those who could find common ground with policymakers to get things done. Some taxes but not too much. Clear rules that protect without stifling innovation. Knowing when to speak up or shut up, appealing to common values among multiple stakeholders. I\u2019m<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":916184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1188,264],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-916183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-forgotten","category-moderate"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=916183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/916184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=916183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=916183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=916183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}