The Chief Experience Officer (CXO) has emerged as a pivotal C-suite role focused on orchestrating exceptional experiences across all stakeholder interactions. This executive position requires a rare blend of strategic vision, customer empathy, and organizational transformation skills to deliver cohesive, differentiated experiences that drive business value. According to Harvard Business Review, the most successful CXOs excel at translating customer insights into enterprise-wide experience strategies while orchestrating cross-functional teams to execute on that vision.

For modern organizations, the CXO plays a critical role in breaking down silos between marketing, product, service, and operations to create seamless, integrated experiences. This executive position has become increasingly important as companies recognize experience as a key competitive differentiator. The CXO typically oversees multiple dimensions of experience—from customer and user experience to employee experience and partner experience—while ensuring all touchpoints align with the company's brand promise and values.

When evaluating candidates for a Chief Experience Officer role, behavioral interviewing becomes particularly valuable. Since this role requires transforming how an organization designs and delivers experiences, past behaviors serve as strong indicators of a candidate's approach and effectiveness. Focus on asking questions that reveal how candidates have built experience strategies, orchestrated cross-functional teams, leveraged data to drive decisions, and led cultural change. Use follow-up questions to better understand their specific contributions, the scale of their impact, and their ability to navigate complex organizational dynamics.

By conducting structured behavioral interviews, you'll gain critical insights into a candidate's readiness to take on this transformative leadership role and their alignment with your organization's experience vision. The following questions are designed to help you assess the most important competencies for success as a Chief Experience Officer.

Interview Questions

Tell me about a time when you led a major initiative to transform the customer or user experience across multiple touchpoints in an organization.

Areas to Cover:

• The scope and scale of the transformation
• How they identified the need for transformation
• Their approach to gaining cross-functional buy-in
• Specific actions taken to implement the transformation
• Metrics used to measure success
• Challenges encountered and how they were overcome
• Long-term impact on customer satisfaction and business results

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you prioritize which touchpoints to transform first?
• What resistance did you encounter, and how did you address it?
• How did you ensure the transformation was aligned with broader business goals?
• What would you do differently if you were to lead this initiative again?

Describe a situation where you used customer data and insights to drive a significant shift in your organization's experience strategy.

Areas to Cover:

• Types of data and insights gathered
• How they analyzed and interpreted the data
• The specific strategic shifts recommended based on the insights
• How they communicated the data story to gain executive buy-in
• Implementation process and cross-functional coordination
• Results achieved from the strategic shift
• How they measured the impact

Follow-Up Questions:

• What surprised you most about the data you collected?
• How did you distinguish between customer wants and needs in your analysis?
• What challenges did you face in translating insights into actionable strategy?
• How did you balance quantitative and qualitative data in making decisions?

Share an example of how you've successfully bridged silos between different departments to create a more cohesive customer experience.

Areas to Cover:

• The specific silos identified and their impact on customer experience
• Their approach to building relationships across departments
• Strategies used to align diverse stakeholders around a common goal
• Specific mechanisms or processes implemented to improve collaboration
• Challenges encountered in bringing teams together
• Resulting improvements in customer experience
• Lessons learned about organizational alignment

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you gain credibility with leaders from different functional areas?
• What resistance did you encounter, and how did you overcome it?
• How did you ensure changes would be sustainable rather than temporary?
• What metrics did you establish to measure cross-functional collaboration?

Tell me about a time when you had to lead a cultural transformation to make an organization more customer-centric.

Areas to Cover:

• The initial state of the organization's culture regarding customer-centricity
• Their assessment process for identifying cultural barriers
• Vision created for the desired cultural state
• Specific strategies implemented to shift mindsets and behaviors
• How they engaged employees at different levels
• Challenges faced during the transformation
• Indicators of successful cultural change
• Long-term sustainability measures put in place

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you gain executive sponsorship for the cultural change?
• What specific behaviors did you target for change, and why?
• How did you address resistance from long-tenured employees?
• What systems or processes did you implement to reinforce the new culture?

Describe a situation where you had to balance competing priorities between business objectives and optimal customer experience.

Areas to Cover:

• The specific tension between business needs and customer experience
• Their process for evaluating the tradeoffs
• How they quantified the customer experience impact
• Their approach to stakeholder management
• The solution or compromise reached
• How they communicated the decision to various stakeholders
• Short and long-term results of the decision
• Lessons learned about balancing these competing priorities

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you quantify the value of customer experience in this situation?
• What framework did you use to make the final decision?
• How did you bring skeptical stakeholders along with your recommendation?
• In retrospect, what would you have done differently?

