Chief Strategy Officer — Industry-Solutions Business

The mandate

The enterprise is entering a phase in which leadership must resolve strategy cycles producing choices without resource consequences within a privately held enterprise artificial-intelligence products company. The immediate arena is the industry-solutions business during a research-to-product transition. For mandate 196, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Chief Strategy Officer operating perimeter covers approximately US$900 million in AI product and services revenue, with activity spanning several industry-solutions business customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Chief Strategy Officer Artificial Intelligence remit carries direct influence over roughly 150 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The board and its investment committee want a Chief Strategy Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the industry-solutions business. The Chief Strategy Officer Artificial Intelligence seat must resolve a research-to-product transition, while preserving the underlying strengths of the industry-solutions business. For mandate 196, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Chief Strategy Officer’s first year on the industry-solutions business is expected to end with fewer priorities, explicit trade-offs and a funded execution path. In mandate 196, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a planned replacement for the Chief Strategy Officer — Industry-Solutions Business seat. The incumbent continues to lead the industry-solutions business through an agreed succession period and will support a structured handover. The board has allowed 4–6 months to assess candidates, complete diligence and protect continuity while a research-to-product transition is addressed. The search is confidential so the transition can be communicated to employees, customers and partners in a controlled sequence.

What you will own

• Set the Chief Strategy Officer value-creation thesis for the industry-solutions business, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately US$900 million in AI product and services revenue, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Chief Strategy Officer Artificial Intelligence organisation of about 150 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the industry-solutions business economics and execution constraints created by a research-to-product transition, with Chief Strategy Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Chief Strategy Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the industry-solutions business; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have converted strategy into explicit capital and resource choices and then tracked execution through board governance in mandate 196.
• Build the Chief Strategy Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the industry-solutions business, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Artificial Intelligence organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the industry-solutions business baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to strategy cycles producing choices without resource consequences, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Chief Strategy Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the industry-solutions business, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable industry-solutions business trend against fewer priorities, explicit trade-offs and a funded execution path, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the Chief Strategy Officer’s agreed first-year industry-solutions business value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Chief Strategy Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the industry-solutions business’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Chief Strategy Officer mandate’s highest-priority industry-solutions business risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical industry-solutions business talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Chief Strategy Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Chief Strategy Officer-owned improvement in the industry-solutions business operating constraint behind a research-to-product transition, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 196: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a Chief Strategy Officer, EVP Strategy or Corporate Development Head in a privately held Artificial Intelligence or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the industry-solutions business, your Chief Strategy Officer track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from AI, enterprise software, data infrastructure, cloud, analytics or applied research will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Chief Strategy Officer brief.

As a Chief Strategy Officer candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Artificial Intelligence or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of US$800 million and led an organisation of at least 100 people.

For mandate 196, the board wants two transitions: a difficult industry-solutions business portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a research-to-product transition. As the prospective Chief Strategy Officer for this industry-solutions business, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 196 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Chief Strategy Officer must be based in San Francisco; international relocation is supported, but this Artificial Intelligence role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Chief Strategy Officer, EVP Strategy or Corporate Development Head, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Artificial Intelligence governance forum.
• Proven Chief Strategy Officer ownership of at least US$800 million and leadership of no fewer than 100 employees in a comparable industry-solutions business context.
• One completed Artificial Intelligence or adjacent-sector example of strategy cycles producing choices without resource consequences with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from AI, enterprise software, data infrastructure, cloud, analytics or applied research; experience that is purely functional and lacks Chief Strategy Officer-level industry-solutions business consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the San Francisco location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 196.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Chief Strategy Officer package is US$320,000–420,000 base + annual incentive, calibrated to the final industry-solutions business scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 196 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Chief Strategy Officer appointment in San Francisco, centred on the industry-solutions business, offers regular exposure to the board and its investment committee. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 196.

Confidentiality

The organisation will be identified only after reciprocal interest and a confidentiality undertaking for mandate 196. The market, scale and situation in this brief are intentionally composite and are not a coded description of a named enterprise for mandate 196.