Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Program

Two required short courses will elevate your learning experience by enabling you to enhance your executive presence and influence as well as maximize your effectiveness in the boardroom.

• Executive Presence and Influence: Persuasive Leadership Development: Gain the skill set needed to have an impactful executive presence through strategic persuasion and craft your unique leadership style.

• Corporate Governance: Maximize Your Effectiveness in the Boardroom: Increase your impact on board-level decisions by gaining a deeper understanding of corporate governance and its role, structure, and responsibilities.

Note: Short courses are subject to change

Strengthen your strategic leadership with live, application-focused sessions* that help you navigate the accelerating impact of AI across enterprise models, customer ecosystems, regulatory landscapes, and organizational strategy.

• AI and Search: From SEO to LLMO, Kartik Hosanagar

Led by Kartik Hosanagar, this session examines how commerce is shifting as AI systems and autonomous agents research, recommend, and purchase on behalf of consumers and enterprises. It introduces the move from search engine optimization (SEO) to AI engine optimization (AEO) and AI agent optimization (AAO) as well as its impact on brand strategy, data foundations, and go-to-market planning. You will learn how marketing, sales, and customer experience must adapt for a future in which AI guides most purchase journeys.

• Responsible AI: Ethics, Regulation, and Governance, Kevin Werbach

Led by Kevin Werbach, this session explores how AI systems are becoming central to enterprise decision making and why leaders must ensure that their use is ethical, transparent, and aligned with emerging regulations. It outlines the foundations of responsible AI governance and how to design oversight, manage accountability, and support innovation responsibly. You will also examine global regulatory approaches to AI and understand the context required to lead adoption in complex, international environments.

• Measuring Productivity Gains of AI in the Workplace, Pinar Yildirim

Led by Professor Pinar Yildirim, this session examines how organizations can rigorously assess the impact of AI on workplace productivity and business performance. It explores which metrics truly matter, how to link them directly to AI initiatives, and how to avoid misleading signals that overstate impact. You will learn how to set realistic expectations, design meaningful experiments, and build dashboards that distinguish genuine productivity gains from activity that appears effective but delivers limited value.

*Note: Session topics and speakers are subject to change.

The Wharton Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Program is a learning journey that prepares senior leaders to design, execute, and sustain corporate strategy. Spanning ten months, the program combines strategic frameworks, growth strategies, and real-world case studies with electives tailored to your goals. Led by world-renowned Wharton faculty, the CSO Program equips you to enhance organizational performance, manage risk, and emerge as an influential strategic architect capable of guiding enterprise-wide transformation.

The value of any program depends on your career stage and the impact you aim to create. You can choose a relevant course by considering factors such as faculty reputation, curriculum focus, and networking opportunities. For senior executives seeking to move from functional leadership into enterprise-wide influence, the ten-month Chief Strategy Officer Program from Wharton Executive Education's curriculum blends strategy formulation, strategy execution, and strategic decision making with faculty-led insights and a global peer cohort. The program enables you to strengthen organizational performance, align strategic priorities, and position yourself to drive organizational success over the long term.

Yes. The Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) is one of the most influential positions in an organization. As a member of the C-suite, the CSO partners closely with the CEO and other senior leaders to design, execute, and drive corporate strategies for sustainable growth. The role of strategy leaders such as the CSO, demands a deep understanding of business dynamics, competitive advantage, and strategic foresight that shapes how the organization grows, innovates, and transforms over time.

Wharton’s Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Program is designed for senior professionals preparing to take on or excel in this pivotal leadership role. Through a cutting-edge curriculum led by Wharton faculty, the program equips participants with the strategic frameworks, tools, and insights required to lead organizational transformation and drive sustained competitive advantage.

Becoming a Chief Strategy Officer typically requires extensive experience in strategic planning, corporate development, or business leadership. Many CSOs advance from roles such as head of strategy, business unit leader, or management consultant. Beyond experience, success in this role demands strong analytical, leadership, and cross-functional influence skills. Executive education programs, such as Wharton’s Chief Strategy Officer Program, can accelerate this progression by equipping leaders with strategic leadership skills, executive presence, decision-making tools, and the confidence to drive enterprise transformation.

A Strategic Leadership Development Program focuses on enhancing leaders’ ability to design strategies and its successful implementation that align with long-term business objectives. Such programs help executives refine decision-making, foster innovation, empower strategy development and lead organizational transformation. Through a cutting-edge curriculum, Wharton’s Chief Strategy Officer Program integrates the core principles of strategic leadership development, preparing executives to translate vision into actionable strategy while driving sustainable growth across the enterprise.

The Chief Strategy Officer Program has been designed with your busy schedule in mind. You will be required to commit not more than three to five hours per week, enabling you to benefit from this transformative program while fulfilling your day-to-day work responsibilities. The impactful program offers a blend of self-paced modules and live interaction.

The seven-month learning journey includes live online and video online sessions with renowned faculty, industry experts, and global peers. You can take advantage of weekly live sessions and the Slack channel to ask questions and discuss ideas with your cohort success coach and participants. Real-world examples and a debrief of the program learnings are delivered through a combination of recorded video and live online lectures. The program concludes with a two-day on-campus recognition ceremony and networking event on the Wharton Executive Education campus in Philadelphia.

While the Chief Strategy Officer Program program does not grant alumni status or alumni benefits, it opens up a unique pathway to apply for the prestigious Wharton alumni status upon further qualification criteria and additional tuition. As a participant of this transformative program, you get exclusive access to a wide range of professionals, events, and networking opportunities. You can also benefit from additional tuition assistance upon enrolling in further online electives from Wharton Executive Education.

The program fee covers teaching fees, all academic material, and access to online coursework. The fee does not include the registration fee of US$250 for the optional two-day on-campus networking and recognition ceremony, accommodation expenses for the on-campus event, travel expenses (domestic and international, including visa fees), and any other expenses not specifically mentioned in the program fees.

You can pay the full program fee upfront or pay in easy installments. If you apply well in advance of the program start date, you can receive a fee benefit. If you would like to approach your company with a sponsorship request for this program, here is a customizable template that you can use.

Yes. Closed-captioning and transcripts for all pre-recorded videos as well as closed-captioning for recordings of live sessions is available.

Emeritus collects all program payments, provides learner enrollment and program support, and manages learning platform services.

To view the program refund and deferral policy, please visit the Refund and Deferral Policy page.

Program fees for Emeritus programs with Wharton Executive Education may not be paid for with (a) funds from the GI Bill, the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Act of 2008, or similar types of military education funding benefits or (b) Title IV financial aid funds.