Cultural intelligence or cultural quotient (CQ) is the ability to relate and work effectively across cultures, bearing similarity to the term cultural agility. The term has been used in business, education, government, and academic research contexts. Originally, the term cultural intelligence and the abbreviation "CQ" was developed in research by Christopher Earley (2002) and Earley and Soon Ang (2003). During the same period, researchers David Thomas and Kerr Inkson worked on a complementary framework of CQ as well. A few years later, Ang Soon and Linn Van Dyne worked on a scale development of the CQ construct as a research-based way of measuring and predicting intercultural performance.

The term is relatively recent: early definitions and studies of the concepts were given by P. Christopher Earley and Soon Ang in the book Cultural Intelligence: Individual Interactions Across Cultures (2003) and more fully developed later by David Livermore in the book, Leading with Cultural Intelligence. The concept is related to that of cross-cultural competence. However, it goes beyond that to actually look at intercultural capabilities as a form of intelligence that can be measured and developed. According to Earley, Ang, and Van Dyne, cultural intelligence can be defined as "a person's capability to adapt as she interacts with others from different cultural regions", and has behavioral, motivational, and metacognitive aspects. Without cultural intelligence, both business and military actors seeking to engage foreigners are susceptible to mirror imaging.

Cultural intelligence (CQ) is measured on a scale similar to that used to measure an individual's intelligence quotient. People with higher CQs are regarded as better able to successfully blend into any environment, using more effective business practices, than those with a lower CQ. CQ is assessed using the academically validated assessment created by Linn Van Dyne and Soon Ang. Both self-assessments and multi-rater assessments are available through the Cultural Intelligence Center in East Lansing, Michigan and the Center makes the CQ Scale available to other academic researchers at no charge. Research demonstrates that CQ is a consistent predictor of performance in multicultural settings. Cultural intelligence research has been cited and peer-reviewed in more than seventy academic journals. The research and application of cultural intelligence is being driven by the Cultural Intelligence Center in the U.S. and Nanyang Business School in Singapore. Additional research and application of cultural intelligence has been conducted by Liliana Gil Valletta, who holds the trademark for the term since 2013. Defined as the ability to be aware of, understand, and apply cultural competence to everyday business decisions, Gil Valletta has expanded the definition of cultural intelligence into a capability that yields a commercial advantage by turning cultural trends into profits and P&L impact. Since 2010, the firm CIEN+ and data science platform Culturintel is the first to use artificial intelligence and big data tools to report measures of cultural intelligence and enable corporations to embed inclusion for business growth.