The 2025 mostCreative Customer Success Leaders is Here!

At Braze, Sumitra Narayanan cut CSM hiring time from two months to just two weeks by reengineering the process through an insight-driven, AI-enabled framework. She applied ICP principles to talent by defining an Ideal CSM Profile (I-CSM-P), used AI talent insights towards building a balanced team, and implemented competency-based keyword filters in the ATS to surface top candidates fast. The approach not only reduced time-to-hire by 75%+ but also delivered high-performing talent quickly, establishing a scalable model for building world-class Customer Success teams.

At Courseplay, Pragya Mishra solved a key visibility gap—clients were using the LMS but couldn’t connect engagement metrics to real business value. She created the LMS Impact Report, a client-validated deliverable that transformed raw usage data into clear, ROI-focused insights and prescriptive recommendations. By correlating activity, completion, and adoption data with business outcomes, the reports turned routine check-ins into strategic consulting sessions. The results: a 10 percent increase in platform adoption, stronger client engagement, and consistent executive buy-in as clients began using the reports to justify investment and expansion.

STATSports needed CSMs to access commercial and sport science knowledge seamlessly. Previously, essential information was scattered across various platforms, causing inefficiencies. The solution was a centralized Knowledge Base within Salesforce, consolidating nine knowledge sources into 35 key playbooks on all facets of Customer Success, from onboarding to renewals. This streamlined resource has enabled consistent client engagement and enhanced CSM expertise, creating a unified hub for accessing, sharing, and building essential knowledge.

Barak Milel at Kovrr addressed the challenge of users struggling to confidently present Kovrr’s cyber risk quantification capabilities in high-stakes settings. To overcome this, he launched the Enablement and Academy hub, featuring immersive simulations to prepare users for boardroom presentations. The program led to a 35% increase in user confidence, a 40% rise in platform logins during preparation, a 25% boost in customer satisfaction, and a 15% improvement in retention rates. By equipping users with practical skills and confidence, Barak ensured Kovrr’s platform became indispensable for cybersecurity resilience.

Ashley used an AI-powered Customer Success Program to creatively increase cross-sell rates after acquiring a new company. Instead of relying on third-party solutions, Ashley’s team embedded AI-powered call recording and transcription directly within their asset management tool, sharing these recordings with targeted cross-sell customers. This personalized approach led to a 50% increase in high-quality cross-sell leads and a 12% rise in product adoption, showcasing the potential of leveraging AI tools to drive customer engagement and growth.

At Silverline Solutions, Dannah Vaughan redefined the customer journey by replacing a linear model with a four-quadrant framework that integrates AI into every phase of the experience. Each stage of the SPAN model was mapped to success metrics and aligned across teams for full organizational buy-in. The result was a 27% increase in CSAT and an 8% lift in NRR, proving that AI-driven enablement can create a more dynamic, connected customer experience.

At EAB, Keishla Ceaser Jones redesigned the upsell motion by introducing bundled enhancement packages and targeted professional service offers tied to partner goals. This new approach transformed one-off upgrades into strategic conversations focused on outcomes rather than features. The result was a 12 percent increase in upsells, a 30 percent rise in professional service purchases, and a 300 percent expansion in the upsell pipeline over three years. The initiative not only boosted revenue but also deepened partner engagement and retention.

To address renewal and compliance challenges, Betsy developed a strategic renewal and upgrade program offering tiered discounts for clients who upgrade at renewal, aligning with federal compliance standards. By engaging stakeholders across finance, customer success, and implementation, Betsy built broad support for the program, using proactive discussions to showcase its value. This approach led to a 100% renewal rate within the enterprise portfolio and achieved upgrades for 80% of clients, delivering value through compliance and enhanced platform functionality.

