Peter Aitken leads the development of Kantar’s latest CX methods, and supports Kantar’s most cutting-edge CX programmes, which regularly win awards. He co-authored the Global Customer Experience Standards with Bain & Company and Qualtrics, and developed Kantar’s Meaningfully Different Experience method, integrating brand measurement into CX.
Between 2023 and 2025 the Kantar CX team with our clients won 5 UK and international awards, including Best Use of Customer Insight by the Institute for Customer Service for our work with Virgin Atlantic in 2024 and Nationwide in 2025, and Gold at the European Customer Experience Awards with Hyundai for Best Customer Insight in 2024.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with CXO Magazine, Peter shared insights on the role of empathy in delivering exceptional customer experiences, significant career milestones, personal hobbies and interests, future plans, words of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Peter. What drives your passion for customer experience and strategy?
Customer Experience brings together all the areas I love: understanding people, solving problems, and using insight to make things better. I’ve always been fascinated by people—why they do what they do, and how experiences shape behaviour. That started back in school when I studied psychology, sociology, and philosophy, and continued through my degree in Psychology and Neuroscience. A huge focus of this was how experiences affect memories and create connections in the brain. And now, 20 years later, I’m still exploring and learning this.
I love helping organizations improve how they connect with their customers and seeing the impact that comes from doing CX right – both for companies and making everyday life just a little bit better. It’s the perfect mix of human insight and strategic thinking.
What do you love the most about your current role?
I’m very fortunate at Kantar that I get to work with a brilliant, diverse team. Whether it’s strategists, researchers, designers, system integrators, project managers, or our sales team – the magic happens when we bring different minds together.
I’m very hands-on and like to work closely with the team—helping shape our thinking, digging into the detail, analysing the data, and helping teams develop insights and strategies for our clients. I get to work with amazing clients, across industries, who trust us to help shape their customer experience.
Right now, I’m working on Kantar’s latest methods and solutions, applying Kantar’s market-leading brand measurement IP into customer experience. I also get to travel, speaking at events and conferences, and delivering client workshops with Kantar’s Customer Experience teams across the world. These give a real buzz, as you have to put yourself out there, on stage. Plus, the positive response, and discussion that a good workshop instigates, is deeply rewarding.
How do you balance creativity and data-driven decision making in CX?
Good data helps spark great ideas. It tells you where the problems are, but also what’s working well. Over my career, I’ve worked as both as a statistician, and an experience designer. What I’ve learned is that creativity is even stronger when it’s grounded in insight. We use data to get a sense of what is going on, but it never gives the complete customer story. We need creativity to form hypotheses on what to explore further, qualitatively with real people, and then form ideas for better experiences. And when we test those ideas, we come back to the data to see what’s really made a difference.
What role do you think empathy plays in delivering exceptional customer experiences?
Empathy is central to Kantar’s approach for understanding customer experience – which we call ‘Meaningfully Different Experiences’. Put simply, a business must deliver on both functional and emotional needs, plus create an experience that feels unlike any other provider. Our data shows that delivering on these aspects is highly predictive of future revenue growth.
It makes sense really – your product or service must be created with a true understanding of your customer to work effortlessly, build an emotional connection, and stand out from the rest. That’s where empathy comes in. It’s about seeing the world through your customer’s eyes—what they need, how they feel, and what matters most to them, how they feel about the alternatives. That means going beyond the numbers and listening to real customer stories. In practical terms, we don’t just look at survey numbers; we read verbatims, conduct interviews, observe natural behaviour, watch screen recordings.
With empathy, you’re creating experiences that truly connect with people, in a way that’s meaningful, and different.
What is your leadership philosophy and how do you keep team engaged and motivate them?
I believe in leading by working alongside the team. I’m not one for sitting on the sidelines. I prefer to get stuck in and solve problems together. I’m inspired by people who deliver great work, day in, day out, and by those who dive deep and bring new insights to the table. I try to create a culture where everyone feels valued and heard. When people feel trusted, appreciated and part of something meaningful, they’re naturally motivated to do great work.
