Chief strategy officer

A Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), or chief strategist, is an executive who is responsible for assisting the chief executive officer with developing, communicating, executing, and sustaining strategic initiatives.

Today many CEOs have less time to devote to executing strategy while at the same time uncertain environments increase the need for professional strategy development. As a result, Presidents and CEOs in academic, nonprofit and corporate organizations are appointing CSOs. In recent years, the CSO position increased in popularity, which is reflected by the high number of US companies (nearly 50% of S&P 500 firms) who created CSO positions in their top management teams.