Chief visionary officer

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A chief visionary officer (CVO) is a function within a company normally established beside the other executive functions like CEO or COO. The title is sometimes used to define a higher ranking position than that held by the CEO, and sometimes used to formalize a high-level advisory position. In some cases, the CVO is added to the CEO title (for CEO/CVO status). The CVO is expected to have a broad and comprehensive knowledge of all matters related to the business of the organization, as well as the vision required to steer its course into the future. The person in charge must have the core-competencies of every business-executive, but in addition the visionary ideas must move the company forward. These are used as the basis for defining corporate strategies and working plans.

The first CVO, and inventor of the title, was Tim Roberts of Broadband Investment Group. Roberts said he invented the title as a rank, superior to CEO, that served to recognize the visionary attributes needed to integrate a complex business with many diverse aspects.

Other names are Steve Jobs from Apple Computer, Tom Groth from Sun Microsystems, Bill Gates from Microsoft, Judy Estrin from Cisco. In some cases, CVO is used informally in addition to a more conventional title of chief technology officer.^[1]