29 Sep EXPERIENCE ECONOMY EXPERT, CONSULTANT, THOUGHT LEADER AND SPEAKER FOR HIRE
Top experience economy expert consultants, thought leaders and speakers advise that it has transformed how organizations think about customers, employees, brands, events, products, and services.
People increasingly judge organizations not only by what they sell, but the best experience economy experts argue by how interacting with them feels.
That shift has created growing demand for business strategists, SMEs and KOLs who can help organizations understand changing expectations and design more memorable, meaningful, convenient, personalized, and engaging interactions.
A futurist experience economy expert can help companies examine everything from customer journeys and brand experiences to employee engagement, events, hospitality, retail environments, digital interactions, and emerging technologies.
But hiring one requires more than finding someone who talks about CX, UX and similar topics.
Per celebrity experience economy expert, the field encompasses a broader question:
How can an organization create experiences that people value enough to remember, share, return to, and pay for?
This guide explains what an experience economy expert does, the areas they cover, why organizations hire them, the types of services they provide, what to look for when hiring one, and how experience economy expertise can be applied across industries.
What Is an Experience Economy Expert?
An experience economy expert is a professional who specializes in understanding how organizations can create greater value through experiences.
Their work may encompass:
Customer experience
Brand experience
Employee experience
Digital experience
Retail experience
Event experience
Hospitality
Entertainment
Experiential marketing
Service design
Customer journeys
Personalization
Innovation
Emerging technology
Consumer behavior
Business transformation
The experience economy recognizes that customers increasingly value the experience surrounding a product or service.
A product may solve a problem.
A service may provide an outcome.
An experience can create an emotional, memorable, or personally meaningful connection around that transaction.
An experience economy expert helps organizations understand and design that additional layer of value.
What Is the Experience Economy?
The experience economy is the idea that experiences themselves can become an important economic offering.
Traditional economic value can be thought of as progressing through several stages.
A business may begin with:
Commodities → Products → Services → Experiences
Commodities are raw materials.
Products package those materials into something tangible.
Services perform an activity or solve a problem.
Experiences engage customers in a memorable or meaningful way.
This does not mean products and services have disappeared.
Instead, experiences can become an additional source of differentiation.
Two companies may offer similar products.
Two competitors may provide similar services.
The organization that creates a more convenient, personalized, entertaining, useful, or memorable experience may differentiate itself in the customer’s mind.
Why Experience Economy Expertise Matters
Customer expectations continue to change.
People have become accustomed to:
Personalization
On-demand services
Digital convenience
Seamless transactions
Immediate information
Interactive content
Community
Entertainment
Customized recommendations
Connected experiences
Those expectations increasingly cross industries.
A customer may compare the digital experience provided by a bank with the digital experience provided by a retailer.
An employee may compare the workplace technology at one company with the consumer technology they use at home.
A conference attendee may compare a professional event with the entertainment and hospitality experiences they encounter elsewhere.
An experience economy expert helps organizations understand these changing expectations.
What Does an Experience Economy Expert Do?
An experience economy expert can perform several different roles.
They may serve as:
Consultant
Keynote speaker
Strategist
Workshop facilitator
Advisor
Researcher
Innovation expert
Customer experience strategist
Brand experience consultant
Event experience strategist
Transformation advisor
The appropriate role depends on the organization’s needs.
Experience Economy Keynote Speaker
One common reason organizations hire an experience economy expert is to deliver a keynote.
An experience economy keynote can help an audience understand:
Why experiences matter
How customer expectations are changing
How organizations can differentiate through experiences
How technology is changing experiences
How to create memorable interactions
How experiences influence loyalty
How experiences affect brand perception
A keynote can be particularly useful for conferences, leadership meetings, sales conferences, customer events, marketing meetings, and corporate retreats.
Experience Economy Consultant
Consulting engagements go deeper than a keynote.
An experience economy consultant may help an organization:
Analyze customer journeys
Identify experience gaps
Develop an experience strategy
Redesign touchpoints
Improve digital experiences
Create personalization strategies
Design new customer experiences
Improve employee experiences
Develop experiential marketing programs
Experience Economy Workshop Facilitator
Workshops can turn experience economy concepts into practical exercises.
