Today, the average CEO is paid the same as about 399 workers. What if that salary was attributed to other resources? It’s one question that NetDragon Websoft, a Hong Kong-based online gaming firm, was eager to answer. In the Summer of 2022, the company hired an AI robot, Tang Yu, as their CEO. According to a 2023 article on The Hustle, since “employing” Yu, the company has exceeded the performance of Hong Kong's stock market.
Columbia Business School Professor Oded Netzer, who was quoted in the article, believes that around 30%-40% of executive-level tasks can be automated. However, Netzer also advocated for human decision-making, as AI can’t substitute for “contextual awareness.”
“Each executive decision requires different inputs and considerations that make it hard to apply a predictive framework,” he explained.
Learn more about which positions have the most risk of being replaced by automation and how companies can reimagine the workforce using AI.
Mentioned Faculty

Oded Netzer
- Arthur J. Samberg Professor of Business
- Marketing Division
- Vice Dean for Research
- Dean's Office

Oded Netzer
- Arthur J. Samberg Professor of Business
- Marketing Division
- Vice Dean for Research
- Dean's Office
Professor Netzer's expertise centers on one of the major business challenges of the data-rich environment: developing quantitative methods that leverage data to gain a deeper understanding of customer behavior and guide firms' decisions. He focuses primarily on building statistical and econometric models to measure consumer preferences and understand how customer choices change over time, and across contexts. Most notably, he has developed a framework for managing firms' customer bases through dynamic segmentation.