Experience isn’t the right way to put it. The system you describe is straightforward and makes total sense how it can understand and act upon its environment. What is unexplainable, and perhaps always will be, is the awareness that I am. Even if I meditate and remove all aspects of the surrounding world from me what I’m left with is a pure awareness that groups of neurons simply can’t explain.
Why am I present at all and not just a mindless automaton? Surely an automaton could evolve and be just as successful simply by being a complex neural network. This is why I, and lots of others, think that awareness is fundamental.