How do you stay current with the latest trends and technologies in customer experience?
The CX field moves so fast, and there is some amazing work taking place right now. I stay close to what’s happening in the industry by getting actively involved; speaking at events, reading widely, following thought leaders, and sharing our own ideas on platforms like LinkedIn. Plus, I speak to clients most days, and run regular workshops bringing CX leaders together. Those experiences are fantastic because in sharing our latest thinking, I’m testing the reaction, and hearing questions and ideas from others. This usually prompts me to go back to the data, ask more questions of our clients, and then evolve the thinking.
Collaborating with other experts, like in my work with Bain & Company and Qualtrics on the Global CX Standards, helps me stay sharp and learn from other industry leaders. This really forced us all to pool the latest best practices and forward-thinking ideas.
I also highly recommend serving as an awards judge. I do this for the UK CX Awards, and get to see so many incredible things people are doing in organisations big and small. This really inspires me to push our work forward.
What has been your most career-defining moment that you are proud of?
I’m going to cheat and highlight two things! First, leading the creation of Meaningfully Different Experiences at Kantar has been incredibly rewarding. This approach is now rolled out globally and is live on at least 30 projects. It’s helping organisations connect their customer experience more closely with their brand, and showing just how much CX can drive commercial results. Seeing it have such an impact for clients – and being asked to share it at major conferences and events – has been incredibly rewarding.
The second is co-leading the development of the Global Standards for Customer Experience teams with Bain & Company and Qualtrics. It felt career-defining because we were essentially capturing what “good” looks like in CX practice – not just for one company, but as a guide for the industry globally. When we launched the standards last year, the response exceeded our expectations: it’s been downloaded over 2,000 times and prompted a lot of positive conversation in the CX community
Seeing it picked up by industry media (including a series of articles on CX Dive) and hearing feedback from CX leaders that they’re using those standards to shape their programs was incredibly rewarding. I’m proud of it because it wasn’t just a personal achievement; it was a collaborative effort that hopefully raises the bar for everyone.
What are your passions outside of work?
Outside of work, I’m happiest spending time outdoors with my family in the Peak District – camping, walking, or just relaxing in the garden with my wife and two young children. Getting out in the hills for a walk, or digging in the raised beds helps me switch off, and brings a little perspective when I’m back at work. I also love playing guitar; it’s my way of escaping for a few hours and getting into a creative flow. Writing and public speaking are long-time passions of mine as well. I enjoy sharing new ideas, whether through publishing thought leadership, hosting webinars, or presenting at events. Ultimately, I find that these activities keep me curious and energized – qualities that I hope make their way back into my work.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
At the moment, my focus is on scaling our successful approaches globally. I hope to have helped embed the idea of experience as a key driver of business growth in many more organizations over the next five years. Personally, I’d love to continue writing and remaining active in the CX community. We currently have some really exciting articles and interviews planned, any maybe it’ll come together as a book. One day, I’d love to produce something that draws from the expertise of a range great people doing really exciting things – whether CMOs or people in operational roles – with inspiring examples and data that illustrates the principles that lead to commercial success. Who knows, maybe it could become part of the canon of management reading. But either way, as long as I’m doing interesting work, that has a net-positive impact on the world, then I’m happy.
What advice would you give to organizations looking to build a more customer-centric culture and improve their CX capabilities?
Start with your culture. Customer experience isn’t just a function—it’s a mindset that needs to live across your whole organisation. Make sure your people understand the role they play and why it matters. Then get the basics right: listen to your customers, act on what they say, and link those actions to business results. Focus on the moments that matter most to your customers, and find ways to stand out. Most importantly, build empathy into everything you do. If you truly understand your customer, you’ll make better decisions and deliver experiences that people remember.