How CISL works with business

Helping businesses compete in the age of disruption

Balancing short-term operational demands whilst competing, and winning, in the long-term is the key challenge facing many businesses today.

We believe buiness has the opportunity to shape market transformation and benefit from the transition, both now and in the future.

For over 35 years we have helped business become more competitive and resilient by:

Building capability: We equip organisations with expertise, capabilities and tools to build competitiveness and resilience to benefit in a transitioning market.
Developing strategy: We use our global network of industry experts and sustainability practitioners to help businesses identify and build solutions to address the key challenges facing them.
Accelerating innovation: We bring together high potential innovators with business and policy makers to accelerate solutions for a resilient future.
Driving system-wide change: We bring together business, government, academia and civil society to drive coordinated, system-wide approaches to market transformation.

All our work with business is underpinned by leading-edge research, insights and tools that enable us to shape and scale transformative leadership

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Our clients include

Why businesses work with us

For over 35 years, we have worked with businesses and finance to address the most important sustainability challenges and create value for future competitiveness.

Impact: We are an impact-led not-for-profit Institute of the University of Cambridge.
Thought leadership: We use on leading-edge business and academic research to develop business approaches to driving resilience and value.
Connectivity: We have unparalleled access to business and policy leaders, innovators and academics.
Network: We work with our global network of over 40,000 leaders and industry practitioners to build practical and actionable approaches for business to create value and resilience.
Global influence: We have offices and hubs in the UK, Brussels, South Africa, Singapore and Australia, and deliver programmes globally.

Hear from CISL CEO Lindsay Hooper and Fellow Paul Gilding as they set out a pathway for the private sector to proactively respond to the current volatile geopolitical and market context while continuing sustainability efforts. Watch the video.

“Working with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership has been transformative for us. Their deep industry expertise and constructive approach has helped us to shift sustainability and social impact from being perceived as an optional add-on to a strategic business value driver. This shift has empowered our executive team to see integration not just as a compliance exercise, but as an opportunity to embed sustainability into the core of how we operate and create long-term value.” VodafoneThree

Examples of our work:

CISL has partnered with BSI, a global business improvement and standards company delivering impact for a fair society and sustainable world, on the Trust in Sustainability Accelerators.

Now in the fourth cohort, this Accelerator provides access to training and expertise to accelerate the growth of startups – helping businesses to further develop their solutions, find their product-market fit, and explore mentorship and networking opportunities.

"[CISL's] approach has facilitated connections that have helped us to create impact for a fair society and sustainable world."

Wendy Niu, BSI

CISL has worked with Ahold Delhaize for several years to align commercial strategy with action on climate and nature risks to protect the future of the business.

We delivered a series of four-day residential programmes for 130 SVPs and a number of briefings for the Board.

As a result of the engagement, the Executive Committee revised its company’s purpose and strategy. It is also making commitments to act more ambitiously to help customers make healthier choices, increase product transparency, eliminate waste and reduce climate impact.

CISL supported the Crown Estate to develop a group-wide Nature Recovery strategy and company-wide goals and commitments to put nature at the heart of business decision-making across Urban, Rural and Marine portfolios.

To embed and support delivery of this goal, CISL and the Crown Estate are partnering to accelerate sustainable innovation and collaboration in its built environment portfolio via CISL’s Collaborative Living Lab, and through a Nature Positive business models startup accelerator to fast-track the adoption of sustainable solutions and innovations across its wider urban, rural and marine portfolios.

CISL has developed a strategic collaboration with Boston Scientific, which aims to accelerate sustainability in healthcare. By combining academic insight with industry expertise, the collaboration will explore innovative approaches that deliver value for patients and healthcare systems, while reinforcing a shared commitment to a healthier planet.

The first phase of the collaboration is the Commercial Sustainability Accelerator, a co-developed educational programme for Boston Scientific’s commercial teams across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The programme is designed to strengthen sustainability skills and literacy, enabling teams to engage more effectively with healthcare providers on creating sustainable value.

CISL is partnering with L’Oréal though a Sustainable Innovation Accelerator - to identify, pilot and scale solutions that address the industry’s most pressing challenges - from low-carbon processes and alternative ingredients to water resilience, circular packaging and inclusive business models.

The initiative combines Cambridge’s research and innovation ecosystem with CISL’s global network of startups, investors and experts to deliver a curated pipeline of high-potential solutions ready for pilot within L’Oréal’s operations and supply chain. Through this collaboration, L’Oréal is building the innovation capacity and partnerships needed to advance its goal of a regenerative and resource-efficient beauty industry.

CISL and BNP Paribas have been working together for several years on Positive Impact Business Training to support the Bank’s ambition to lead the banking sector in driving impact through business model innovation and stakeholder engagement. Now in its seventh year, the programme draws together various strands of work that are of importance to the Bank in relation to the emerging risks and opportunities posed by atransition to a more sustainable economy. Further details of our work with BNP Paribas is available via a dedicated CISL case study.

BNP Paribas is also investing in upskilling its high-potential future leaders through CISL’s self-paced online courses. Each month CISL provides a live online session to kick off each cohort of 50-200 delegates. BNP Paribas then provides additional follow-up sessions to ensure the learning links back to the Bank’s strategic priorities.

Who we work with and why

We work with a wide range of organisations, united by their commitment to delivering sustainable business. They strive to transform business models and the markets they operate in, ensuring that their short-term competitiveness does not compromise their long-term success and brand legacy.

You can find out more about CISL's commitment to working with companies looking to set a new bar for leadership and build scalable solutions for change here.

For details of other organisations we work please read CISL's Annual Review. The 2025 Review will be released in early 2025, sign up to the newsletter to receive details as they are available.

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Upcoming programmes for business leaders and organisations:

Business & Sustainability Programme

Equipping senior leaders with the insight and frameworks to turn external trends into strategic business decisions.