Maybe we give too much credit to tech CEOs and not enough to the teams behind the technology

#Opinion Whenever a major technology company succeeds, people often look for a single person to credit. The conversation usually becomes about a visionary founder, a famous CEO, or a charismatic leader who supposedly changed everything. But I've started wondering whether we sometimes oversimplify how innovation actually happens. Take some of the most influential products of the last few decades. The original iPhone is closely associated with Steve Jobs. Tesla is closely associated with Elon Musk. Yet neither of those success stories was the result of one person sitting in a room and inventing the future alone. Behind every breakthrough product are thousands of engineers, designers, researchers, manufacturers, supply chain experts, software developers, and operations teams solving countless problems that most consumers never see. That doesn't mean leadership isn't important. It absolutely is. Steve Jobs had an extraordinary ability to recognize what consumers would value before the market fully understood it. He helped shape Apple's focus on design, simplicity, and user experience in ways that changed the entire industry. Elon Musk has demonstrated a willingness to take risks in industries that many investors considered too difficult or too expensive. Whether it's electric vehicles, reusable rockets, or satellite internet, he has consistently pushed ambitious projects that many people initially dismissed. Those contributions matter. But I think the tech industry sometimes falls into the trap of treating innovation like a superhero story. We celebrate one person when things go right and blame one person when things go wrong. The reality is much messier. Great leaders can create vision, attract talent, secure funding, and make difficult decisions. But vision alone doesn't build products. Teams do. The best ideas in the world are meaningless without thousands of people turning them into reliable hardware, software, and services that millions can actually use. Maybe that's why the most successful technology companies aren't built by individual geniuses. They're built by organizations that consistently turn ideas into execution and execution into long-term value. So when we talk about the biggest names in tech, maybe the more interesting question isn't whether Elon Musk or Steve Jobs is overrated. Maybe the real question is this: Do we spend too much time focusing on famous leaders and not enough time recognizing the teams that make technological breakthroughs possible?