The adversity in the world today is disruption in its most extreme form. Every part of our life is affected and no one is immune. Technology, now more than ever, will play an important role in this pandemic, and it will also raise questions about the type of leadership most needed to survive this crisis and the role that the best technology leaders should play. On a positive note, artificial intelligence and high performance computing in particular are being deployed on a large scale to analyze large data sets in order to find solutions for COVID19. The UK is at the forefront because of our pre-eminence in these areas of cognitive science, which can only be good for the home tech sector. At the same time, technology is also being used like never before to help society adjust to a new normal. Almost overnight, large sections of the population have radically changed the way people work. The way we communicate and collaborate has changed, perhaps forever. Social distancing has forced us to isolate ourselves, changing the way we interact. People have rapidly embraced new ways of living and working, with unified communications platforms entering the home and social media and mobile devices becoming daily substitutes for face-to-face interaction. They may be a short-term antidote in our home, but the future of the workplace revolution that was gaining momentum before Covid-19 rests on the fact that these technologies are becoming commonplace. Overnight Covid-19 has proven profitable and there will be no going back. Before the coronavirus, the term disruption was widely regarded as a force for good, challenging and changing the way we do things, often leading to better ways of working, living and consuming. But Covid-19 is a whole new form of disruption with little to no parallels beyond, perhaps, the qualities and attributes that companies most need their leaders to wield in the face of adversity. Our company recently conducted a global study with Harvard Business Review Analytic Services to investigate this issue, asking nearly 2,000 senior executives from companies of all sizes around the world how confident they were of beating their top leaders. successful major outages. It found that only 15% thought their best team had what it takes to deal with large-scale change. But the work also identified how some leaders, including chief technology officers, cope, and the qualities and attributes companies need most in these turbulent times. We found a significant "trust gap" between the importance given to those in senior positions in helping companies weather disruptions and the ability of current incumbents to do so. For example, 85% of executives believe that CEOs have the most central role; however, far fewer (only 60%) trust the current incumbent. CIOs and top tech offerings came in second to 53% for CEO, but again there is a significant lack of confidence in the trust current incumbents can offer, with just 31% of them thinking so. So what is missing? Our conclusion from this study, confirmed by the work we see with companies and leaders around the world, is that companies must reimagine leadership for the modern world. New leaders are needed to take on new challenges in rapidly changing times. Our work identifies three essential traits for leaders who can successfully manage disruption. These are: a high degree of agility, open and consistent communication, and high emotional intelligence. It is important to note that these "new leaders" must also be visionary, objective, and possess strong talent skills, not only understanding what is needed within their teams, but also working collaboratively, inspiring and nurturing new ideas, and engaging people throughout the organization. While politicians face panic and uncertainty, those who handle it well are already demonstrating some of these skills in broader content. They must be able to rapidly evolve strategy, pivot quickly as new challenges emerge, and be agile while keeping communication channels open to ensure the public is informed and broadly supportive of continued action. We are in the early days of a new future for business and technology leaders as all organizations seek to chart a new course for the future. Much remains to be known, but it is already clear that the function and the technology sector, like most others, will need new leaders to change the times.