Top 10 Chief Strategy Officers - 2021

A Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) is a C-level executive charged with helping to formulate, facilitate and communicate an organization's strategic initiatives and future goals. Reporting to the CEO or the CFO and working closely with them, the position of the CSO is relatively new and has become far more prevalent in the C-suite, within the last decade, especially as the digital business and growth strategies have continued to increase in complexity. A CSO’s role includes creative thinking and collaborating effectively for different business operations of highest multitude. Executive officers and the senior leadership team are facing pressure to continuously cultivate and implement more robust strategic initiatives that will help organizations achieve a competitive advantage. More organizations are realizing that strategic planning is a complex, full-time job that may require more focus, structure and exactitude than a CEO alone can provide. In the general sense, CSOs are charged with developing and clarifying the vision of an organization, communicating it to the masses and sustaining the implementation efforts. Specific CSO responsibilities tend to vary from company to company, but there are commonalities. The CSO at times functions as a sort of “mini CEO,” someone who must see the issues confronting the company from a broad perspective as the chief executive does. In this issue of the CEO Insights magazine showcases a list of ‘Top 10 Chief Strategy Officers - 2021’. Especially curated by a team of industry veterans, CEOs and VCs, and the CEO Insights editorial team, the listing is provided to the readers to highlight upon the ingenious strategies adopted by the Chief Strategy Officers at top firms.