Replicating Global CEO Priorities

Blinded head-to-head test vs. The Conference Board’s 2026 C-Suite Outlook

The Test: Replicate Human Rank Ordering

  • Modeled 500 simulated global CEOs

  • Compared to 770 human, global CEOs

  • Fielded across North Am, Europe, and Asia

  • The Conference Board’s C-Suite Outlook is an established annual executive benchmark

  • Blind comparison (no access to results)

Alignment of Response Rankings

ρ = 0.78 Spearman rank correlation

  • Across 10 questions, 99 ranked items

1.28 Average absolute rank difference

  • Just over one position apart, on average

67% Top-3 alignment (20 of 30 slots)

  • 0 Questions with zero top-3 overlap

Rank Drift by Question

Ordered by mean drift

Across 10 questions, mean drift remained within a ~2.5-position band. Despite differences in regional and sector composition, no tuning was applied.

Rank Comparison Examples

Selected by mean drift

Priority clusters remain stable even when individual rankings shift.

Near-identical ordering across top priorities.

Comparable ordering, with moderate reshuffling.

Independent Reaction

“There wasn’t one question of the 10 where one of the top three rankings did not match.”

Ivan Pollard

Leader, Marketing & Communications Center
The Conference Board

Former Global CMO, General Mills
Former SVP, The Coca-Cola Company

“Going in blind and matching as closely as they did is pretty impressive.”

Jeanne Shu

Strategic Projects Lead, Economy, Strategy & Finance Center
The Conference Board

Simulated modeling reproduced executive priority structure in a blind rank-order test.