Which CXO Roles Boards Really Want

When executives talk about preparing for a board role, the conversation usually jumps straight to networking. Who do you know? Who knows you? Who might make the introduction?

That’s important, but it’s only part of the story. Boards are increasingly explicit about the skills and perspectives they want around the table. Recent data shows a clear pattern: some roles are heavily represented, while others are barely there.

Here’s what the numbers tell us, and how you can use them to shape your personal brand as board ready.

The Roles Boards Already Favor

• CEO: No surprise here. Roughly 30% of new S&P 500 directors are active or retired CEOs, according to the 2024 SpencerStuart Board Index.
• CFO: About 15% of board members come from CFO or treasurer backgrounds, and boards are increasingly looking for financial expertise, with 29% of new directors overall and 34% of new female board directors having a financial background. 
• Strategy, Finance, and Operations: Beyond the top jobs, boards often highlight directors with strategic or financial expertise in their skills matrices. COO and Strategy executives appear less often than CEOs and CFOs, but they’re still viewed as reliable candidates.

Implication: If you’re in one of these roles, the expectation isn’t just that you’ve done the job, it’s that you can demonstrate a track record of governance-level thinking. Your public presence should show judgment, perspective on risk, and the ability to see around corners.

The Scarcity Roles

• CMOs & CROs: Despite how central growth and customers are to every company, only a tiny fraction of boards include sitting CMOs. SpencerStuart states that just 41 of the Fortune 1000 have a CMO on the board. CROs and sales leaders fall into a functional leader category that accounts for just 16% of new directors.
• CHROs / Chief People Officers: Here too, the gap is stark. Relatively few board directors have HR experience, and the prevalence of new directors with CHRO experience has declined by nearly 54% since 2022 (from 2.6% to 1.2%).

Implication: If you hold one of these titles, you need to be deliberate in how you frame your value. The path to a board seat may come through adjacent strengths. For example, a CMO can position herself as an authority on customer trust in an AI-driven world, or a CHRO can connect talent strategy to business transformation. Visibility matters, because it’s how you demonstrate those broader competencies.

The Rising Roles

• CISOs: Cybersecurity oversight is now a board-level requirement under SEC rules. About 60% of S&P 500 boards say they have a director with cybersecurity expertise, compared with 51% in 2023. 
• Chief Sustainability Officers: 59% of large-company boards now claim ESG/sustainability expertise, an increase of 5% since 2023. 
• Chief Data / Chief AI Officer: 31.6% of the S&P 500 say they have some level of board oversight of AI, an increase of 84% since 2023. Demand will only accelerate as companies scramble to manage both the risks and opportunities of AI.

Implication: If you’re in one of these roles, you are on the right side of a trend. The risk isn’t whether boards need your expertise, it’s whether they know who you are. This is where your LinkedIn presence becomes strategic: consistent visibility positions you as the kind of executive who belongs in the boardroom conversation.

What This Means for You

1. Start with awareness. Know where your title stands in terms of board representation. If you’re in a favored role, you need to show board-level judgment. If you’re in a scarce role, you need to make the case for your adjacent strengths. If you’re in a rising role, the opportunity is real, but you still need to be visible.
2. Shape your narrative. Translate your experience into board language: governance, oversight, risk, stakeholder trust, long-term value creation.
3. Use visibility strategically. Boards may never see your board bio or resume until late in the process. But they, and the recruiters advising them, will see your digital footprint. The executives who consistently publish thoughtful perspectives on LinkedIn are the ones who look like natural candidates when the opportunity arises.

Not all CXO roles are equal in the eyes of the board. But every role has a path to board readiness if you can connect your expertise to what boards are seeking. Your LinkedIn presence is where you start to make that connection visible.