A workshop may ask participants to:
Map the current customer journey
Identify moments that matter
Identify friction
Identify emotional opportunities
Examine competitors
Brainstorm new experiences
Prioritize opportunities
Develop implementation plans
Experience Economy Strategy
Experience strategy connects customer expectations with organizational capabilities.
An experience strategy can examine:
What customers currently experience
What they expect
What competitors provide
Where friction exists
Where differentiation is possible
What experiences the brand should own
What technology is required
What employees need
How success will be measured
Customer Experience and the Experience Economy
Customer experience is one of the most important components of the experience economy.
Customer experience encompasses interactions across the customer journey.
These may include:
Advertising
Search
Websites
Sales
Purchasing
Delivery
Customer service
Product usage
Support
Loyalty
Renewal
An experience economy expert looks at the entire journey rather than optimizing individual interactions in isolation.
Brand Experience
Brand experience extends beyond traditional advertising.
It can include every interaction that shapes how people perceive a brand.
Examples include:
Physical environments
Websites
Events
Packaging
Customer service
Social media
Product interfaces
Retail experiences
Employee interactions
A strong brand experience makes the brand tangible.
Experiential Marketing
Experiential marketing creates opportunities for customers to interact with a brand rather than simply receive a message from it.
Examples can include:
Pop-up experiences
Demonstrations
Immersive installations
Brand activations
Events
Product experiences
Interactive campaigns
Live demonstrations
An experience economy expert can help connect experiential marketing with broader business strategy.
Event Experience
Events are a natural part of the experience economy.
Attendees increasingly expect more than presentations.
They may expect:
Interaction
Entertainment
Networking
Personalization
Technology
Community
Useful content
Memorable moments
An experience economy expert can help organizations rethink the entire event journey.
That includes:
Registration
Arrival
Environment
Content
Speakers
Networking
Food and hospitality
Technology
Follow-up
The Experience Economy and Events
An event is itself an experience.
The most effective event strategies therefore consider the attendee journey from beginning to end.
Before the event:
How does someone discover it?
How easy is registration?
What expectations are created?
During the event:
What happens when attendees arrive?
How easy is navigation?
How engaging is the programming?
Where are the memorable moments?
After the event:
What happens next?
Does the organization maintain the relationship?
Can attendees continue the conversation?
Employee Experience
The experience economy is not limited to customers.
Employees also experience organizations through:
Technology
Workplace environments
Leadership
Communication
Culture
Training
Benefits
Career development
Internal processes
Organizations that invest heavily in customer experience while ignoring employee experience can create a disconnect.
Employees are often responsible for delivering the customer experience.
Digital Experience
Digital experiences have become central to the experience economy.
Customers may interact with organizations through:
Websites
Mobile applications
Social media
Chat
Video
Virtual environments
Digital marketplaces
Connected products
Digital experience strategy examines whether those interactions are:
Easy
Useful
Fast
Personalized
Consistent
Engaging
Artificial Intelligence and the Experience Economy
Artificial intelligence is changing the possibilities for personalized experiences.
AI can potentially help organizations:
Personalize recommendations
Automate customer interactions
Analyze customer behavior
Predict needs
Generate content
Improve service
Create conversational interfaces
Support employees
Customize experiences
But personalization can also become intrusive if customers feel that organizations know too much or are manipulating their behavior.
Experience economy experts can help organizations balance personalization with trust.
Generative AI and Experiences
Generative AI introduces new possibilities for creating experiences.
Organizations can potentially use generative AI to create:
Personalized content
Interactive assistants
Customized educational experiences
Dynamic recommendations
Conversational interfaces
Personalized marketing
Real-time customer support
The experience challenge is not simply whether AI can generate content.
The question is whether the resulting interaction creates meaningful value.
Personalization in the Experience Economy
Personalization has become an important component of modern customer experiences.
Customers may expect organizations to understand:
Their preferences
Their history
Their needs
Their interests
Their context
But effective personalization is more than inserting someone’s name into an email.
True personalization can change:
What customers see
What they are offered
How they navigate
How they receive service
What information they receive
The Importance of Convenience
Not every experience needs to be spectacular.
Sometimes the most valuable experience improvement is removing friction.
Experience economy experts often examine:
Waiting
Forms
Repetitive information
Confusing navigation
Complicated purchasing
Poor communication
Difficult returns
Inconsistent service
Convenience can itself be a competitive advantage.