At Cogniss, a no-code platform for medical professionals, Ryan Miller faced a growing challenge: maintaining a high-touch, personalized onboarding experience without expanding the team. To solve this, he created the Cogniss Support Hub, an intelligent, centralized AI-powered system that personalizes support and scales customer enablement. The hub combines a product-trained LLM, in-product tours, and automated triage workflows to deliver instant, context-aware responses—reducing friction and accelerating time to value. Once fully deployed, the initiative is projected to cut support costs by 50%, reduce time to resolution by 20%, and enable 30% of support queries to be self-solved through AI. By freeing CSMs to focus on strategic outcomes, Cogniss turned onboarding from a bottleneck into a scalable, intelligent customer experience engine.

At Antavo Ltd, Sara Arecco tackled the challenge of fragmented customer resources and repetitive communication by creating a single, dynamic customer hub using EverAfter integrated with HubSpot. The platform centralizes all key materials, contracts, product news, EBRs, and FAQs, into a branded, easy-to-navigate space where customers can self-serve, collaborate, and stay aligned with their CSMs. Designed and launched in under a month, the hub improved customer sentiment by 10 percent and increased Academy adoption by 26 percent year-over-year. Support inquiries about where to find information dropped entirely, while 22 percent of customers highlighted the new experience as a major value driver. The initiative strengthened efficiency, transparency, and partnership across teams and customers alike.

At 1Password, Vanessa Moriarty reimagined cybersecurity education by launching the October Cybersecurity Awareness Month (OCAM) program, a turnkey AI themed engagement campaign for enterprise customers. The initiative equipped IT and Security teams with ready to use, co branded materials, events, and enablement kits that made security awareness both easy and engaging. Within the first month, over 250 customers participated, driving a 12 to 18 percent increase in active adoption and setting a new standard for creative, scalable customer enablement.

Stephanie Workman-Bolden at Discovery Education transformed customer adoption by aligning partner engagement with measurable goals. Through a partner segmentation effort, her team matched partners to tailored adoption journeys and equipped Partner Success Managers (PSMs) with resources and training to lead impactful, goal-focused conversations. This initiative boosted tool adoption, increased instructional time on K-12 campuses, and improved student outcomes. Additionally, collaboration across sales, success, and marketing created a unified approach, driving product expansion and reducing partner disengagement.

In 2023, Parul looked around the room of a CS conference she was at, there were about 100 professionals, and maybe 3 of them were of South Asian descent in the room. It made her want to do more. So, Parul founded South Asian Success in 2024, a Community Development & Enablement Program to empower underrepresented South Asian professionals in Customer Success. Inspired by the need for more diversity, she created a space where members can meet as they want to through - chai chats, webinars, whatsapp and a blog for fresh voices. Within a year, the community grew to 150 members, has developed diverse content, and hosted workshops to support people looking to drive diversity and for job seekers in CS. This initiative has fostered connections and encouraged South Asian professionals to share their stories and insights in the industry.

At Aligned, LeeRon Yahalomi transformed Customer Success from an admin-heavy function into a predictive growth engine. Through the AI in Action initiative, her team built a network of AI agents that automate handoffs, summarize meetings, generate forecasts, and craft personalized communications across the customer lifecycle. Within 90 days, administrative work dropped 15 percent, onboarding time fell 72 percent, and time to value rose 62.5 percent. Forecast accuracy improved 30 percent and renewal readiness 25 percent. The result is a CS team operating with precision, speed, and focus—AI empowering people to lead, not just manage, customer success.

"EBS faced misalignment and complexity in their customer segmentation, limiting their growth impact. Working with Thomas Voigt and The CS Academy, they adopted the ACE Framework (Activate – Cultivate – Expand) to simplify strategy and focus on high-value clients. The shift enabled better alignment, stronger relationships, and a scalable process for expansion and retention, transforming Customer Success into a proactive growth engine."

To address slow platform adoption in the US market, Anunay at MoEngage launched a Client Enablement & Education Program with weekly, customized product workshops and knowledge-sharing sessions. These workshops, designed to close gaps in understanding platform value and personalization for US client needs, bridged communication between the India-based engineering team and US-based clients. This targeted strategy resulted in a 3x adoption increase and a dollar churn reduction to 2%, solidifying MoEngage’s impact in a competitive market.