Tell me about your experience implementing experience measurement frameworks across an organization.

Areas to Cover:

• The specific measurement frameworks selected or developed
• Their process for determining appropriate metrics
• How they gained organizational buy-in for the framework
• Implementation challenges and how they were overcome
• How data was collected, analyzed, and reported
• Actions taken based on the measurement insights
• Impact on organizational decision-making
• Evolution of the framework over time

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you ensure the metrics were meaningful rather than just easy to measure?
• What technology systems did you implement to support the measurement framework?
• How did you balance lagging and leading indicators in your approach?
• How did you connect experience metrics to business outcomes?

Share an example of when you had to advocate for significant investment in customer experience improvements despite unclear short-term ROI.

Areas to Cover:

• The specific experience improvement requiring investment
• Their approach to building a business case despite uncertain ROI
• How they quantified potential long-term benefits
• Their strategy for gaining executive support
• Specific techniques used to persuade decision-makers
• The outcome of their advocacy efforts
• Actual results achieved from the investment
• Lessons learned about securing resources for experience initiatives

Follow-Up Questions:

• What metrics or proxies did you use to estimate potential ROI?
• How did you address concerns about the investment risk?
• What alternatives did you consider and why did you reject them?
• How did you maintain support for the initiative over time?

Describe a time when you had to pivot your experience strategy based on unexpected market shifts or customer feedback.

Areas to Cover:

• The original strategy and its objectives
• The nature of the unexpected change or feedback
• Their process for assessing the situation and determining a new direction
• How quickly they were able to pivot
• Their approach to bringing stakeholders along with the change
• Challenges encountered during the pivot
• Results of the new strategy
• Lessons learned about adaptability in experience leadership

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you know it was time to pivot rather than making smaller adjustments?
• What signals or feedback mechanisms alerted you to the need for change?
• How did you manage resistance to changing a strategy already in motion?
• What did you put in place to better anticipate future shifts?

Tell me about a time when you had to align employee experience with customer experience initiatives.

Areas to Cover:

• Their understanding of the connection between employee and customer experience
• How they identified gaps or opportunities for alignment
• Specific initiatives implemented to bridge EX and CX
• Their approach to gaining buy-in from HR and operations leaders
• Challenges encountered in the alignment process
• Measurement approach for both employee and customer impact
• Results achieved from better alignment
• Lessons learned about the EX-CX connection

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you prioritize which elements of employee experience to address first?
• What resistance did you encounter from traditional HR thinking?
• How did you measure the impact of employee experience changes on customer outcomes?
• What surprised you most about the relationship between EX and CX?

Share an example of how you've used emerging technology to create innovative customer experiences.

Areas to Cover:

• The specific technology and its potential applications
• Their process for evaluating the technology's fit for experience needs
• How they developed the concept for implementation
• Their approach to securing resources and technical expertise
• The implementation process and challenges overcome
• Customer reception to the new technology-enabled experience
• Business outcomes achieved
• Lessons learned about technology-driven innovation

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you balance innovation with practical implementation considerations?
• What risks did you identify, and how did you mitigate them?
• How did you ensure the technology enhanced rather than complicated the customer experience?
• What would you do differently in your next technology implementation?

Describe a situation where you had to lead experience improvements across global markets with different cultural norms and expectations.

Areas to Cover:

• The scope of the global experience initiative
• Their approach to understanding cultural differences
• How they balanced global consistency with local relevance
• Their process for gathering market-specific insights
• Governance model established for decision-making
• Implementation challenges across different regions
• Metrics used to evaluate success across markets
• Lessons learned about global experience management

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you identify which elements of the experience needed to be localized versus standardized?
• What surprising cultural differences emerged in your research?
• How did you manage conflicting priorities between regional and global teams?
• What frameworks or tools did you use to ensure cultural appropriateness?

Tell me about a time when you had to convince skeptical executives to invest in improving "moments that matter" in the customer journey.

Areas to Cover:

• How they identified the critical moments that matter
• Their process for quantifying the impact of these moments
• The specific objections or skepticism encountered
• Their approach to building a compelling business case
• Data and evidence used to support their recommendations
• The outcome of their persuasion efforts
• Results achieved after implementation
• Lessons learned about executive influence

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you identify which moments truly mattered most to customers?
• What techniques did you use to make the customer experience tangible for executives?
• How did you connect emotional customer needs to business outcomes?
• What was the most effective evidence in changing executive minds?