Designing Memorable Experiences
Memorability is a central idea in the experience economy.
An experience becomes memorable when it provides something beyond the expected transaction.
This might be:
Surprise
Personalization
Emotion
Discovery
Participation
Storytelling
Community
Achievement
Organizations should not attempt to make every interaction spectacular.
Instead, they should identify the moments where greater emotional or experiential value can have the greatest impact.
The “Moments That Matter”
A useful experience strategy identifies moments that disproportionately affect perception.
These may include:
First interaction
Purchase
Onboarding
First use
Problem resolution
Renewal
Major event
Milestone
Improving these moments can have greater value than attempting to redesign every interaction simultaneously.
Experience Economy and Customer Loyalty
Experiences can influence whether customers:
Return
Renew
Recommend
Share
Engage
Upgrade
Become advocates
But experience should not be viewed as a substitute for delivering a quality product or service.
The experience reinforces the underlying value proposition.
Experience Economy and Brand Differentiation
When products become increasingly similar, experience can become a source of differentiation.
Organizations can differentiate through:
Service
Convenience
Personalization
Community
Hospitality
Design
Entertainment
Education
Accessibility
The important question is whether the experience is genuinely meaningful to the customer.
Experience Economy in Retail
Retail is one of the most visible examples of experience-driven competition.
Retail experiences may include:
Store design
Product demonstrations
Interactive displays
Personalized recommendations
Events
Loyalty programs
Digital integration
Checkout
Customer service
The physical and digital experiences increasingly need to work together.
Experience Economy in Hospitality
Hospitality has always depended heavily on experience.
Hotels, restaurants, resorts, travel companies, and entertainment organizations compete not simply on functional service but on the overall experience.
Experience economy strategy can address:
Arrival
Service
Environment
Personalization
Entertainment
Convenience
Technology
Recovery when things go wrong
Experience Economy in Healthcare
Healthcare experiences encompass much more than clinical treatment.
Patients interact with:
Scheduling
Registration
Websites
Waiting rooms
Clinicians
Billing
Communications
Digital tools
Follow-up
Experience economy thinking can help healthcare organizations identify opportunities to reduce friction and make interactions more understandable and human.
Experience Economy in Financial Services
Banks and financial organizations increasingly compete around digital experiences.
Customers may judge:
Mobile apps
Websites
Customer service
Personalization
Financial education
Onboarding
Problem resolution
Trust is particularly important because financial experiences involve highly sensitive decisions and information.
Experience Economy in Technology
Technology companies can use experience as a differentiator even when products are technically complex.
Experience can include:
Onboarding
User interface
Customer support
Implementation
Education
Community
Events
Developer experience
Experience Economy in B2B
The experience economy is not limited to consumer brands.
B2B customers also experience:
Sales processes
Websites
Demonstrations
Events
Onboarding
Customer support
Software interfaces
Account management
Renewals
B2B purchasing decisions may involve many stakeholders, making consistency across the experience particularly important.
B2B Experience Economy Experts
A B2B experience economy expert can help organizations examine the entire customer journey.
Areas may include:
Lead generation
Sales
Demonstrations
Proposal processes
Purchasing
Implementation
Customer success
Renewal
The objective is to make the experience easier, clearer, more useful, and more differentiated.
Experience Economy and Community
Community can be an important component of experience.
Organizations can create communities around:
Products
Industries
Interests
Professional identities
Events
Causes
Community can increase engagement because customers become participants rather than passive recipients.
Experience Economy and the Creator Economy
Creators can contribute to experience design by creating:
Interactive content
Events
Communities
Demonstrations
Tutorials
Live experiences
Brand collaborations
The creator economy and experience economy increasingly overlap as audiences expect participation rather than one-way communication.
Experience Economy and the Attention Economy
Attention is increasingly scarce.
An experience economy strategy can help organizations earn attention by creating something people consider worthwhile.
But attention alone is not enough.
The experience needs to deliver value.
Experience Economy and Storytelling
Stories can turn functional interactions into memorable experiences.
Organizations can use storytelling to communicate:
Purpose
Customer journeys
Product origins
Innovation
Transformation
People
Community
Experience economy experts can help organizations determine where storytelling belongs within the customer journey.
Experience Economy and Emotional Connection
Functional value answers:
Does this work?
Experiential value asks:
How does this make me feel?
