Delta CEO Ed Bastian on why PepsiCo has produced a dozen Fortune 500 chief executives

(SeaPRwire) –   In Atlanta, loyalty runs particularly strong for the city’s two hometown powerhouses: Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines.

So it may come as a surprise that Ed Bastian, who has led Delta for nearly a decade, credits an Atlanta rival—PepsiCo—for shaping the executive he is today. During the latest episode of ’s Titans and Disruptors of Industry podcast, Bastian opened up about how this food and beverage conglomerate didn’t only fuel his own climb to the C-suite, but has quietly done the same for a generation of business leaders.

“[At PepsiCo], you’re surrounded by top-tier talent. They knew that talent would prevail in the marketplace,” Bastian told ’s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell. “They were consistently recruiting and bringing in new talent. It’s one of the only places I’ve ever worked where they let you know from day one that you likely won’t retire here, because it’s a talent factory.”

And he’s not exaggerating: PepsiCo has long been known as a breeding ground for top executives. A December 2022 analysis found at least a dozen Fortune 500 CEOs have passed through its ranks, including McDonald’s Chris Kempczinski and Land O’Lakes Beth Ford. 

PepsiCo’s strategy for nurturing leaders was largely shaped by Bob Eichinger, an industrial-organizational psychologist who spent nearly a decade at the company starting in the late 1970s. Eichinger adapted psychometric testing to evaluate executive behavior and performance, helping solidify PepsiCo’s reputation as what Yale professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld famously dubbed an “academy company.”

A core pillar of PepsiCo’s system is identifying “hi-pos”—the top 20% of performers at any given time—who are placed into challenging stretch assignments, international rotations, and cross-functional roles designed to prevent them from growing too settled in a single department silo. The company’s HR team actively transfers rising talent across divisions, even against the objections of their current managers, under the belief that future leaders need broad operational fluency rather than narrow, specialized expertise.

The expectation that you can move on, Bastian noted, is baked into the company’s culture from your first day: “You learn all you can, grow as a professional, and some people stay, but many take the skills they’ve gained and go test their abilities in another industry.”

For Bastian, that next career move felt natural. As someone who logged countless hours traveling for work with PepsiCo’s international finance team, transitioning to aviation wasn’t a big leap so much as a logical next step.

“Someone once suggested I consider working for an airline since I was on a plane so often,” he shared. “And I thought that actually made perfect sense.”

And it made sense for Delta too. Bastian joined Delta in 1998 as a vice president of finance and was named CFO by 2005. A decade later, in 2015, Bastian took on the CEO role, and has since helped the airline claim industry dominance—boasting top-tier on-time performance, a market value north of $40 billion, and a reputation as the most profitable U.S. carrier.

Ed Bastian skipped an MBA to build his leadership skills at PepsiCo—and it paid off

Growing up in upstate New York, Bastian earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from St. Bonaventure University in 1979 and quickly began his career as an auditor at Price Waterhouse (now PwC). While a graduate degree had seemed like a logical early career step, he noted it simply wasn’t feasible for him.

“I jumped straight into work right after college; I didn’t have the money or the patience to pursue any post-graduate education,” he said.

But as his ambition grew, so did his awareness of the skill gaps in his background. So when PepsiCo offered him a role, he recognized it for what it was: a rare chance to receive a world-class business education without footing the tuition bill.

This job proved to be the turning point of his career. But beyond the skills he honed—like prioritizing customers and making smart, strategic decisions—Bastian said the deeper lesson was about the kind of leader he wanted to become: one who never forgets the path that got him here.

“My best advice is to make certain that you’re taking care of the people that got you there,” he told .

This humility, the 68-year-old executive argued, is what separates good leaders from great ones. Plenty of CEOs, including himself, never set out to land the top job. Instead, they let their drive and confidence be balanced by a quieter, more thoughtful quality.

“We talk a lot about the importance of confidence, drive, energy, and vision in leadership,” Bastian added. “[But], there’s also a really important attribute, and that’s humility paired with a willingness to listen more than you talk, to ensure you have an appreciation for what people do, and to connect with your team.”

Bastian has embodied this mindset in part through Delta’s annual profit-sharing program. This past February, the company paid out $1.3 billion to its more than 100,000 employees, which averaged out to over four weeks of extra pay per person.

In an era increasingly defined by technology and speed, Bastian believes that human instincts matter more than ever.

“Understand what leadership is about—it’s about people, it’s about leading people,” Bastian said. “And that will get you further than anything you could ever do.”