Seven in 10 COOs grow into role, new research finds
The research found seven in 10 Chief Operating Officers (COOs) have grown into their role.
New research from Vestd and Operations Nation has revealed that seven in 10 Chief Operating Officers (COOs) have grown into their role, opening up new insights into one of the most varied and misunderstood C-suite roles.
Just 20% of operations leaders set out to build a career in operations, with 56% reporting they gradually became the person who solved cross-functional problems, often being the one who kept saying "yes" until the job was theirs.
The research, published in The Modern COO Benchmark 2026, surveyed almost 300 operations leaders to understand what their role looks like in their business, and some of the key challenges they face.
While Chief Financial Officers and Chief Technology Officers have clear briefs and responsibilities, COOs have genuinely cross-functional roles.
74% of ops leaders said when something important has no clear owner, it lands on their desk, meaning most of their time is spent firefighting. The median operations leader has primary responsibility for 10 business functions, with more than half (54%) owning two or more of finance, people and legal.
Ifty Nasir, founder and CEO of equity management platform Vestd, said: "The challenge for many operations leaders is that their best work often goes unnoticed, because success looks like nothing is going wrong. They are the people who hold everything together day after day and typically grow into their roles, without really planning it."
Aušrinė Keršanskaitė, co-founder of Operations Nation, a global community of more than 800 startup and scaleup operations leaders, said: "I was an intern at a company just getting started. I didn't know I was beginning a career in operations; I just did what needed doing. Within two years, I was Operations Director with a very broad remit. No map, but I learned as I went, and loved it."
Wider findings in the report included how three in four ops leaders put AI in their top three priorities or investments but 72% have no part of operations running mostly on it. 67% name firefighting among the three things that take most of their week. Only one in nine names strategic planning, while 72% want more time for it.
It also found that three quarters report straight to the CEO, but only 36% call it a true partnership, and 64% of ops leaders have grown their role well beyond the original brief.