Gurgaon, Haryana, 28th of August, 2026 : As Indian businesses scale, diversify and take on increasingly complex mandates, the definition of the leadership talent they need is changing. Recognising the importance of understanding these shifts beyond individual appointments, Sapphire Human Capital has released its CXO Moves Report 2025–26, an annual analysis of the movements shaping Corporate India’s senior leadership landscape.
Drawing on 4,361 CXO and senior leadership movements tracked between April 2025 and March 2026, the report examines where senior talent is moving, which leadership profiles are gaining traction and how organisations are approaching executive hiring, succession and board capability. The analysis forms part of Sapphire Human Capital’s broader effort to bring greater market intelligence and context to leadership decisions through its understanding of executive talent across industries and functions.
The latest findings reveal a leadership market that is becoming more selective, internally developed and capability-driven, even as the demand for experienced leadership remains strong.
A key shift identified by Sapphire is the growing strength of Indian-origin companies in attracting senior multinational talent, with MNC-to-Indian-origin company movements rising from 30% in FY 2023–24 to 59% in FY 2025-26, while the reverse flow remained broadly stable at 8–10%. At the same time, the 4%? decline in overall CXO movements to 4,361 was accompanied by a sharp rise in internal promotions from 12% to 30%, as external hiring moderated from 81% to 65%. Together, these trends point to a more deliberate leadership market, with organisations strengthening internal succession pipelines while continuing to seek specialised talent externally, and Indian-origin companies increasingly attracting senior leaders through broader mandates, greater P&L ownership and opportunities to drive transformation.
“The CXO market is one of the clearest indicators of how Corporate India is preparing for what comes next; every movement carries a signal about business priorities, leadership capability and the experience organisations value at a given point in their growth journey. The CXO Moves Report brings these signals together into a comprehensive, industry-defining view of executive movement across sectors and functions. This year’s findings point to a more selective, deliberate leadership market, with organisations placing greater emphasis on readiness, relevance and the ability to take on broader mandates,” said Ankit Bansal, Founder & CEO, Sapphire Human Capital.
Sapphire’s CXO market lens reveals five defining shifts
- Boardrooms are being renewed at pace
Sapphire recorded 763 board movements, up 91% year-on-year, with Non-Executive and Independent Directors accounting for 40%, highlighting growing demand for stronger governance and specialised expertise - Executive mobility remains high among shorter tenures
Nearly 48% of CXO movements involved leaders with 1–3 years in their previous roles, reflecting a more fluid market where relevance and readiness for the next mandate are gaining importance - Leadership is crossing industry boundaries
Of 431 CEO movements, Consumer & E-commerce, BFSI and Media & Entertainment accounted for more than half, with cross-sector hiring highlighting demand for transferable capabilities in transformation, growth and scale - COOs are the strongest pathway to first-time CEO roles
Among first-time CEOs, who accounted for 18% of movements, 53% came from COO roles, underscoring the value of enterprise-wide operational and P&L experience - India’s CXO landscape is expanding geographically
Mumbai and NCR accounted for 54% of CXO movements, while 632 movements in Tier II cities signal a gradual decentralisation of executive hiring as businesses expand into new markets
Sectorally, Media & Entertainment recorded the highest volume of external CXO hiring at 735, followed by Consumer & E-commerce at 627, BFSI at 525 and Technology & Telecom at 522, underlining the continued breadth of leadership demand across Corporate India.
The report reinforces Sapphire Human Capital’s view that the evolution of India’s leadership market cannot be understood through hiring volumes alone. The direction of movement, the experience organisations are seeking, the pathways leaders are taking and the capabilities being introduced into boardrooms collectively provide a deeper picture of where businesses are headed.
Through the CXO Moves Report, Sapphire Human Capital is bringing this perspective to the wider business community, using its proximity to the executive talent market to identify patterns that can inform conversations around leadership hiring, succession, board composition and long-term organisational capability.
About Sapphire Human Capital
Founded in 2008, Sapphire Human Capital is a Mumbai-headquartered retained executive search firm with offices in Gurgaon and Bengaluru. The firm partners with organisations on CXO and board-level leadership mandates across BFSI, consumer and retail, technology, real estate and infrastructure, and healthcare and life sciences. With deep engagement across the executive talent ecosystem, Sapphire combines its executive search expertise with market understanding to help organisations identify leadership talent aligned with their evolving business priorities.
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