Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unapologetic about being labelled a tough boss, says "It should be .…" | - Times of India

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

has no problem being labelled as a demanding, perfectionist leader who is "not easy to work with" by his employees. In fact, he says that's precisely how it should be when striving to accomplish "extraordinary things."

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, correspondent Bill Whitaker relayed that Nvidia employees described

Huang

using those very terms - "demanding, perfectionist, not easy to work with." Huang agreed with the assessment, stating, "It should be like that.

If you want to do extraordinary things, it shouldn't be easy."

Huang's hard-driving leadership style appears to be paying off. Under his 31-year tenure as CEO, Nvidia has transformed from a little-known graphics chip company into a $2 trillion artificial intelligence powerhouse.

The company's market value doubled in just eight months last year as demand for its AI chips—considered the industry's best—skyrocketed. Nvidia now controls the market for the critically important hardware powering advanced AI systems.

Huang takes an unconventional approach to staying connected across Nvidia's vast operations. He has remarked that CEOs should have the most direct reports of anyone at a company, and he manages an incredible 50 direct reports. "The more direct reports the

CEO

has, the less layers are in the company," Huang said at the 2023 NYT DealBook Summit.

The demanding 61-year-old executive credits his brutal work ethic to his days as a dishwasher at Denny's restaurant, where he and his co-founders conceived the idea for Nvidia over breakfast. He has said starting the company was "a million times harder" than anticipated.

Huang also addressed

AI anxiety

in the 60 Minutes interview, refuting fears that the technology will make human jobs obsolete. "Because we have good judgement because there are circumstances the machine is just not going to understand," he stated, adding that humans need to remain "in the loop."

After over three decades of building Nvidia into a trillion-dollar AI juggernaut, Huang clearly has little interest in going easy on his employees or himself. His demanding, perfectionist leadership paid major dividends, and he sees no reason to change his exact ways.