C-Suite Job Titles: What Do They Really Mean?

What does C-suite mean?

The C-suite is made up of an organization’s top senior executives, usually those with the word “chief” in their titles. These high-ranking employees are in charge of big-picture thinking for various departments. C-level executives work together to ensure that a company stays true to its established plans and policies while making high-stakes decisions that affect the entire organization. For decades, the C-suite was a small group with fairly predictable roles from organization to organization.

Over the past several years, though, new titles have emerged as long-standing, established companies rethink their organizational charts and countless startups introduce new ideas and fresh perspectives. Whereas there used to be only a handful of C-suite roles, there is now an alphabet soup of executive positions. Organizations are systematically adding more roles to the C-suite while simultaneously expanding the scope of responsibility.

Traditional C-suite titles and their responsibilities

How many C-suite positions a company has depends on its size, industry and mission. 

“The traditional C-suite roles like CEO, CFO, CMO and COO are more or less indispensable to most businesses,” Jason Marshall, chief growth officer at Huntress, told us. “It’s common for smaller businesses to exist without a C-suite, with some even taking deliberate steps to avoid this clear hierarchy. However, there usually comes a time when investing in experienced leaders is needed to take an organization to the next level.”

Traditionally, most companies have had at least some of these conventional titles in their C-suite.

Chief executive officer (CEO)

The CEO is the highest-ranking C-suite member and acts as the face of the organization. They can have various leadership styles, but they typically consult other C-suite members before making major business decisions.

Even when the C-suite includes many chief executives, the CEO should be seen as the leader who ties the team together. It is the CEO’s responsibility to set the overall agenda and guide the company-wide strategy while staying informed of everything the rest of the C-suite is doing. 

Chief operating officer (COO)

The COO is typically the second in command (after the CEO) and focuses on business operations and human resources (HR)-related functions. The COO oversees operations relating to recruitment, employee training, payroll, compliance and administration.

“Historically, at its most heavyweight, the COO role would lead on a broad portfolio that could include technology, operations, procurement, real estate and other corporate services,” said Chris Rowe, co-founder of Pltfrm.

“With technology a dedicated stand-alone C-role now, this means a different profile often for the COO, where the role is more administrative,” Rowe added.

Chief financial officer (CFO)

The CFO works closely with the CEO and oversees the organization’s finances and financial accounting. They help the organization weigh the financial benefits and risks of potential opportunities. All members of the finance team and accounting department ultimately report to the CFO.

“If we go back, the CFO was the most powerful position — other than the CEO — in the 1980s and 1990s,” said Naeem Zafar, a professor of practice at the University of California, Berkeley and CEO coach. “You can’t run a business without a CFO to guide the financials.”

Today, the CFO’s importance has been overshadowed by newer C-suite executives, such as the chief human resources officer or chief information security officer, but Zafar said the CFO remains an indispensable part of the C-suite and cannot be overlooked.

Chief marketing officer (CMO)

The CMO heads the marketing department. They set organizational marketing goals, create marketing plans, and oversee marketing operations related to advertising, branding and public relations.

“To me, the CMO’s primary responsibility is to generate demand for the company,” Marshall said. “As a revenue-focused CMO, I’m responsible for creating strategies that generate interest in our products and services, with the ultimate goal of fueling business growth. This involves deeply understanding our target audience, leading effective campaigns, and aligning promotional strategies with measurable revenue goals.”

Chief information officer (CIO)

The CIO leads the organization in information technology (IT). In addition to possessing leadership and business skills, this executive has technical skills, such as coding, programming and project management.

“Confusion arises on the interchangeability of the chief technology officer and chief information officer titles,” Rowe said. “For clarity, [the CIO handles] the role of owning and building the corporate IT applications, platforms and infrastructure, and owning the engineering teams that build the products and services offered by the firm. 

“Confusingly … the CTO is often a direct report of the CIO and leads the technical side of the domain,” Rowe added.

Chief technology officer (CTO)

A CTO, not to be confused with the CIO, is responsible for managing an organization’s technology solutions. They help solve technology-related problems and implement new tech solutions to help the organization move forward. Generally, the CTO reports to the CIO if an organization has both positions. In smaller organizations, these roles are usually combined.

“Over time, the C-suite has come to include many more positions, reflecting the size and complexity of heaps of modern organizations,” Marshall said. “We saw this happen in the 1980s and 1990s when IT became important to how many companies function — which then saw the introduction of the CTO role.”

Chief human resources officer (CHRO)

The CHRO is similar to the COO. However, their focus is directly on HR management and culture initiatives instead of on overall business operations. Smaller organizations may need only a COO, while larger organizations tend to have both.

“The CHRO leads talent acquisition and retention efforts, making the important choices about how a company will attract and hire employees,” Marshall said. “From creating career development paths and mentorship programs to establishing inclusive workplace initiatives, CHROs help shape an organization’s goals and culture.”

