Over the last decade, the Chief Customer Officer has become an increasingly popular appointment within more mature organisations.
As customer expectations continue to evolve and become more complex, digital transformation, particularly AI, remains high on board agendas – and growth is becoming increasingly dependent upon retention rather than acquisition, it is perhaps unsurprising that many leadership teams have looked to create greater accountability around the customer agenda.
Yet despite this, there is no clear consensus on whether a Chief Customer Officer is a necessity, a luxury, or in some cases, a distraction.
The customer agenda – at board level – certainly seems to be more of a focus in 2026 than what it was last year. However, the conversation is rarely centred around customer service, customer experience programmes or Net Promoter Scores. More often, it stems from a broader commercial challenge. Growth has become harder to achieve. Customer acquisition costs continue to rise. Failure rates are becoming more expensive to fix. Markets are becoming increasingly competitive. Inefficiencies have been exposed and are now front and centre of board level conversations. Shareholders are demanding stronger returns from significant investments in technology and transformation.
Against this backdrop, boards are understandably paying closer attention to the factors that influence future performance. Operational resilience, customer behaviour, leadership capability and innovation are all increasingly important indicators of long-term organisational health. Measures such as customer retention, lifetime value and advocacy can often provide an early indication of future revenue performance, whilst leadership strength and an organisation’s ability to adapt and innovate are critical to sustaining competitive advantage.
This is where the discussion becomes really interesting.
When organisations start debating whether they need a Chief Customer Officer, they are often attempting to solve a problem that extends far beyond the customer service function – indeed a true Chief Customer Officer should have accountability for everything that impacts the customer, from marketing, to commercial, to operations, with P&L accountability and the strategic intention of driving growth and increasing revenue, with a firm seat at the top table.
In many businesses, accountability for customer outcomes is fragmented across multiple departments. Marketing owns propositions, acquisition and in some cases customer journeys. Operations owns delivery. Digital owns User Experience, product and e-commerce trading. Customer Services manages enquiries, complaints and channel communication. Each function plays a critical role, yet customer experience touches every single part of an organisation – even non-customer facing functions like IT, finance and HR.
The question therefore becomes one of accountability. Who is responsible for ensuring these functions work together to deliver outcomes that support sustainable growth?
For some organisations, the answer is a Chief Customer Officer. A dedicated executive who can connect customer insight, marketing, operational performance, digital experience, transformation and commercial strategy in a way that drives long-term value creation.
For others, customer accountability already sits effectively within the remit of a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer or Chief Digital Officer. In these circumstances, introducing another executive position can create unnecessary overlap, confusion and competing priorities. The presence of a Chief Customer Officer does not automatically create customer-centricity, just as the absence of one does not prevent it.
What matters is whether customer outcomes are genuinely represented within strategic decision-making and whether the voice of the customer is heard at senior leadership and board meetings.
This is particularly important when viewed through the lens of shareholder value. Investors are not simply evaluating current performance; they are assessing the likelihood of future performance. They want confidence that an organisation can retain customers, defend and in most instances increase market share, adapt to changing customer expectations and generate sustainable revenue growth. Increasingly, these considerations sit at the intersection of customer, digital and operational leadership.
The strongest argument for a Chief Customer Officer is therefore not that customers deserve a seat at the boardroom table. It is that customer behaviour has a direct influence on the metrics that boards and investors care most about. Revenue growth, profitability, resilience and ultimately enterprise value are all affected by an organisation’s ability to understand and respond to customer needs.
However, there is also a risk that boards should consider carefully.
Many organisations create customer leadership roles without providing the authority required to deliver meaningful change. Executives are tasked with improving customer outcomes whilst lacking influence over the operational processes, investment decisions or digital strategies that shape those outcomes. Responsibility becomes separated from control, and the role struggles to fulfil its intended purpose.
Perhaps this is why the debate around Chief Customer Officers continues.
The more important question may not be whether a business needs a Chief Customer Officer at all. Instead, boards should ask whether they have sufficient executive accountability for the customer outcomes that will ultimately determine future growth and shareholder value. If the answer to that question is unclear, there may well be a leadership gap that needs addressing.
Whether that gap is filled by a Chief Customer Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Digital Officer or another member of the executive team will depend upon the maturity, structure and strategic priorities of the organisation itself.
