We examine how a CEO’s general ability influences strategic change, moderated by firm slack and the firm age. Our data comprised of 4,833 CEO-firm-fiscal year observations with 678 distinct firms covering 1993-2016 period. We estimate our model using fixed effects with robust standard errors and follow it up with robustness checks using correlated random effects models. We find that the positive relationship between CEO general ability and strategic change is moderated by both, firm slack as well as firm age. Whereas firm age negatively affects the relationship, firm slack has a positive effect. We contribute to the upper echelons theory, strategic change literature and the strategic human resource perspective. The knowledge and skills that represent CEO general ability play a crucial role in determining how effective will CEO be in driving strategic change amidst certain extraneous influences.