General counsel (GC)

Also known as “chief counsel” or “chief legal officer,” the general counsel is a corporate attorney who heads an organization’s legal matters, including business lawsuits. This highly specialized C-suite position is narrowly focused on legal matters and is generally reserved for larger businesses that need a dedicated lawyer on hand at all times. 

Modern and emerging C-suite roles

As technology, customer service and sustainability gained vital importance in business, leaders saw a need to create additional C-level positions to manage these functions. Designating someone to one of these C-suite positions shows employees, customers, vendors and investors that the company considers that particular area to be of the utmost importance. 

“As a business becomes larger and more complex, hiring additional C-suite positions can help spread responsibility and lead to better decision-making,” Marshall said. “Which C-suite positions make the most sense will depend on the organization’s goals and purpose.”

Here are some of today’s popular modern C-suite roles that growing businesses should consider adding, depending on their strategy and priorities. 

Chief artificial intelligence officer (CAIO)

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly common, so too is a dedicated role for understanding and managing AI tools throughout businesses. The CAIO is an executive leadership role that has emerged in recent years as machine learning has become more commonplace in business software. Now, with the rise of large language models (LLMs) and AI agents, the CAIO role will be crucial to helping businesses navigate this pioneering technology.

“[CAIO] has been gaining steam over the past few years as GenAI increases its impact,” said David Radin, CEO of Confirmed LLC. “The CAIO role should be responsible for creating corporate-wide AI policies, determining the tools and limits that accompany these policies, and to give them and their teams authority to enforce those policies.

“These are particularly important in that the types of concerns are broad, from productivity to licensing of technology to cost/budget to copyright issues,” Radin added.

Chief information security officer (CISO)

The CISO is the chief of cybersecurity in an organization. They are responsible for devising and implementing data security policies, monitoring the threat landscape, and continuously updating software and hardware to mitigate data breaches and other network threats.

“Most of the companies I have encountered over the past few years have implemented a CISO role,” Radin said. “[This role] has grown in favor as the number of threats to data infrastructure, such as ransomware, has grown.”

Radin said the CISO reports directly to the CEO in some organizations and to the CTO or CIO in others. The precise hierarchy depends on each business’s org chart, but most modern companies appoint a CISO to ensure their cybersecurity practices are airtight and continue to evolve with the ever-changing threat landscape.

Chief data officer (CDO)

The CDO is responsible for overseeing data-related business functions, including data management, data quality, data strategy, data analytics and business intelligence. They use the data as an asset to draw valuable business insights. This role may sometimes be called the chief analytics officer.

“The CISO and CDO have become really important in the last few years. As data becomes more valuable and as cybersecurity threats advance, these positions are now essential for the very survival of the organization,” Zafar said. 

In some organizations, the CISO and CDO roles may be combined. In larger organizations, though, they are often separated. The CDO focuses on collecting, organizing and managing data, while the CISO focuses on its security. 

“Traditionally, the CDO position has largely been about compliance and risk management,” said Chris Jones, chief data officer and chief technology officer at Nightwing. “However, CDOs must juggle their traditional data management responsibilities while also demonstrating to leadership the opportunities for growth and efficiencies data analytics can hold if the right strategies are put in place.”

Chief product officer (CPO)

The CPO, also known as the head of product or vice president of product, oversees any product-related business activity, including product creation, product labeling, product launches and product quality. They are responsible for ensuring the organization creates a valuable product for consumers and the business.

“A company’s CPO guides product development and strategy by defining and carrying out its product roadmap,” Marshall said. “That means overseeing product development from start to finish alongside detailed market research, ranging from emerging consumer trends to new competitor offerings. CPOs also implement strategies that generate and incorporate customer feedback to improve trust and satisfaction.”

Chief experience officer (CXO)

The CXO, also known as the customer experience officer, focuses on that — a great customer experience. Their responsibility is to ensure that the organization’s customers have a good experience with the products or services offered.

“A few years ago, the main C-suite roles were the CEO, CFO and COO. But now, many companies have added new roles, like chief experience officer (CXO) or chief sustainability officer,” said Kristan De Graaf, CEO of Elite Rentals Dubai. “These new roles are important because they help companies focus on things like customer experience and environmental responsibility — things that are becoming more and more important.”

Chief sustainability officer (CSO)

The CSO is responsible for overseeing an organization’s environmental programs and sustainable business model. They analyze the business’s current processes and create strategies to improve their sustainability and long-term impact.

“If an organization is focusing on sustainability, it may need to promote its chief sustainability officer,” Zafar said. However, he also noted that if your organization isn’t especially focused on sustainability, it may not be necessary to promote someone to the C-suite to focus on that role.