Ajoke at Eden Life transformed the Onboarding & Implementation program to address low first-month retention, which was impacted by unclear onboarding processes. Key changes included: 1. Enhanced product clarity and value communication, in collaboration with product and marketing teams. 2. Flexible onboarding options (calls or video tutorials) for a tailored experience. 3. Weekly check-ins and an ""Issue Resolution Tracker"" for faster support. These updates led to a 94% Gross Retention Rate, a 300% revenue boost, and 3X MRR growth, achieving 98% CSAT in the process.

I’m Arun from the CS Team at Omnify and a passionate volunteer in CS communities like CS SuperStars, Allin1Place, and CXxchange. I contribute to CS job board updates and host talk shows with CS leaders, sharing knowledge and fostering connections. For a global workshop with an enterprise client, I tackled the challenge of onboarding 2,000 non-tech-savvy employees and 50 trainers. Using a Custom Onboarding Program in two Go-Live phases, over 100 attendees were seamlessly checked in within 10 minutes. The results were remarkable: zero support tickets, zero delays, and zero customer effort. My recipe for CS Excellence: [Fast TTV] + [Low CES] + [Quick Preemptive Solutions]

At Numa, Alanna Putnam redefined Customer Success by transforming CSMs from reactive supporters into strategic consultants. Through the 90-day Performance Partnership program, she trained the team to use consulting frameworks and data-driven coaching to link Numa’s tools directly to dealership outcomes like revenue per RO, CSI scores, and response times. Within six months, dealerships achieved a 12 percent increase in dollars per RO and 15 percent faster response times, while no-show meetings dropped 37 percent. The initiative turned CSMs into trusted advisors driving measurable, long-term customer performance.

At Observe.AI, Sneha Iyer built the First-Mile Intelligence Platform to solve a recurring challenge, broken handoffs and siloed discovery slowing customer ROI. By connecting onboarding, Customer Success, and value consulting through one guided workflow, the platform ensures every team starts from a shared, data-ready foundation. It maps KPIs to measurable data, triggers collaboration tasks automatically, and surfaces proven AI enrichments by industry. The impact: 70% faster discovery, 40% quicker time-to-value, and a 3-month reduction in CSM ramp time. Beyond speed, the initiative transformed enablement into a culture of data-driven collaboration and consultative customer partnerships.

At Samsara, Sam Morris built the world’s first dedicated CS Quality program to bring structure and insight to customer interactions. By combining scorecards, calibration, and data-driven analysis, the team created a unified framework that linked quality directly to business outcomes. Within one quarter, participation tripled and targeted behavior metrics improved by 137%, transforming QA from a compliance task into a powerful enablement engine that elevated consistency, confidence, and impact across the global post-sale team.

At Zendesk, Tara Myles, alongside Bernardo Chabert from Zendesk's business transformation team, led the creation of an AI adoption framework designed to bridge the gap between innovation and implementation. As advanced AI capabilities rolled out rapidly, many customers struggled to adopt them effectively, limiting both their ROI and Zendesk’s growth potential. The team built a structured maturity model, dynamic assessment system, and curated enablement toolkit that empowered customer success managers to guide customers with clarity and confidence. The result was transformative: customers using the framework saw up to a 65% reduction in manual workload and an 85% boost in agent efficiency, while CSMs gained the tools to lead more strategic, value-driven conversations. By blending education, proactive engagement, and data-driven insights, this initiative redefined how Zendesk helps customers realize the true power of AI.

Success Programs Himansu managed over 5,000 long-tail customers without dedicated CSMs through an AI-powered Customer Success Program. The challenge was scaling engagement while meeting customer needs. Using NPS feedback, [Nominee] developed an engagement model integrating SFDC and Sigma for insights, plus email campaigns, webinars, and gamified sessions. This approach resulted in a 30% response rate increase, 52% session participation, and an 84% renewal rate over three quarters.

