CSO Strategy 2026: 6 Priorities for Continuous Strategy, AI, and Alignment

Summary: In this post, we draw out six practical priorities for Chief Strategy Officers (CSOs) in 2026 from Deloitte’s Global CSO Survey and explore how to turn them into action. Topics include continuous strategy, AI, benefits, and C-Suite alignment.

Why This Matters

In Deloitte’s 2026 Global CSO Survey, 95% of strategy leaders surveyed expected intensified competitive dynamics to shape priorities over the next year, and 95% said the same about AI and technology disruption. The world isn’t slowing down; volatility is the new normal. The Deloitte report makes one thing clear: strategy can’t be a periodic exercise anymore. It must become a living, data-driven discipline. But here’s the kicker: it’s not insight that’s missing. It’s focus. (Full Deloitte report here: 2026 Global CSO Survey)

The 6 Big Takeaways for CSOs in 2026

1. From Uncertainty to Conviction

The days of “wait and see” are over. CSOs need to turn confidence into action and that means prioritization.

• Growth remains the top priority, with protecting and expanding margin close behind. Deloitte also describes capital being reallocated toward modernization, productivity, and transformation.
• Almost 9 in 10 CSOs say reinvention is essential for competitiveness, and 4 in 10 say the need is immediate.

👉 When a new priority competes with existing commitments, see when to revisit an existing investment.

2. The Strategy Gap Is Real

More than half of CSOs report juggling too many priorities with too little time. Only 35% co-lead or own strategic decision-making for top priorities.

The fix:

• Fewer, sharper priorities
• Clear decision rights
• A system that turns strategy into movement

👉 For a deeper discussion of decision rights, accountability and who should make portfolio choices, watch Project Portfolio Governance - The Future.

3. AI Isn’t a Side Project: It’s the Strategy (and It Starts with the “Unsexy” Stuff)

AI is everywhere in the headlines, but many organizations have yet to turn experimentation into enterprise advantage. Deloitte reports that 39% remain in pilot or early execution stages, while just 16% are using AI to fundamentally reimagine lines of business or create new sources of competitive advantage.

• Make AI part of enterprise strategy: Treat it as a question about where and how the business will compete, not simply as a technology toolkit.
• Connect AI to investment decisions: Build AI into planning, capital allocation and opportunity-cost decisions, and portfolio reviews rather than managing initiatives in isolation.
• Move from pilots to measurable value: Scale promising initiatives with clear ownership and an explicit view of the value they are expected to create.

AI isn’t a toolkit: it’s a strategic lever. But it still creates choices about priorities, investment and execution. 👉 For a wider discussion of how strategic clarity affects transformation choices in the AI era, watch Strategic Clarity in the AI Era.

4. Strategy Needs to Accelerate, and Cadence Is the Engine

Annual planning isn’t enough. The world moves too fast for strategy to live only in a 12-month cycle and a 200-slide deck.

• Fewer, sharper choices: Revisit strategic choices more often as conditions change.
• Faster cycles: Use an ongoing cadence of governance and portfolio review to keep priorities current.
• Enterprise alignment: Clarify ownership and decision rights so strategic choices can turn into coordinated action.

For a real example of that kind of reprioritization, see how the RNLI revisited its portfolio when priorities changed, reweighting its criteria and rebalancing the portfolio when COVID altered what mattered.

👉 Learn how to make strategy a living process: Strategic Planning That Actually Works

5. Strategy Without Measurable Value Is Just Hope

Making bold choices is only half the job. The other half? Knowing if those choices are working.

• Track outcomes, not just activity: Did the initiative deliver the value you expected?
• Analyze blockers early: Fix issues before they become sunk costs.
• Feed insights back into prioritization: Continuous strategy only works if you learn as you go.

👉 Read more: From Business Case to Boardroom: Using Benefits to Pick the Right Projects

6. Alignment Is the Multiplier

Continuous strategy can’t depend on informal influence alone. Deloitte argues that strategy leaders need clearer authority over which enterprise decisions they own, co-lead, or help orchestrate.

• Clear criteria for decision-making: Everyone knows how and why a choice was made.
• Value over personalities: Keep the conversation focused on evidence, trade-offs, and what matters most.
• Shared ownership: Make clear which decisions are owned, co-led, or coordinated across the C-Suite.

Alignment isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s the multiplier that turns good strategy into enterprise momentum. 👉 For a practical way to connect strategy, priorities and the existing portfolio, see our Strategic Alignment guide.

What This Means for You

The Deloitte report closes with a powerful idea: strategy can’t be a periodic exercise anymore. It has to be a living discipline. That means:

• Green-lighting fewer, bolder initiatives and projects and revisiting them often
• Moving from informal influence to formal governance
• Protecting time needed for the work only strategy can do

For strategy leaders, the difficult moment comes when priorities change but funding and capacity are already committed. A new priority does not arrive in an empty portfolio. Something may need to continue, change, defer or give way.

TransparentChoice helps leadership connect strategic priorities with funding, capacity and other constraints, compare workable choices, and understand the consequences before committing.

For a deeper discussion of that exact problem, watch Bridging the Strategy–Execution Gap, where Dirk Withake and Stuart Easton discuss how agreed priorities meet an already committed portfolio and what may need to stop or give way when leadership wants to add more work.

👉 Facing that kind of choice? Start with a Decision Review: a 30-minute, no-fee, confidential conversation about what is changing, what is constrained and what would be worth testing. No preparation is required.

FAQ

What is the biggest challenge for CSOs in 2026?

Balancing too many priorities with limited capacity while driving continuous strategy and alignment.

Why does AI belong in enterprise strategy?

Because AI can change where the business competes, how investment is allocated and which initiatives should scale. Treating it as an isolated technology programme can disconnect it from those wider strategic choices.

How can CSOs ensure strategic alignment?

Use transparent, data-driven decision-making to build consensus across the C-Suite and reduce the influence of politics on strategic choices.

Why does measurable value matter in continuous strategy?

Because strategy needs feedback. Tracking whether initiatives are creating the expected value helps leadership decide what to continue, change, scale back or revisit.

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