“The future of the C-suite will be characterized by a continued need for specialized expertise, paired with a trend towards more streamlined, execution-focused leadership,” he said.

Chief happiness officer (CHO)

Businesses that want to improve employee retention are employing CHOs. These executives focus on ensuring that employees are happy and satisfied. 

Related article: How Companies Can Change Their Culture to Attract (and Retain) Millennials

“This shows that the company cares about the well-being of its employees,” said Kraig Kleeman, founder and CEO of The New Workforce and Build AUM. “With so much focus today on mental health, work-life balance and employee satisfaction, there is a lot to be said for a member of senior management whose primary responsibility is to ensure employee satisfaction. This communicates to employees and outsiders that the company invests in its people, not just its products.” 

Chief digital officer (CDO)

The chief digital officer – another type of CDO – prepares and ensures the organizational, functional and technological transformation brought about by digital technology. As a result, the CDO’s objective is to accelerate the company’s growth through the adoption of new digital practices and ensure the company’s digital transformation to adapt to market changes.

The chief digital officer helps management make the right decisions, especially when it comes to choosing the next investments and works in close collaboration with all the company’s departments. They oversee digital strategy implementation, monitor digital trends and innovations, and define performance indicators to measure the success of digital transformation initiatives.

Chief people officer (CPO)

The primary role of a chief people officer – another type of CPO – is to develop and implement strategies that enhance employee experience and engagement within an organization. They manage teams responsible for talent acquisition, corporate culture, onboarding/offboarding processes and other aspects of human resources.

Chief people officers work closely with the CEO and other company leaders to develop and implement initiatives that support the personal needs and professional growth of employees. The CPO acts as a liaison between the CEO, department heads, and employees, ensuring that the company’s people-related policies and practices align with its overall goals and values. This position can sometimes be merged with the CHRO.

Chief innovation officer (CINO)

A CINO is a senior executive responsible for driving innovation within an organization. The CINO is tasked with defining the innovation strategy for the company, ensuring it is closely aligned with the organization’s business objectives. This involves crafting a clear vision for innovation and formulating plans that drive new product development, services and business models.

The CINO plays a pivotal role in creating a culture that encourages experimentation, tolerates failure and rewards creativity. They oversee innovation portfolios, manage a pipeline of innovation projects and ensure that resources are allocated effectively to balance risk and reward while maintaining alignment with strategic priorities.

How to climb to the C-suite

Reaching the C-suite requires a combination of strategic thinking, specialized expertise and strong leadership capabilities. The key skills for C-level executives encompass strategic vision, digital acumen and adaptive leadership.

Essential skills for C-suite success

C-suite leaders must possess strong strategic leadership skills that allow them to see the big picture and set ambitious visions and strategies for the future. They gather insights from all areas of the organization to inform thoughtful decisions that balance risk and reward.

Top executives need to master effective communication skills, including presentation abilities beyond slide decks, persuasion and influence techniques that should be reflected in all aspects of communication. Change management is an increasingly important skill among senior leaders, requiring the capability to identify opportunities for change and then lead their organization to execute a new path forward.

Career development pathway

Building strategic leadership muscles takes time and requires enrolling in advanced management training programs, volunteering for high-level strategic projects and studying case studies of top executives. Attending executive leadership programs or governance training expands skills in areas like strategy, decision-making and boardroom dynamics.

The path to the executive office requires deliberate development of a diverse repertoire of leadership capabilities, including subject matter expertise across multiple business functions. Most C-suite executives need both undergraduate and graduate degrees, with many pursuing MBA programs or specialized master’s degrees in their field of expertise.

C-suite structure across industries

C-suite structures vary significantly depending on the type of organization, with corporate, nonprofit and startup entities having distinct approaches to executive leadership.

Corporate vs. nonprofit management

While both corporate and nonprofit organizations prioritize being well-managed and fiscally healthy, they differ substantially in their leadership approaches. Corporate organizations typically focus on profit generation and shareholder returns, while nonprofits emphasize mission fulfillment and community impact.

Both types of organizations share common management priorities: 

• Creating clear departmental plans and accountability
• Articulating results to stakeholders
• Taking calculated risks
• Making excellent hires
• Treating employees with respect
• Ensuring performance grows with revenue

Startup leadership structure

The roles and type of leadership required to run a startup successfully are dependent on the type of company, the industry and the size of the business. Startup C-suite executives are responsible for making high-level decisions, setting strategies, and managing the overall operations and resources of a company, often working collaboratively to ensure alignment with the overall business strategy.

Startups typically begin with fewer C-suite positions, often combining multiple executive functions under single roles until the organization grows large enough to justify specialized leadership positions.

C-suite reference tables

Core C-suite positions

People and legal leadership

Emerging technology and data roles

Customer and innovation focus

Skye Schooley and Jennifer Dublino contributed to this article. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.