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Key Takeaways Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been leading the AI chipmaker since founding it in 1993.
In a new interview, Huang explained that he avoids one-on-ones with his 60 direct reports.
That way, no single leader gets special information or privileged access to him.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang skips one-on-ones with his dozens of direct reports in favor of team meetings because he wants everyone operating with the same information and solving problems together out in the open, according to a recent episode of the Lex Fridman Podcast.
Huang’s leadership structure is intentionally extreme by traditional standards. Instead of five to seven senior reports, he has around 60 leaders reporting directly to him. That design flattens out Nvidia’s organizational chart by removing multiple layers of middle management that would otherwise sit between Huang and key decision-makers. In other words, he says, the structure strips out layers of hierarchy that can slow decisions down.
“I don’t have one-on-ones with them because it’s impossible,” Huang said on the podcast. “We present a problem, and all of us attack it.”
His direct reports range from memory experts to designers. The team tackles problems together in an example of “extreme co-design,” where all team members contribute simultaneously, Huang explained. “The company is doing extreme co-design all the time,” Huang said.
In these collaborative meetings, whoever wants to tune out can step away, Huang said. However, if there’s something mentioned in the meeting that they can contribute to, Huang will call them out.
Huang’s work ethic
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