Emotional connection can involve:
Trust
Excitement
Belonging
Confidence
Curiosity
Pride
Delight
The objective is not to manufacture emotion.
It is to understand the emotional dimension that already exists within an experience.
How to Hire an Experience Economy Expert
Start by defining what you want to accomplish.
Are you looking for:
A keynote?
Consulting?
Experience strategy?
Customer journey analysis?
Event design?
Experiential marketing?
Workshop facilitation?
Innovation strategy?
Executive education?
Different professionals may specialize in different areas.
What to Look for in an Experience Economy Expert
Strategic Thinking
The expert should be able to connect experience to business objectives.
Customer Understanding
They should understand customer behavior and expectations.
Creativity
Experience design requires new ideas.
Practicality
The recommendations should be actionable.
Cross-Functional Perspective
Experience crosses departments.
The expert should understand how marketing, operations, technology, sales, service, and employees interact.
Technology Awareness
Modern experiences increasingly involve digital technology and AI.
Storytelling
For keynote and executive work, the ability to communicate ideas compellingly is important.
Questions to Ask an Experience Economy Expert
Before hiring, ask:
What does the experience economy mean for our industry?
What types of organizations do you typically work with?
Do you focus on strategy, speaking, consulting, or implementation?
How do you analyze customer experiences?
How do you identify moments that matter?
How do you measure experience improvements?
How do you approach personalization?
How do you incorporate technology?
How do you address AI?
Can you customize your work for our audience?
Can you facilitate workshops?
Can you work with executive teams?
What does your engagement include?
How do you define success?
Experience Economy Keynote Topics
Potential keynote titles include:
The Experience Economy: Designing What Comes Next
From Transactions to Experiences
The New Rules of Customer Experience
Creating Experiences People Remember
The Future of Experience
Designing Experiences for a Changing World
Turning Customers Into Participants
The Experience Advantage
The Future of Brand Experience
AI and the Next Experience Economy
From Customer Journey to Customer Relationship
The Experience-Driven Organization
Experience Economy Workshop Topics
A workshop can focus on:
Customer journey mapping
Experience audits
Moments that matter
Experience innovation
Personalization
AI-enabled experiences
Event experience
Employee experience
Brand experience
How to Measure Experience
Experience needs measurement.
Potential metrics include:
Customer satisfaction
Customer effort
Retention
Repeat purchase
Renewal
Referral
Engagement
Conversion
Time to resolution
Customer lifetime value
Employee engagement
The appropriate metrics depend on the experience being evaluated.
Experience Economy and ROI
Experience investments should ultimately connect to business outcomes.
Potential outcomes include:
Increased retention
Increased conversion
Higher customer value
Increased referrals
Reduced churn
Lower service costs
Greater employee productivity
Stronger brand differentiation
Not every experience initiative produces immediate financial results.
Some investments are intended to improve long-term loyalty, brand equity, or customer relationships.
Common Experience Economy Mistakes
Making Everything “Experiential”
Not every interaction needs to be flashy.
Confusing Entertainment With Experience
Entertainment can be part of an experience, but it is not the same thing.
Ignoring Convenience
Removing friction can be more valuable than adding novelty.
Designing for the Organization Instead of the Customer
Experience strategy should start with customer needs.
Ignoring Employees
Employees frequently deliver the experience.
Treating Technology as the Experience
Technology is a tool.
The experience is what the customer actually perceives.
Failing to Measure
Experience improvements should have clear objectives and appropriate measures.
The Experience Economy and the Future of Business
The experience economy is continuing to evolve.
Several forces are likely to shape the next phase.
Artificial Intelligence
AI can make experiences more personalized and responsive.
Immersive Technology
Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality can create new forms of interaction.
Personalization
Experiences can increasingly adapt to individual needs.
Connected Products
Products can become ongoing relationships rather than one-time transactions.
Community
Organizations can increasingly create ecosystems around products and brands.
Human Connection
As automation increases, genuinely human interactions may become more valuable.
Why Human Experience Still Matters
Technology can make experiences faster and more personalized.
But human connection remains important.
Customers often want:
Understanding
Empathy
Reassurance
Expertise
Trust
Recognition
The future of the experience economy is therefore unlikely to be entirely digital.
The strongest experiences may combine technology with human interaction.
Experience Economy Expert for Corporate Events
Corporate events can benefit from an experience economy perspective.
