July 08, 2025
USCXA Winner CVS Health Talks Neuroscience and the Power of Awards
It is both a pleasure and a delight to talk to our USCXA winners and the stories behind their achievements. As one of America’s largest health providers, CVS Health delivered an immense customer experience transformation leading to the Gold Award for Customer-Centric Culture. CXM talks to Sri Narasimhan, VP of Enterprise Customer Experience & Insights, to find out the inside details.
Sri Narasimhan is the VP of Enterprise Customer Experience & Insights at CVS Health, leading efforts to drive meaningful organizational changes based on a deep understanding of customers, clients, and patients. He is a passionate advocate for consumers and is dedicated to creating a consumer centric culture at CVS Health. Prior to CVS Health, Sri was the Head of Customer Experience for Branch Banking at Wells Fargo and was the Head of Analytic Consulting at Medallia.
Can you outline the results and improvements through neuroscience-led results at CVS Health, and what they mean in practical terms to your customers?
CVS Health’s CX transformation is the result of a comprehensive, enterprise-wide effort to embed consumer-centricity into every layer of the organization. Rather than relying on a single tactic, the company unified its approach through strategic alignment, leadership engagement, and robust data integration. At the core of this transformation was the consolidation of six disparate Voice of the Customer (VoC) platforms into a single enterprise-wide system, enabling consistent measurement, real-time feedback, and cross-functional visibility. This allowed for 72K monthly users of our VoC platform to access role based actionable insights and speak a common language around Net Promoter Score (NPS), which became the North Star metric across all business units.
Leadership commitment played a pivotal role, with CX goals embedded into performance management and incentive plans. Monthly steering committees and a network of CX Champions ensured alignment, accountability, and collaboration across digital, retail, pharmacy, and health plan operations. The organization also integrated operational data, call transcripts, digital behavior, and social sentiment to create a 360-degree view of the customer’s journey. This enabled proactive service recovery, predictive modeling, and personalized outreach—without waiting for a survey response.
While neuroscience-informed insights were one component of this broader strategy—helping to refine messaging and understand emotional drivers—the real impact came from CVS Health’s ability to operationalize feedback at scale. For customers, this means fewer pain points, more empathetic interactions, and a seamless experience across channels. It’s a transformation that’s not only measurable in metrics like NPS and call volume reduction, but also in the trust and loyalty built with millions of consumers.
How many CX ideas were floated up from operators, customer agents and managers that helped form the strategy or functional processes, if any?
Over 150 initiatives have been implemented across the enterprise as a direct result of our Voice of the Customer (VoC) program. Many of these originated from frontline colleagues—pharmacists, call center agents, and store managers—who are closest to the consumer experience. These ideas are surfaced through structured channels like our Enterprise CX Champions network, biweekly steering committees, and monthly Leadership Forums. This bottom-up innovation has been critical in identifying pain points and opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed, and it ensures that our strategy is grounded in real-world consumer needs.
What was a personal highlight or wow moment from the project that stands out in your mind?
One unforgettable moment was receiving a video survey from a young woman struggling to breathe while explaining her challenges getting a life-saving medication approved. Her story was heartbreaking—but because of our closed-loop feedback system, we were able to act immediately. Her medication was delivered the next day, and she continued receiving it on time in the months that followed. That moment crystallized the human impact of our work. It wasn’t just about metrics—it was about saving lives and restoring trust in healthcare.
CX projects are always evolving, so what’s next on the agenda to keep innovating?
We’re focused on scaling predictive modeling to proactively identify and resolve issues before they impact the consumer. By linking digital session data with call center interactions, we can now anticipate when a consumer might need help—even before they reach out. We’re also expanding our ‘You Spoke, We Listened’ microsites and consumer advisory councils to foster two-way dialogue and transparency. And we’re continuing to integrate neuroscience, social sentiment, and operational data to create a truly holistic, real-time view of the customer journey.
What does the USCXA customer-centric award mean to the business, who deserves the most credit, and is there pressure to go for Gold in future?
Winning the USCXA award is a powerful validation of our commitment to consumer-centricity. It reflects the hard work of thousands of colleagues across CVS Health—from our Enterprise CX Team to frontline associates—who bring our vision to life every day. The credit truly belongs to our consumers, whose feedback fuels our transformation, and to our colleagues who act on that feedback with empathy and urgency. As for going for Gold? Absolutely. This recognition motivates us to keep pushing boundaries and setting new standards in healthcare experience.
What was the feedback from the Award event, and what memories will you/your team take from it?
The feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive. It was inspiring to see our work recognized alongside other industry leaders and to share best practices with peers who are equally passionate about CX. One memorable moment was hearing how our closed-loop feedback program resonated with judges and attendees alike—especially the real-life stories of impact. It reminded us that behind every data point is a person, and that our work truly matters.
Thanks to Sri for his time and we look forward to sharing more Awards International winners’ stories in the coming months.
