The New York Times article discusses the rising trend of C.E.O.s hiring chiefs of staff, indicating a significant increase in job postings for this role—up 85% since early 2020. A chief of staff serves as a senior-level adviser and organizer, tasked with strategic planning and coordination within companies experiencing growing complexities. They differ from executive assistants in that they help determine the priorities of the C.E.O., a position often seen as crucial in managing modern challenges such as AI and geopolitical issues. Executives acknowledge the potential for chiefs of staff to enhance organizational efficiency, though some, like Spencer Rascoff, prefer using technology instead of traditional gatekeeping. Notably, many former chiefs of staff advance to higher roles within organizations.

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Business|Why So Many C.E.O.s Are Getting a Chief of Staff

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/business/ceos-chief-of-staff.html

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When Richard Gelfond, the chief executive of IMAX, hired his first chief of staff, he went looking for a shadow, someone who could take notes during meetings and let him know what was up next.

But over time, as IMAX grew more complex — expanding from 55 theaters to almost 2,000 across more than 90 countries — his chief of staff grew in stature. “They’re really invaluable in helping me think through what I want to say and what I want to accomplish and then how to execute it and helping me execute it,” Mr. Gelfond said. Raphael Roesler, who was Mr. Gelfond’s chief of staff until June 2025, recently worked on a high-profile project: coordinating with research and development to build the special camera used in Christopher Nolan’s summer hit, “The Odyssey.”

Mr. Gelfond has had a chief of staff for 16 years, but the position is becoming increasingly trendy among his peers. Since early 2020, postings for the role have increased 85 percent, according to Indeed, the job posting site. That’s a faster clip than for executive assistants and secretaries, whose jobs are also tied to helping business leaders manage their day.

Unlike executive assistants, the chief of staff is often a senior level role, according to data from Indeed, because they serve as a second brain for the busy boss.

An executive assistant “figures out what time something goes on the calendar, but a chief of staff figures out whether it should go on the calendar at all,” said Clara Ma, founder and chief executive of Ask a Chief of Staff, a networking platform that brings together chiefs of staff across various industries. According to a survey she conducted, the position pays $150,000 to more than $200,000 a year, depending on experience.

Executive search firms like Russell Reynolds Associates are fielding more requests from companies to help recruit chiefs of staff. And companies aren’t looking to hire them just for the top boss. Lower level executives, such as vice presidents within marketing, communications and finance departments, are getting them as well.

In a dozen interviews conducted for this article, chief executives, consultants and chiefs of staff pointed to the increasing complexities of running a business in a time when artificial intelligence and geopolitics threaten to upend business models. Enter the chief of staff, who can be the “orchestrator” who ensures that leaders in the company are working together well, said Catherine Berardi, formerly the chief of staff to Mellody Hobson, a co-chief executive of Ariel Investments.

“When you think of these big issues that organizations have today — A.I., cybersecurity, customer success, growth — it’s hard to be like, ‘this is just your thing,’” said Ms. Berardi, who runs Prime Executive Office, a firm that places executive office leaders, including chiefs of staff. Chief executives, she said, “need somebody to make sure that that’s coordinated and successful and not a nightmare.”

A chief of staff’s tasks can vary widely, depending on what the boss wants or what a business needs. Some have direct reports; others don’t.

The common thread is that the chief of staff has a single constituent: the boss.

The most famous chiefs of staff worked in the White House, as gatekeepers to the president and power players in their own right. But corporate America is catching on. Valerie Jarrett, now the chief executive of the Obama Foundation, was the longest-serving senior adviser in the White House and had chiefs of staff in both politics and the private sector. And she herself was a deputy chief of staff to Richard M. Daley when he was Chicago’s mayor. From the executive’s point of view, Ms. Jarrett said, a chief of staff is someone who has no line or departmental responsibilities, but whose “job is me.”

After winning over the boss, the chief of staff has to gain the respect of other executives. He or she makes sure different business units (and their leaders) are communicating well with one another and completing the companywide tasks that the chief executive wants done. Leaders turn to their chief of staff for a neutral perspective when weighing differences of opinion.

Unlike in the military or politics, chiefs of staff in business “don’t have structural authority,” said David Astorino, senior partner at the leadership consulting firm RHR.

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Matt Baer, right, the chief executive of Stitch Fix, says he is in “perpetual communication” with Elliott Glass, his chief of staff.Credit...Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Matt Baer, the chief executive of StitchFix, said he was in “perpetual communication” with his chief of staff, Elliott Glass. (Somewhat confusingly, Mr. Glass’s title is head of strategy and transformation, but both he and Mr. Baer consider him a chief of staff.)

“There’s always multiple communication threads ongoing at any given time,” Mr. Baer said. They could be talking over the phone or on Slack or in meetings together.

The two sometimes spend mornings at a library in the Connecticut town where they both live, thinking through big issues on a white board, uninterrupted by office distractions.

While chief executives stressed that the complexity of business right now makes having a trusted adviser essential, some executives want a chief of staff even if they don’t quite know what to do with one.

“There’s a lot of people who are like Oprah — you should get a chief of staff! You should get a chief of staff,” Ms. Berardi said. “They’re such a follow the leader when it comes to this position.”

Many people seek out the job when they’re looking for a springboard to a more senior or managerial role. One chief of staff at IBM interviewed for this article decided to skip business school in favor of the job. Others had a decade of professional experience. The role offers exposure across an organization — a built-in networking opportunity.

Vikram Arumilli worked at McKinsey & Company and attended Wharton business school before becoming the chief of staff to Mr. Gelfond in 2019. He served until 2022 during a time of upheaval for the movie theater industry.

Mr. Gelfond, who generally changes chiefs of staff every two years, put Mr. Arumilli on a Covid task force alongside the head of human resources and the chief financial officer. Mr. Arumilli also spent time in India researching how IMAX could grow its presence there and helped the company acquire a software business.

There were even moments plucked from “The Devil Wears Prada.” One evening, he interrupted his boss’s dinner with a theater owner.

“I had to run in with the phone and say, ‘Hey, Tom Cruise is on the line,’” Mr. Arumilli recounted. “It was actually kind of a power move where he could show the theater owner that he had a call from Tom Cruise that he had to take .”

Mr. Arumilli went on to become a general manager of IMAX’s streaming and consumer technology division. This summer, he accepted the chief executive role at a software company based in New Zealand.

Other former chiefs of staff interviewed for this article have gone on to become vice president of revenue and operations at Yahoo Search and president of Thrive Global, Arianna Huffington’s health and wellness company.

Not all executives are sold on the idea of having a chief of staff.

“I’ve always thought of the role as a kind of gatekeeper, someone who sits between an executive and everyone else,” said Spencer Rascoff, chief executive of Match Group, which owns the dating apps Tinder and Hinge. “That’s not my style. I don’t want anyone between me and my teams.”

He turns to A.I. agents to help him organize his day and accomplish tasks that chiefs of staff sometimes do, such as preparing for meetings. That said, he understands the appeal of having an additional adviser by one’s side.

“I think there’s a difference between A.I. helping someone do their job better and A.I. replacing the judgment and relationship building that a good leader, or a good chief of staff, actually provides,” Mr. Rascoff conceded.

Mr. Gelfond said he hadn’t given much thought to how A.I. might change the role for him. His chiefs of staff are more adept at A.I. than he is and help give him ideas on how it can be used within the organization.

“Maybe they’ll teach me enough to replace themselves,” Mr. Gelfond said, “but they haven’t done that yet.”

Jordyn Holman is a Times business reporter covering management and writing the Corner Office column.

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Why So Many C.E.O.s Are Getting a Chief of Staff

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