An expert can help event organizers rethink:
Attendee engagement
Content
Networking
Technology
Hospitality
Personalization
Event environments
Post-event engagement
A keynote can provide the vision.
A workshop can help the event team apply it.
Experience Economy Expert for Brand Activations
Brand activations are designed around interaction.
An experience economy expert can help organizations determine:
What participants should experience
What they should remember
What action should follow
How the experience connects to the brand
How the experience can extend digitally
Experience Economy Expert for Customer Experience Transformation
Organizations undertaking customer experience transformation can use an expert to provide an outside perspective.
Potential work includes:
Experience assessment
Customer journey mapping
Opportunity identification
Experience strategy
Innovation
Implementation planning
Measurement
Experience Economy Expert for Leadership Teams
Executives may need to understand experience as a strategic issue rather than a marketing initiative.
A leadership session can address:
Competitive differentiation
Customer expectations
Technology
Innovation
Employee experience
Brand
Business transformation
Experience Economy Expert vs. Customer Experience Consultant
There is overlap, but the emphasis can differ.
A customer experience consultant typically focuses on improving customer interactions and journeys.
An experience economy expert may take a broader view that includes:
Customer experience
Brand experience
Employee experience
Events
Hospitality
Experiential marketing
Innovation
Business models
Emerging technology
The appropriate choice depends on the organization’s needs.
Experience Economy Expert vs. Futurist
A futurist generally examines how broader forces may change the future.
An experience economy expert focuses specifically on how organizations can create value through experiences.
There can be substantial overlap when discussing technology, consumer behavior, and emerging expectations.
Experience Economy Expert vs. Experiential Marketing Expert
Experiential marketing generally focuses on marketing through experiences.
Experience economy expertise can encompass marketing but extend into:
Product
Service
Customer journey
Employee experience
Operations
Technology
Business strategy
Experience Economy Hiring Checklist
Before hiring an expert, evaluate:
Experience economy expertise
Customer experience knowledge
Industry relevance
Strategic perspective
Creativity
Practical recommendations
Technology awareness
AI knowledge
Speaking ability
Workshop capability
Consulting experience
Customization
Measurement approach
Engagement scope
Fees
Timeline
Deliverables
Frequently Asked Questions About Experience Economy Experts
What is an experience economy expert?
An experience economy expert helps organizations understand and create value through customer, brand, employee, digital, event, and other experiences.
What does an experience economy consultant do?
They can analyze experiences, identify opportunities, develop strategies, redesign customer journeys, facilitate workshops, and advise leadership teams.
Can an experience economy expert speak at conferences?
Yes. Experience economy experts can deliver keynotes, panels, workshops, and executive sessions.
What industries use experience economy strategies?
Experience economy principles can apply to virtually any industry, including retail, hospitality, healthcare, financial services, technology, entertainment, professional services, manufacturing, and B2B.
What is the difference between customer experience and the experience economy?
Customer experience focuses primarily on the interactions customers have with an organization. The experience economy is a broader concept concerning the creation of economic value through memorable, meaningful, personalized, or engaging experiences.
How does AI affect the experience economy?
AI can enable greater personalization, automation, responsiveness, and customization while also creating questions around privacy, trust, authenticity, and human interaction.
Can an experience economy expert help with events?
Yes. Experience economy expertise can be applied to attendee journeys, engagement, networking, content, technology, hospitality, personalization, and post-event relationships.
How do I hire an experience economy expert?
Start by defining whether you need a keynote, workshop, consulting engagement, strategy project, or another service. Then evaluate candidates based on relevant expertise, industry knowledge, strategic thinking, communication skills, and ability to customize the engagement.
Book and Hire Strategic Advisors and Experts
The experience economy is about a fundamental change in how organizations create value.
Products matter.
Services matter.
Technology matters.
But increasingly, the experience surrounding those things matters too.
An experience economy expert can help an organization understand what customers, employees, attendees, and other stakeholders expect—and identify opportunities to create experiences that are easier, more useful, more personalized, more engaging, and more memorable.
For companies navigating changing customer expectations, the question is no longer simply:
“What are we selling?”
It is also:
“What experience are we creating?”
That question can shape everything from customer loyalty and brand differentiation to innovation, events, employee engagement, digital transformation, and long-term business strategy.
