Over a 30-year career in business, Lynn Girotto (BBA ’90) has seen seismic shifts in the field of marketing. But her ability to keep learning, adapting, and adjusting—while maintaining a laser focus on the customer—is what’s cemented her in-demand status for one of business’ highest-profile jobs: the chief marketing officer.
“Part of what I love about the craft of marketing is that it’s constantly changing,” she says. “And as the business and technology landscapes have evolved, it’s been more and more apparent to me that the breadth of skills that I’ve developed is actually what today’s CMOs really need to have.”
She describes her path to the C-suite as less of a rocket ship blasting off and more of a gradual, experience-focused journey—one that’s allowed her to develop deep skill sets across the marketing discipline, apply those principles to business, and drive successful outcomes. Her career has taken her to small startups, tech giants, business-to-business organizations, and some of the most recognizable brands in the world.
Girotto’s CMO Journey
After working for globally recognized brands like PepsiCo, Microsoft, and Starbucks, Girotto entered the C suite, working the top marketing job at:
As the CMO of experience-management company Qualtrics, Girotto spends her days providing strategic oversight and leadership to teams that touch technology, data science, creative, brand management, and much more.
She’ll tell you that the role of CMO is broader, more complex, and more challenging than it’s ever been—but that’s also the fun part.
“The things that once created stickiness with brands, or made it hard to switch, don’t really exist anymore,” she says. “So, it brings me back to the foundation of our jobs as business leaders, which is to understand what experiences customers are having and figure out how to create that authentic connection with someone.”
In a business environment where engaging and retaining customers is harder than ever, it’s of the utmost importance to have a CMO with the experience and education to drive business success—and what’s clear is that Girotto has the expertise to get the job done.
Winning friends, influencing people
Girotto’s very first job was arguably the most critical in shaping her interest in business—even if it isn’t on her résumé.
“Both of my parents were business owners, and I pretty much grew up as my mom’s mini assistant,” Girotto says. “She worked in insurance and was the person that did the finances, the marketing, operations, everything. So, business just kind of stuck for me.”
Pursuing business at UW–Madison, about an hour away from her hometown of Darlington, Wisconsin, felt like a natural next step. At WSB, Girotto took a marketing class that covered the fundamentals of consumer behavior, and how marketers can leverage that information to quickly influence buying decisions. That course ended up influencing a big decision of her own: her choice of major.
If Girotto’s undergraduate curriculum was an introduction to the philosophy of consumer behavior, then her first marketing job at PepsiCo after graduating from WSB was a crash course in it.
“I have huge aspirations for what I think the company can do and how marketing can impact the business.”
—Lynn Girotto (BBA ’90)
“That’s where I really learned that marketing is the science behind sales,” says Girotto. “Let’s be honest, when you’re selling colored caffeinated water, it’s really about connection to the brand and creating an experience.”
The job ultimately took her to a new home in Paris, where she worked to expand the brand’s reach and cultural connection across Europe. But after five years with the company, Girotto decided to return to the U.S. to pursue an MBA from Harvard Business School before sharpening her marketing skills in the tech industry. She joined Microsoft, which presented her with a new set of marketing challenges, including working on the launch of the Bing search engine.
“We were going up against the 800-pound gorilla in the marketplace,” says Girotto, referring to Google. “We had to work to change the market perception, make traction, and start growing in a place where people didn’t know Microsoft even had a search engine.”
After a decade with Microsoft, Girotto made her next move after meeting the CMO of Starbucks, who was looking for someone to lead the marketing effort for the company’s ready-to-drink retail products. It was a category-leading brand position requiring multiple aspects of marketing knowledge and a passion for technological innovation: a natural fit for Girotto.
“It was a moment where I could really take all the learning throughout my marketing career and combine product development strategy, brand strategy, and much more,” she says. “And it really brought me back to the importance of brand and customer experience.”
Leading by listening
While rising through the ranks, Girotto says becoming a CMO wasn’t necessarily a career goal. A self-described analytical marketer, Girotto didn’t immediately identify with the creative-centric CMOs she met early in her career, nor did she initially see many women in senior marketing roles. But working with strong women CMOs at Starbucks and later at Tableau Software helped her to begin seeing things differently.
“I was fortunate to have a slate of people I could look to and be inspired by,” Girotto says, and soon, she accepted her first CMO role at software company Amperity. She’d follow it up with CMO roles at digital-focused platforms, including Heap and Vimeo, before landing at Qualtrics in May 2024.
There, she’s working to evolve the company’s brand perceptions beyond surveys, helping businesses understand their customers and employee experiences through AI-powered insights to take action when it counts the most.
Before she begins to tell this story, however, she’s committed to listening to those who have a stake in it. In her first few months on the job, Girotto has been on a worldwide listening tour spanning several countries, three continents, and numerous cities across the U.S.—all to better understand her customers’ experiences.
“A lot of my job right now is just listening and learning and processing as fast as I can,” says Girotto, who’s embracing a philosophy that’s served her in the past: think big, start small, and act fast. “That’s what you have to do as an executive these days. You have to make an impact quickly. And I have huge aspirations for what I think the company can do and how marketing can impact the business.”
Her commitment to listening also extends to the employees around her, and her curiosity-centered mentality is something that’s come to define her leadership style. It’s a similar approach to how she tackles any marketing campaign: start with the user—whether it’s a customer or colleague—and let them tell you what they need.
Because in the mind of a successful CMO, there’s always room for new ideas, strategies, and tactics—which is how today’s marketing challenges become tomorrow’s best practices.
“I like to say that I reserve the right to get smarter,” Girotto says. “I have a lot of experience and things are always changing and there’s always new perspectives to take into account. Communication and empowerment—it’s the magic formula that brings it all together.”