A Chief Learning Officer is a strategic C-suite executive who develops leadership and technical skills in alignment with strategic priorities and cultural behaviors. Reporting directly to the CEO or CHRO, the CLO operates as a peer to other senior executives, participating in strategic decisions that shape organizational direction. Over the past thirty years, corporate learning has evolved from training delivery to building organizational capabilities. No role embodies this evolution more than the Chief Learning Officer (CLO), though even this title understates the role’s current scope. Today, as organizations grapple with artificial intelligence, hybrid work and skills-based organizational models, the CLO has transformed from training leader to organizational architect, designing learning ecosystems that connect the business strategy with the talent development one.
What Is A CLO?
The evolution of the CLO reflects seismic shifts in workplace learning over three decades. Starting in the classroom-centric 1990s, General Electric elevated standardized training to a strategic priority. The digital revolution of the 2000s brought e-learning and learning management systems, while the 2010s saw CLOs expanding from individual development to building continuous learning organizations (thanks to Peter Senge). This evolution demanded CLOs become business leaders first, tying learning directly to business outcomes.
When the global pandemic hit in 2020, organizations with established digital learning platforms adapted quickly. Edtech partners became crucial allies, helping CLOs scale virtual learning across remote workforces. This period cemented the CLO’s role in leading digital transformation while maintaining human connection at learning’s core.
While most common in large knowledge-intensive industries like technology, healthcare, financial services and consulting in organizations with 5,000+ employees, the CLO role is equally critical in organizations where learning drives business value, regardless of size. Education technology companies and learning platforms prioritize this role even with smaller workforces. For example, at Udemy (~1,200 employees and over 16,000 customers), the CLO role extended beyond internal capability building to shaping product strategy and providing customer solutions. Organizations experiencing significant change, with a particular need to upskill all employees, increasingly recognize the need for dedicated CLO leadership. While some organizations might distribute these responsibilities across other roles, the trend toward dedicated CLO positions reflects their strategic value in driving both individual and organizational development.
What Does A CLO Do?
A CLO shapes how people learn and develop by leading coaching programs, talent planning, and skill-building initiatives that reinforce organizational values through daily behaviors. They cultivate leadership at all levels, ensuring development programs strengthen cultural expectations while building critical capabilities. Through performance reviews and engagement surveys, they track not just skill growth but how effectively leaders embody and coach these cultural behaviors, creating environments where meaningful learning and strong culture emerge together.
Focusing on the learning environment is critical. Humera Malik-Shahid, Chief DEI Officer and Talent Development Leader at Intuit, emphasizes the importance of creating the right environment: “We often talk about psychological safety as something we need to create on teams, which is true but it’s also the foundation upon which all effective learning and development is built. Inclusive talent development means designing learning experiences that acknowledge and leverage diverse perspectives and cultural contexts.”
A CLO’s rhythm includes daily cross-functional meetings to drive initiatives, coach leaders and engage with customers. Monthly responsibilities focus on measuring outcomes, managing budgets and industry engagement. Quarterly, they partner with the CEO and CHRO on board updates, talent planning and organizational health assessments.
CLOs continuously evolve their skills to stay ahead of industry trends. In 2024, CLOs focused on building AI literacy, reinforcing AI governance and experimenting with LLMs to create personalized learning experiences at scale.
A CLO’s team typically includes:
- Learning experience designers for employee, team and leadership development
- Organizational development and change management consultants
- Data analysts and technology specialists for learning platforms
- Program and vendor relationship managers
What Are The Necessary Skills and Qualifications Of A CLO?
While CLOs must excel at core leadership capabilities — from strategic thinking to influential collaboration — their unique position demands more. Beyond these foundational skills, today’s CLOs operate through three distinct roles and require five specialized functional skills to drive organizational learning effectively. The roles are: contextualizer, curator, and connector.
1. Contextualizer
The CLO identifies and develops priority skills that drive cultural behaviors across the organization. By mapping learning initiatives to both strategy and cultural expectations, development experiences reinforce key behaviors. These behaviors become embedded in the organization’s DNA through feedback cycles, promotion criteria, and reward systems.
At Udemy, we demonstrate how values drive behaviors which in turn determine critical skills. Our value of “Always Learning” is expressed through a specific behavior of engaging in constructive debate. To support this behavior effectively, we prioritize developing skills in coaching and decision-making, ensuring our teams can navigate challenging discussions productively.
2. Curator
As learning content multiplies across platforms and formats — with Udemy alone hosting over 250,000 courses — CLOs identify the core skills that drive impact. Their curation balances fundamental AI literacy with increasingly vital leadership capabilities. While functional expertise evolves, and technology continues to reshape how we work, it’s these enduring leadership skills that will differentiate organizations. This targeted approach ensures learning pathways remain relevant and impactful at the intersection of human and artificial intelligence.
3. Connector
CLOs unlock their organization’s collective knowledge by connecting those who excel in critical skills with those who need to develop them. Through teaching, mentoring and thoughtful mobility opportunities, they create powerful learning experiences, whether in formal programs, daily work or meaningful relationships.
Within each of these three roles, five core skills are crucial for CLOs to continue to develop:
1. Strategic Learning Alignment: Map organizational capabilities against business strategy and cultural behaviors, identify skill gaps, and create integrated learning experiences that build critical skills through formal learning experiences and daily work.
2. Data Analytics And Learning Measurement: Use learning analytics and key metrics to evaluate effectiveness, demonstrate ROI and drive decisions through actionable insights.
3. Digital Learning Technology Expertise: Navigate and optimize learning ecosystems, including LMS, LXP, virtual platforms and AI applications for development and building scalable technology infrastructure to support learning.
4. Change Leadership And Organizational Development: Drive scalable solutions by building stakeholder alignment and managing resistance. This includes creating the processes and practices that embed continuous learning into daily work, and helping employees understand and internalize change.
5. Learning Experience Design: Understand learning principles, how to architect effective hybrid experiences, and work with functional leaders to identify their learning objectives.
As organizations grapple with AI transformation, Jim Hemgen, Head of Talent Development at Booz Allen Hamilton, demonstrates why change leadership has become a crucial CLO skill. While his background spans education and corporate training, his vital role today is leading the organization through AI adoption. “We can’t lead through any change if we are not ready or willing to change ourselves,” Hemgen shared in a webinar we did together last year. His approach exemplifies modern CLO leadership: Establish a clear vision around the change, anchored in a growth mindset, emphasize the importance of developing AI skills across all roles and ensure every employee understands the importance of this journey.
What Is the Average Salary of a CLO?
According to Glassdoor and Salary.com the estimated total pay for a Chief Learning Officer is $250,000 per year, with an average salary of $162,492 per year. These numbers represent the median, which is the midpoint of the ranges and are based on salaries collected from users. The estimated additional pay is $90,936 per year which could include cash bonus, profit sharing, and equity. Technology and financial services companies generally offer the highest compensation packages, with salary ranges up to $450,000, not including bonus and equity.
Salary variations depend on factors like industry, company size, scope of responsibility and location. For example, CLOs in Silicon Valley technology companies often command higher salaries due to the complexity of their roles and competitive market demands. These significant compensation packages reflect the CLO’s strategic importance in driving organizational performance.
What Organizations Should Consider A CLO?
Organizations with effective CLOs gain strategic advantages by driving systematic skill development aligned with business strategy and cultural expectations. Without a CLO, organizations often struggle with fragmented learning initiatives, inconsistent skill development across functions, and slower adoption of critical skills like AI literacy.
While some companies distribute learning responsibilities across HR or business units, this decentralized approach can lead to:
- Duplicate efforts and inconsistent learning experiences
- Missed opportunities to leverage learning technologies at scale
- Lack of strategic alignment between skill development and business goals
- Limited ability to measure and optimize learning effectiveness
- Slower organizational evolution and change adoption
How Can You Become a CLO?
The most effective CLOs combine advanced education with at least 15 years of extensive practical experience. While academic credentials in business, organizational development or education provide important foundations, it’s the ability to drive measurable business impact and organizational change that matters most. Many CLOs build their expertise through progressive experience in learning, talent development and change management roles, developing consulting skills and cross-functional understanding that make them valuable strategic partners.
My own path began as an HR business partner at Adobe, where I partnered with leaders across all functions of the organization. During my time there, I was fortunate to be mentored by Donna Morris, now EVP and Chief People Officer at Walmart. She instilled in me a fundamental principle that still guides my approach today: No matter what job we are doing, we are business leaders first.
What Is The Future of Chief Learning Officer Roles?
The CLO role has expanded significantly over the past decade, reflected in evolving titles like Chief Learning and Talent Officer, Chief Learning and Organizational Development Officer, or eliminating “learning” from the title altogether, as in Chief Talent Development officers.
Some organizations have moved away from the “Chief” designation entirely, opting for Vice President of Talent Development. Yet “CLO” persists as the recognized industry standard, much like “CIO” remains despite technology leaders’ expanding scope beyond information systems. This evolution of responsibility, if not always title, was exemplified in my experience serving on the board of directors at ASTD (American Society of Training and Development). In 2014, I was part of the pivotal decision to rebrand as ATD (Association for Talent Development) after 70 years. Tony Bingham, ATD’s President and CEO, acknowledged our broader mandate: developing talent across organizations. The shift from “training” to “talent development” reflected our true focus — building organizational capabilities that drive business strategy.
The role’s growing strategic importance is reflected in reporting structures, with CLOs now reporting to both the CHRO and CEO. However, challenges remain. The 2024 Emeritus CLO Strategy Report, surveying 500 CLOs worldwide, revealed that 45% feel disconnected from their organization’s business strategy — highlighting the ongoing need to strengthen the link between learning initiatives and business objectives. The report also emphasized how CLOs are adapting to accelerating change. Notably, 73% of L&D organizations are now employing Agile methodology in program development. Eric Berger, Visa’s Global Head of Learning, exemplifies this approach: Rather than waiting months to launch perfect programs, his team creates minimal viable products, tests with users and iterates based on feedback.
Bottom Line
Chief Learning Officers architect the future of work itself. By connecting business strategy, human potential, and technological advancement, they ensure organizations don’t just navigate change—they lead it.