Stop Wasting Time on Strategy That Doesn’t Stick - Align, Execute, and Win.
Welcome to CSI Partners, the business education and consulting division of Clear Step Innovation Limited, where we fuse cutting-edge research, AI-powered experiences, and battle-tested expertise into focused, high-impact client interventions - all with one purpose:
To ensure your strategy is clearly articulated, effectively cascaded, and successfully executed.
About Us
Our Vision
Conventional wisdom suggests that strategy belongs solely to a handful of senior executives in large organizations, and that innovation is the domain of a creative few. In reality, this mindset is one of the key reasons organizations fall short in both.
​
At CSI Partners, we help individuals and organizations develop the strategic and innovative capabilities needed to succeed across sectors and geographies. In an era defined by artificial intelligence, our programmes address the fundamental questions of direction and progress—how to make better choices, create new value, and thrive amid change.​
Our Positioning
We operate in the underserved space between academic business education and large-scale consulting, offering a flexible, hands-on approach that is rooted in leading-edge research, grounded in experience, and tailored to real-world needs.
​
Our bespoke programmes, from full-impact workshops to lighter modular sessions, from immersive AI-powered experiential learning to light-touch advisory and consulting, deliver not only alignment and momentum, but also actionable plans and the internal capabilities needed for lasting success.
Testimonials
Effective strategies—fuelled by innovations—require alignment and ownership across all teams, even in smaller-scale organizations of just 20–30 people. Beyond the content of the strategy and innovation work, it is equally important to embed strategic and innovative thinking as a cultural mindset throughout the organization.
​
Our interventions are therefore designed for a broad range of teams and individuals who lead or contribute to strategy, innovation, planning, and execution. This includes—but is not limited to—senior managers, R&D teams, operations teams, commercial teams, and many more. Hear from our clients about how we've helped drive their strategic success.
Chief of Staff, Business Consulting, Netherlands
“Anyu (founder of CSI) provided a great session that was grounded in both practice and theory. Through concrete examples and an easy-to-understand framework, he provided the group with concrete tools they can now apply in their own environment."
Training Doctor, School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge
“I liked the thorough stepwise approach, culminating in the final futurist a new offering task. These workshops have widened my thinking about future innovation ideas. I have also considered more empathetic to patients rather than pure technological based solutions."
Participant, Advanced Leadership Programme, Cambridge
“ (The AI-powered learning is) reflective of actual situation, simulated people's behavior e.g not responding, finding excuses to not respond, not sharing the actual problems.... all these will not be able to be experienced if it was done through paper based assignment.”
Professor of Innovation and Growth Studies, Cambridge University, UK
“Anyu brings valuable insights for organizations seeking to expand across borders. Whether it’s Western firms navigate China’s innovation ecosystem, or Chinese enterprises exploring international markets."
Our Clients
Our Approach
Our services range from two-day full-impact workshops covering strategy through to execution, to highly rated AI-powered experiential learning sessions from Cambridge, and a variety of modular sessions at a lower cost (0.5 to 1 day) tailored to specific needs such as strategic foresight, strategy validation, innovation portfolio design, and execution.
​
We follow a simple four-step approach to design and deliver our bespoke sessions with follow-on support—ensuring tangible results and embedding know-how for lasting success within your organization. All sessions are delivered within the broader context of AI’s strategic impact and what this means for your organization.
Phase 1: Discovery Session
Ranges from 30 minutes to 1 hour, sometimes 2 sessions
An initial no-obligation consultation to understand your organisation’s context and needs, and to explore whether we're the right fit.
Phase 2: Engagement Design
Typically takes 3 - 5 days lapse time to complete
Each engagement is uniquely designed, blending cutting-edge research and expert insights, and delivered with the same rigour and quality as the sessions we deliver for Cambridge University Judge Business School. Programme fees will also be confirmed during this phase.
Phase 3: Programme Delivery
Typically conducted 1 month after engagement design
Hands-on sessions with group activities, case studies, expert guest speakers, and immersive AI-powered experiences. The sessions will wrap up with tangible outputs such as refreshes strategies, new innovation ideas, and execution pathways.​
Phase 4: Ongoing Support
Provided for the coming 3-6 months after the main workshop
Alongside the bespoke workshops and modular sessions, we also provide ongoing individual and group support in the form of advisory and/or light-touch consulting, to help with execution and build internal capability.
Client Programmes Delivered
Our Team
Dr. Anyu Gao
Founder of CSI Partners (LinkedIn)
-
Founder and Principal Consultant at CSI Partners, Fellow and Lecturer at Cambridge Judge Business School, Strategic Advisor for Chongqing Hospital Association, China.
-
Former COO and VP across financial services, technology, and healthcare sectors with 16 years of leadership experience at Clarivate and Thomson Reuters.​
-
Led strategy, innovation, execution, and operations functions, working closely with customers and partners across regions, and organizational levels.​
-
Holds an Executive MBA from Cambridge University, specializing in Strategy and Innovation, and a PhD in Video Compression from Bristol University.
Our Expert Network
For each engagement, we draw on a trusted network of academics, industry leaders, and domain specialists to bring in precisely the expertise required to maximize impact.
​
You can view the list of our experts in the Partners and Associates page.
