The Twitter-happy president-elect has changed the policy game, but he now faces the challenge of implementing his plans, Nasdaq's new CEO told CNBC on Tuesday.
"I would say that he is creating a new age of politics and now it's a matter of putting those politics into action," Adena Friedman told "Squawk Box." "2017 is a real 'show me' story in terms of all the policies that he's been proclaiming."
And for business owners who are targeted by Donald Trump for the way their companies operate, Friedman had a few diplomatic words of advice.
"I think you're supposed to continue to execute on your business strategy and then have an open dialogue with the administration as appropriate," she said.
Friedman, who was formerly Nasdaq's president and chief operating officer, took over as CEO on Jan. 1. She said her company's focus for the new year will be on technology.
"For us, it's a matter of making sure that we continue to take all of the new technologies that are available in the marketplace and bringing them into our markets and offering them out to our clients," she said.
Blockchain, a database that tracks all bitcoin transactions, is one such technology, Friedman said.
Despite the hurdle of federal regulation, a concern that is fading for many companies in the face of a more pro-business administration, Friedman said that the protection, speed and efficiency blockchain provides will turn skeptics around.
"At this point, you've got to end up showing either a reduction of risk or a benefit to the clients in terms of the ability for them to get things done faster with more certainty," Friedman said. "If you can really prove that out, then I think that the regulators will get on board with it."