Daniel Schulman on leadership
From Capitalism Needs an Upgrade: A Conversation with Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal · · Brown Advisory
“I always say that the definition of a leader is to define reality and inspire hope. And I think both are important. Like, if you just inspire hope, people don't think you have a firm grip on reality, they think you're just sort of like often La La Land, and how is he possibly thinking that can happen? And if you only define reality, people could get somewhat mired in the overwhelming kind of day-to-day difficulty of that. And so you've gotta create that bridge between the two.”
On , Daniel Schulman, Former President & Chief Executive Officer at PayPal, spoke about leadership during Capitalism Needs an Upgrade: A Conversation with Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal on Brown Advisory.
About Daniel Schulman
Dan Schulman, who became CEO of Verizon in late 2025 after a stint as Vice Chairman and Managing Partner at Valor Capital Group, has been discussing the company's turnaround strategy and the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence. He stated that Verizon had lost market share for five consecutive years and that its market capitalization had fallen from first to last in the industry. Schulman described implementing a major restructuring that included laying off approximately 13,000 employees, which he said was necessary to generate cost savings for reinvestment in customer service and infrastructure. He characterized the company's new posture as "playing to win" rather than being a "punching bag." Schulman has made several predictions about technological timelines, stating that he believes artificial general intelligence (AGI) will arrive within two to four years, quantum computing by 2028, and humanoid robotics shortly after. He described current AI models as "the worst models that we will ever have in our lifetime" and said the pace of technological change is faster than any he has previously observed. Schulman acknowledged that AI will likely lead to job displacement and said Verizon is allocating $20 million toward employee reskilling, while also calling for collaboration between private and public sectors to address workforce disruption. He noted that Verizon is using AI tools, including a model called Mythos, for cybersecurity and network management, and that the company is experimenting with AI agents for customer service.