In the wake of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's retirement announcement, industry insiders are busying themselves predicting who will be tapped to head the tech firm.

Everyone from a former Apple executive to Bill Gates himself is being rumored to take Redmond's top job, yet an official announcement is not expected soon.

Rick Sherlund, head of U.S. technology research at Nomura Securities told CNBC's Squawk on the Street that there is little in the way of top-level executive talent currently working for the company. "I do not believe there is a successor in waiting ..." Sherlund said. "Unfortunately, at Microsoft there has been enormous turnover of senior people under Ballmer, so we are left with no obvious choices here."

Likewise Dan Niles, CIO of AlphaOne Capital Partners told NBCNews that the best course of action Microsoft could take in selecting a new CEO is to look outside of the company. "I hope they do some out-of-the-box thinking and they get somebody from outside the company," Niles said.