A huge part of my job involves talking to executives and other business decision-makers at a wide variety of companies. All of them acknowledge the importance of creating great CX, but I also leave many of these meetings with the same impression: UX research and design has an image problem in upper management. 
Although there are exceptions, in most companies, UX people are viewed by senior managers as a necessity, but not mission-critical. They're viewed as mildly eccentric artists and scientists who aren't in touch with "real business decision-making."