Would you be open to having a CFO @ 29

You may have bottles of ketchup in your fridge older than new chief financial officer of Kraft Heinz.

Come Oct 1 and the 29 year David Knopf would assume the role of CFO of the $ 100 bn Kraft Heinz.

In tech firms, one is used to having baby-faced founders and CEOs, be it a Mark Zuckerberg of FB and a Ritesh Agarwal of Oyo Rooms.

But in traditional companies, it’s less common for a company to hand over the head of financial operations to someone so young.

In the USA, using age as a decision criterion not only is politically incorrect but is a form of discrimination and therefore illegal. In India there are no such rules.

Headhunters and corporate boards use age is a leadership wild card.

Mostly, each JD to the placement agency comes with a strict filter attached for age and experience.

We’re looking for our Finance Head, 50 to 55 years old who……………

The question is, in C-suite hiring, is there a correlation between age and success?

Can there be a logical case for ignoring age when considering an otherwise-qualified candidate.

Our sense is that in today\’s VUCA times, C-suite hiring decisions cannot be driven by “rules of thumb,” anecdotes, or fads. Rather, one might be well placed using a critical assessment of the company’s situation and the candidate\’s suitability for addressing the current challenges.

An experienced CFO might help a company avoid repeating mistakes but the flexibility of youth might be important in an environment of quick adjustments.

Can Young Blood and Exuberance prevail over a long resume?

Would you be open to having a CFO @ 29

Would love to hear your thoughts on this trade-offs between energy vs. wisdom.