The firm also drew upon IBM data for a slew of other analyses, including determining the 11 most assertive CEOs in tech. Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella ranked first, followed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Additionally, Paysa used Watson to analyze the personalities of Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Both of them have intellect as their top trait.
To arrive at these results, Paysa “gathered speeches, essays, books, the transcripts of interviews and other forms of communication produced by those highlighted above.” It put over 2,500 words “through the Watson Personality Insights API.”
“Personality Insights extracts personality characteristics based on how a person writes,” according to IBM Watson’s website. “You can use the service to match individuals to other individuals, opportunities, and products, or tailor their experience with personalized messaging and recommendations.”
The study’s findings that intellect is the No. 1 trait across nearly all the industries examined makes intuitive sense. After all, being smart helps leaders in a variety of ways. Bill Gates says finding your brand of smarts is pivotal to having a good career.
As for politics apparently ranking intelligence second? No comment.
Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook.