Can Agents Work?

Jobs / Management and business operations / 11-1011.03

Chief Sustainability Officers

Communicate and coordinate with management, shareholders, customers, and employees to address sustainability issues. Enact or oversee a corporate sustainability strategy.

US jobs
204,350 (SOC 11-1011 group, "Chief Executives")
Median wage
$213,990 a year
Job family
Management and business operations

Can agents do the work of chief sustainability officers?

We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Management and business operations:

  • Task levelPartialOnly adjacent evidence. On TheAgentCompany, which gives agents workplace tasks inside a simulated software company, the best agent resolves 42.9% of tasks (a November 2025 result). No task-level benchmark in our collection maps directly to management or business operations.
  • Project levelPartialMixed. OpenAI reports that GPT-5.5's GDPval deliverables won or tied against professionals' work in 84.9% of comparisons, and the best agent passes 73.5% of APEX-Agents tasks on the first try. Running a business is weaker: on Vending-Bench 2 the best model ends a simulated year with $15,515, about a quarter of Andon Labs' estimate for a good strategy.

Benchmarks for the job family

These cover work in management and business operations, not always this occupation's tasks.

Typical tasks

From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.

  • Monitor and evaluate effectiveness of sustainability programs.
  • Develop or execute strategies to address issues such as energy use, resource conservation, recycling, pollution reduction, waste elimination, transportation, education, and building design.
  • Develop, or oversee the development of, sustainability evaluation or monitoring systems.
  • Supervise employees or volunteers working on sustainability projects.
  • Develop sustainability reports, presentations, or proposals for supplier, employee, academia, media, government, public interest, or other groups.
  • Develop, or oversee the development of, marketing or outreach media for sustainability projects or events.
  • Identify and evaluate pilot projects or programs to enhance the sustainability research agenda.
  • Create and maintain sustainability program documents, such as schedules and budgets.
  • Formulate or implement sustainability campaign or marketing strategies.
  • Research environmental sustainability issues, concerns, or stakeholder interests.
  • Direct sustainability program operations to ensure compliance with environmental or governmental regulations.
  • Evaluate and approve proposals for sustainability projects, considering factors such as cost effectiveness, technical feasibility, and integration with other initiatives.
Other job titles for this occupation (25)

Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) · Corporate Sustainability Process Manager · CSR and Sustainability VP (Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Vice President) · Sustainability Chancellor · Sustainability Chief · Sustainability Director · Sustainability Initiatives Vice President (Sustainability Initiatives VP) · Sustainability Manager · Sustainability Programs Director · Sustainable Design Director · Chief Environmental Commitment Officer (CECO) · Chief Green Officer (CGO) · Climate Change and Sustainability Manager · Corporate Sustainability Manager · Energy and Sustainability Manager · Energy Sustainability Manager · Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure Manager · Environmental and Sustainability Manager · Environmental Sustainability Manager · ESG Manager (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Manager) · Global Sustainability Manager · Sustainability Energy Manager · Sustainability Reports Director · Sustainability Research and Advocacy Director · Sustainability Strategy Manager