Best Fractional CSOs for the Energy Industry

Best Fractional Chief Sales Officer Services for the Energy Sector

The energy industry is currently undergoing a rapid transformation. Whether it’s traditional oil & gas grappling with decarbonization or renewables scaling at breakneck speed, companies need more than just capital — they need strategic leadership. That’s where fractional CSOs come in: experienced leaders who embed part‑time or project-based into energy businesses, guiding them through strategic planning, growth execution, and the transition to more sustainable models.

Around the world — in hubs like Houston, Singapore, Dubai, Amsterdam, and beyond — fractional CSOs are becoming a go-to for energy firms, because they offer senior-level experience without the cost or commitment of a full-time executive. At Digital Reference, we believe in shining a light on the best of this emerging global talent pool.

We used our rigorous methodology (rooted in radical authenticity and transparency) to identify leaders with real impact, and we’re excited to share our curated list below.

Our Methodology - Energy Industry Fractional CSO Services

To compile our list, we evaluated candidates across key dimensions:

✨ Energy‑Sector Relevance: Demonstrated experience in energy, commodities, renewables, ESG, or maritime energy.

🔄 Fractional / Advisory Engagement: Individuals who operate as part-time, interim, or fractional CSOs.

📊 Strategic Impact: Evidence of commercial transformation, sustainability strategy, or international growth.

🤝 Leadership Integrity: Commitment to transparency, mentorship, and high ethical standard.

🌍 Global Perspective: Ability to operate across borders, understanding geopolitical and market complexity in energy.

We also leverage Digital Reference’s tools — video resumes and professional reference collection — to validate not just experience, but trustworthiness and performance.

🌐 Featured Global Fractional Chief Sales Officers for the Energy Sector

🟣 Dustin Marchand

Fractional CSO at Sales Xceleration
🔗 LinkedIn

Dustin is a seasoned sales strategist with 20+ years in sales leadership, helping companies scale pipelines, build repeatable processes, and clean up fragmented sales operations. Though much of his publicly documented experience comes from industrial and B2B sales, his fractional CSO role can be instrumental to energy firms that need to build or optimize their commercial engine — especially when moving into new markets or launching green business lines.

He’s known for:

• Rolling out structured GTM (go-to-market) playbooks quickly
• Designing scalable sales infrastructure — CRM, forecast models, quota plans
• Driving turnaround by diagnosing sales inefficiencies and fixing leaky funnels
• Building trust-based relationships with clients so that strategy becomes execution
• Deep experience in the energy, staffing, transportation & logistics, industrial equipment rental and industrial construction sectors

Dustin’s strength as a fractional CSO lies in his pragmatism: he doesn’t do “strategy for strategy’s sake.” Instead, he embeds deeply, diagnoses ruthlessly, and builds with an eye for long-term repeatability.

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🟣 Megan Bourdages‍

Founder & Fractional Chief Sales Officer at AMB International‍

🔗 LinkedIn

Megan brings over 17 years of sales leadership and strategy, primarily in the SaaS and HR-tech industries. As the founder of AMB International, she leads advisory services for both SaaS companies and energy-sector businesses.

Key strengths:

• Building and revamping underperforming sales functions into scalable, high-performing commercial organizations.
• Designing repeatable GTM frameworks and sales systems that work across different geographies and deal sizes (from SMBs to Fortune 10 enterprises).
• Strong coaching and training orientation — she deeply invests in team development and sales effectiveness.
• Cross-cultural leadership: she’s led global sales operations, implementing sales programs in over 60 countries.

Why she matters for the energy sector:
For energy firms — particularly those launching or scaling clean-tech, SaaS-enabled energy services, or digital energy platforms — Megan offers the commercial rigor of a proven sales executive, plus the flexibility of fractional engagement. She helps commercial teams not only sell technology, but also build scalable revenue engines.

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🟣 Aaron Gutowski

Partner & Chief Sales Officer at Chief Outsiders‍

🔗 LinkedIn‍

Aaron is a fractional CSO at Chief Outsiders, where he brings deep experience in sales strategy, team building, and operational excellence. He has led sales organizations across a wide range of industries — including energy, EV charging systems, industrial services, energy efficiency, HVAC, and more.

What he’s best at:

• Driving sales transformation: implementing process-driven accountability, sales KPIs, and activity-based measurement to boost pipeline productivity.
• Recruiting, coaching, and developing high-performance sales teams, especially when transitioning from founder-led sales to structured, scalable orgs.
• Designing and executing go-to-market strategies for new offerings — including in energy services and ESG-adjacent solutions.
• Building sales infrastructure: rethinking territories, incentive plans, CRM design, and accountability systems.

Why Aaron is vital for the energy sector:
His deep domain experience (energy, EV charging, efficiency), combined with his proven playbook for building repeatable and scalable sales systems, makes him especially valuable to energy firms that are transitioning, scaling, or launching new commercial lines.

Why These Fractional CSOs Matter for the Global Energy Sector

The energy transition is not just about building wind farms or replacing coal plants. It’s a strategic transformation that requires changing commercial models, managing risk, and rethinking growth. Fractional CSOs offer:

• Strategic capacity without full-time cost
• Leadership that bridges legacy and innovation
• Expertise in sustainability, ESG, and climate risk
• Flexible, scalable involvement aligned to specific energy projects or phases
• Global perspective to navigate cross-border energy markets and financing

For energy firms, especially in a world of limited capital and high renewal risk, fractional CSOs are a smart way to embed top-tier strategy talent without overcommitting.

Tying It Back to Digital Reference

At Digital Reference, we believe in making leaders like these discoverable, verifiable, and accessible. We help energy companies:

• Use video resumes to assess an executive’s communication style, mindset, and strategic clarity
• Collect professional references on past fractional engagements (especially relevant for interim CSOs)
• Align on engagement type — fractional, part-time, advisory — based on real business needs
• Make decisions rooted in transparency, performance, and trust, not just resumes

Our mission is all about radical authenticity. We don’t just recommend the “biggest names” — we recommend the right names, backed by verifiable references, proven impact, and values alignment.

Final Thoughts

The energy sector’s future is strategic, sustainable, and global — and the companies that will win in this era are those that embed the right kind of leadership. The fractional CSOs we’ve featured above bring a powerful mix of commercial rigor, sustainability insight, crisis resilience, and global perspective.

If you’re looking to transform your energy business, navigate new capital markets, or lead your organization through climate‑driven uncertainty, these leaders are proof that you don’t always need a full-time executive — you just need the right fractional one.

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And when you’re ready to find and evaluate that leader, Digital Reference is here to help — giving you the tools to make confident, verified, and values-aligned decisions.