Ian Watson in

Ian Watson

Doer · DISC type ds
Chief Customer Officer at Gusto
📍 Palm Springs, California, United States

Ian Watson is the Chief Customer Officer at Gusto, leveraging extensive experience from his time as a Global Director at Airbnb to scale customer experience and operations. He is focused on building new, customer-obsessed solutions and holds a BA Hons from Leeds Beckett University.

Outside of his professional role, Ian is passionate about world-class customer service, drawing inspiration from brands like The Walt Disney Company. He appears to value how iconic companies create memorable experiences, an interest that aligns with his professional focus.

He believes customer experience is a "team sport, " emphasizing that every department shares responsibility for customer satisfaction.

Read the full overview →
Experience
24 Years
Current Role
Chief Customer Officer
Job Level
Leadership
Location
Palm Springs, California, United States
Personality Overview

How Ian shows up

Strategic Planner
Deliberate Doer
Risk-Accepting

They might take some time to make their mind up but once they do, they don't change it easily. They exhibit a rare combination of being result-oriented but patient at the same time. Reading between the lines and seeing beyond your words comes naturally to them.

Priorities

Topics Ian cares about

AI in Operations
He is actively hiring for his AI Operations team to work on evaluations and prompt engineering, and recently launched a Gusto integration with ChatGPT.
Customer Experience Strategy
As Chief Customer Officer with a background at Airbnb, his core focus is on building and scaling high-quality, human-centric customer support systems.
+5 more topics Login to view topics
Career

Work history

3-2024
Chief Customer Officer
Gusto
3-2022 - 3-2024
Global Director - Experience & Strategy
Airbnb
5-2018 - 4-2022
Global Director - Community Support Strategy, Planning & PMO
Airbnb
3-2017 - 3-2020
Member Board Of Directors - Airbnb Capabiltiy Centre
Airbnb
5-2016 - 5-2018
APAC Director - Customer Experience and Trust & Safety Operations
Airbnb
In the press

Media appearances

Welcome Ian Watson, Gusto's Head of Customer Experience. Featured in Gusto (Company News)
See now
Education
2001 - 2003
BA Hons
Leeds Beckett University
1998 - 2000
HND
Leeds Beckett University
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

d

Dominance (D)

Dominance (D) reflects how goal and task oriented a person is, and their ability to accomplish results irrespective of how demanding the circumstances might be. Those scoring high tend to be motivated by winning, competition, and success.

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