CEO points to Tom Brady to explain how his decision-making as a business leader evolved as he got older: 'I probably move faster now than I did when I was younger'

• The CEO of chip-design company Arm talked about leadership and decision-making in a new interview.
• Rene Haas said he uses both opinion and data, but with more experience, often relies on intuition.

The CEO of chip-design company Arm said that the more experience he gets, the more comfortable he is trusting his gut and opinion over data to make decisions.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Verge's "Decoder" podcast, host Nilay Patel talked to Arm CEO Rene Haas about what his company does, its place in today's technology, and how the executive approaches decision-making as a leader. Haas has been at Arm for 9 years, but recently became CEO of the company six months ago.

Arm doesn't make chips or build processors, but rather creates the underlying designs and licenses them to companies big and small, including tech giants like Apple. Arm's primary product, Haas said, is the microprocessor, "which is the brain of almost any type of electronic device."

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When Patel asks Haas about how he makes decisions and the framework behind them, Haas says he depends on a mix of opinion and data. But the more experienced he gets, the most he relies on his opinion and intuition, he said.

"I would say that the more white you get in your beard and your hair, the more comfortable you get with opinion-based decisions," Haas said when it comes to choosing between the two approaches.

Haas compared the situation to football quarterback Tom Brady, who announced his retirement from the sport in February, just to reverse his decision 40 days later. Brady is regarded by many as the best quarterback in the history of the sport, and has won seven Super Bowl titles.

"For those folks who are football fans out there: why is Tom Brady still playing quarterback at 45, even though, physically, he is playing with guys half his age? Because it is hard to fool him, and he's seen it all," Haas said.

Hass said that although business "is far more complex than professional football," the comparison helps, and added that "I probably move faster now than I did when I was younger" with regards to decision-making.

Read — or listen to — the full interview over at The Verge.