Three-time Chief of Staff Elliott Fisher returns back on the podcast with David Nebinski to break down the Executive Operator (EO) role from his viral Substack essay, “The Rise of the Executive Operator.” He explains how the EO role differs from a Chief of Staff role, why AI-driven information overload is creating the role, and why Chiefs of Staff should add deliberate friction in an AI-native world.
Connect with Elliott on LinkedIn!
Episode highlights:
02:30: Elliott introduces his essay about the emerging Executive Operator (EO) role and why it’s gaining attention
04:00: How an EO differs from a Chief of Staff. Early stage Chiefs of Staff may cover both roles, while larger organizations may need someone dedicated to operating infrastructure where an EO can come in
06:30: How AI is contributing to the rise of the EO role by increasing the volume of information organizations need to manage
07:15: The EO’s focus: building, maintaining, and improving systems that help information reach the right people at the right time
12:00: How companies might think about the ROI of an EO
14:30: Why Elliott’s essay resonated: it gave a name to work operators and Chiefs of Staff were already doing
20:30: The case for having dedicated operating infrastructure to help larger companies plan and adapt more quickly
26:15: “The organization is the product”: treating meetings and operating practices as systems that should evolve with the business
31:15: Advice for Chiefs of Staff: consider where to deliberately add friction
Listen to the prior A Chief of Staff podcast with Elliott here too: