Getty Images Author and journalist James Ashton has interviewed more than 400 CEOs in his career. He says technology, PR, and HR are challenging finance and operations as routes to the top job. Ashton cites the leaders who reflect this new trend at companies from HBO to General Motors. Headhunters will scour the world of work for appropriate leaders to take the helm of corporations post-pandemic, and it's clear to me that many of them will come from unexpected sources. I've interviewed 400 CEOs — from the UK Royal Mint's Anne Jessopp to Verizon's Hans Vestberg — over my 20-year career as a business journalist and for my new book. I've detected a subtle shift in where leaders are coming from.