Albert Cho

Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy and External Affairs Officer

Role at Xylem

Albert Cho (Al) is Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy and External Affairs Officer at Xylem. In this role, he leads global strategy and business development, government and industry relations and communications and public affairs. Working in partnership with customers, colleagues, communities and shareholders, Al and his team develop strategies to achieve Xylem’s vision to create both social and economic value. 

Professional Background

Al joined Xylem in 2013 and previously served as General Manager of Xylem’s advanced analytics business and head of Xylem’s strategy and mergers and acquisitions teams. He has more than 20 years of leadership and policy experience, including:

• Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of State, where he was a White House Fellow and served on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff
• Executive at Cisco Systems, where he led innovation efforts related to energy and the environment
• Positions at McKinsey & Company, where he helped launch the Sustainability and Resources Practice, and the United Nations, where he worked on a global plan for achieving the Millennium Development Goals

Community Impact

Al is an advocate for equitable access to water and wastewater services. He currently is on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board, advising the agency on ways to lower costs while increasing investments in environmental and public health protection, and has also served on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee. He has been a Millennium Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is a member of the Stimson Center’s Loomis Innovation Council. Al currently serves as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Reserves, providing expertise on environmental issues essential to social stability and prosperity.

Within the water sector, Al is on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Water Alliance, the Canadian Water Network, and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, as well as on the Programme Committee for Singapore International Water Week. He is an Honorary Research Associate of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

In addition to his work in water, Al is an advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, serving as executive sponsor for Xylem’s LGBTQ+ and Allies Network. 

Education 

Master of Business Administration, Saïd School of Business, University of Oxford
Master of Science in Development Economics, University of Oxford
Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies, summa cum laude, Harvard University