Former X CEO Linda Yaccarino worked closely with Elon Musk for two years while the billionaire was transforming Twitter into X. Her time at the company gave her a close look at how Musk approaches work, decisions and ambitious projects.
After stepping down from X in 2025, Yaccarino has reflected on what she learnt from working with one of the world’s most prominent tech entrepreneurs. One particular trait, she says, stood out during her time alongside him.
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“The reason his companies are singular in what they deliver is because of the insatiable sense of urgency,” Yaccarino told Fortune.
According to the former X CEO, Musk’s approach is not simply about working towards a deadline. His expectation is to move immediately, whether the task involves a new product or a major project.
“There’s not a deadline for a project or to ship something, a product, it’s now,” she said.
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Yaccarino believes this approach also pushes people to look at problems differently. Instead of getting caught up in processes, it encourages them to identify what really matters and focus on the most important parts of a challenge.
“A lot of people talk about first principles, but that’s what it forces you to do,” she added.
Yaccarino saw it during X’s transformation
Yaccarino joined Twitter as CEO in 2023, after Musk’s takeover of the platform. During her two-year stint, the company went through a dramatic transformation, including the retirement of its bluebird logo and its rebranding as X.
The platform also underwent major workforce changes and faced continued scrutiny over issues including misinformation, hate speech and bots.
Yaccarino resigned as X CEO in July 2025. Despite the difficulties, she said challenging periods in a career can eventually become “like a gift”.
Her career before X had largely been in media. She spent decades at companies including NBCUniversal, eventually overseeing a major advertising business before making the unexpected move into tech.
Her advice to Gen Z
Yaccarino has carried that willingness to embrace difficult challenges into the next stage of her career. She is now CEO of health-tech company eMed.
Speaking about the future of work, she advised younger workers not to simply focus on becoming better at tasks that technology can increasingly perform.
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Instead, she highlighted skills such as empathy, decision-making and the ability to combine creativity with analytical thinking.
“Celebrate those skills that you have that are at the intersection of art and science, or magic and math,” Yaccarino said.
Her broader advice is to avoid choosing the easiest path simply because it feels comfortable.
“Comfort is complacency,” she said. “So, go to the uncomfortable.”