Share an example of how you've built or transformed an experience team to elevate its strategic impact.

Areas to Cover:

• The initial state of the experience function
• Their vision for the transformed team
• Specific structural or capability changes implemented
• Their approach to talent acquisition and development
• How they positioned the team within the broader organization
• Challenges encountered during the transformation
• Indicators of increased strategic impact
• Lessons learned about building high-performing experience teams

Follow-Up Questions:

• What skills or capabilities did you prioritize in building the team?
• How did you increase the team's influence across the organization?
• What resistance did you encounter to elevating the team's strategic role?
• How did you measure the team's effectiveness before and after?

Describe a situation where you had to balance digital transformation with maintaining human connection in customer experiences.

Areas to Cover:

• The specific digital initiatives under consideration
• Their process for evaluating the human elements at risk
• How they identified opportunities for digital enhancement vs. human touch
• Their approach to designing hybrid experiences
• Stakeholder management during the design process
• Implementation challenges and how they were overcome
• Customer feedback on the balanced approach
• Lessons learned about harmonizing digital and human elements

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you determine which interactions should remain primarily human?
• What frameworks did you use to evaluate the emotional impact of digitization?
• How did you convince technology advocates of the value of human elements?
• What surprised you about customer preferences for digital versus human interaction?

Tell me about a time when you had to leverage customer journey mapping to drive significant experience improvements.

Areas to Cover:

• Their approach to journey mapping methodology
• How they involved various stakeholders in the mapping process
• Key insights uncovered through the journey maps
• Their process for prioritizing improvement opportunities
• How they translated journey insights into actionable initiatives
• Implementation challenges and how they were addressed
• Impact on customer experience and business outcomes
• Lessons learned about effective journey mapping

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you ensure journey maps reflected actual customer experiences rather than internal perceptions?
• What techniques did you use to identify pain points and moments of truth?
• How did you connect journey improvements to quantifiable business outcomes?
• How did you use journey maps as ongoing tools rather than one-time exercises?

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a good Chief Experience Officer candidate?

A strong CXO candidate demonstrates strategic vision, cross-functional leadership abilities, and a proven track record of transforming customer experiences in ways that drive business results. Look for evidence of their ability to orchestrate complex initiatives across departmental boundaries, their skill in translating customer insights into actionable strategies, and their capacity to influence organizational culture. The best candidates will show a balance of customer empathy, data fluency, and business acumen.

How important is prior C-suite experience for a Chief Experience Officer role?

While prior C-suite experience can be valuable, it's not always essential. More important is evidence that the candidate has successfully led enterprise-wide initiatives with significant scope and complexity. Look for candidates who have effectively influenced across functions, managed substantial budgets, and demonstrated strategic impact at scale—regardless of their specific title. For first-time C-level candidates, focus on their track record of increasing responsibility and their readiness to think and act at an enterprise level.

Should a CXO have more expertise in customer experience or employee experience?

The ideal CXO understands the critical connection between employee and customer experience. While specific expertise may vary based on organizational needs, look for candidates who can articulate how these domains interconnect and who have experience improving both areas. The most effective CXOs recognize that exceptional customer experiences are rarely delivered by disengaged employees, and they can demonstrate how they've created alignment between these two critical experience dimensions.

How can I assess whether a candidate will succeed in my company's specific culture?

Beyond assessing technical capabilities, use behavioral questions to understand how candidates have navigated cultural challenges in previous roles. Ask how they've built relationships across different functional areas, how they've influenced without authority, and how they've introduced change in resistant organizations. Look for evidence that their leadership style and change management approach align with your organization's values and ways of working. Consider involving key stakeholders in the interview process to get multiple perspectives on cultural fit.

Should a Chief Experience Officer be more customer-facing or internally focused?

The most successful CXOs balance external customer engagement with internal organizational leadership. They should demonstrate comfort in directly engaging with customers to develop firsthand insights, while also showing the ability to translate those insights into organizational change through influence, inspiration, and execution. Ask for specific examples of how they've maintained this balance in previous roles and how they've used customer insights to drive internal transformation.

Interested in a full interview guide for a Chief Experience Officer role? Sign up for Yardstick and build it for free.