Stijn at Whale developed an AI-powered Customer Success Program that leveraged product metrics to drive expansion. By analyzing customer usage, engagement, and health scores, the team proactively identified upsell opportunities and potential churn risks. This program integrates closely with Sales and Product, facilitating a unified, expansion-led approach. As a result, Customer Success boosted its revenue contribution from 33% to 56%, surpassing Sales, while upsell and cross-sell opportunities within accounts grew by 47%, positioning CS as a primary revenue engine.

When user adoption lagged after Websure CRM's initial launches, with 50% of users reverting to manual processes, Dean identified the need for a proactive change management approach. Collaborating with a change management consultant, he introduced the ADKAR methodology early in the implementation process, providing targeted support and guidance for clients on managing staff transitions. This approach addressed user concerns, promoted the product’s benefits, and fostered enthusiasm for Websure. Following these initiatives, adoption rates improved dramatically, with the most recent launch seeing 90% user retention and a CSAT score of 4.8/5, signifying sustained engagement and satisfaction.

Priscila Fletcher founded Latinos in Success, a Community Program focused on supporting Latinos in Customer Success and tech through personal and professional development. By offering mentorship, workshops, and fireside chats, the community empowers members to bring their full selves to their careers. With members spanning the Americas and EMEA, Latinos in Success has steadily grown, creating a strong sense of belonging. Feedback highlights increased confidence and connection among members, fostering shared growth and support across regions.

To foster champions and mitigate revenue risk in Fortune 500 clients, Tara designed an immersive, week-long onsite engagement program, aligning key stakeholders during clients' annual strategy meetings. This program included executive strategy alignment, global readouts, end-user shadowing, and roadmap planning. The result was a 75% increase in stakeholder engagement, a 15% CSAT boost, and expansions in seat count, global deployment, and adoption in competitive business units, securing major renewal commitments.

At HARRIS OnePulse, Lisa Redman turned post-merger complexity into a unified growth strategy built around the voice of the customer. By combining insights from support tickets, sentiment data, and customer conversations, her team uncovered cross-product opportunities with measurable impact across the healthcare portfolio. This customer-led approach replaced siloed product strategies with scalable, insight-driven themes that resonated across all 24 software applications. The result was stronger engagement, continuous feedback loops, and sustained revenue growth proving that when you truly listen, alignment and retention follow.

Classification Mathew Cagney addressed the challenge of identifying precise churn causes by implementing a Retention & Success Plan with an enhanced classification toolset, validated by Customer Success agents. This approach enabled a 5% reduction in churn and allowed the team to streamline the product feature backlog, reducing unnecessary noise. With a clearer view of customer needs, Mathew’s strategy prioritized impactful initiatives that delivered substantial benefits, ensuring a more focused and customer-driven product roadmap.

Ankit Aggarwal at MoEngage developed a high-impact Customer Upsell Program designed to generate Customer Success Qualified Leads (CSQLs) without adding strain on Customer Success Managers. By capturing upsell intent within the customer success platform, Ankit’s program led to 7 figure in upsells in just one quarter and boosted ARR by 20%. This efficient approach enabled MoEngage to drive significant growth and revenue, capitalizing on targeted upsell opportunities with minimal resource impact.

Dana at Customer Everything Solutions created the C.S.A.T. Growth Engine Tool to redefine Customer Success (CS) as a revenue-driving function in SaaS. Evaluating companies across 60 data points, the tool aligns CS efforts with strategic growth objectives. A recent implementation in a high-growth SaaS firm led to a 2X increase in revenue, a 3X rise in customer advocacy, and doubled CSQL opportunities within a month. The C.S.A.T. tool is transforming CS from a cost center into a powerful growth engine for SaaS.

Focused on boosting customer engagement across all segments at vCom Solutions, Kirsten launched a wholly digital user experience with interactive, on-demand micro business reviews. AI agents deliver program health reports with personalized recommendations and insights, answer account specific, real-time questions, and empower customers to dig deeper. The [shorter than five minutes] campaigns have reached previously disengaged contacts, increased inbound inquiries, expanded product adoption and facilitated new revenue opportunities. Since the February launch, this innovative initiative has increased engagement by 26% and earned widespread positive feedback.

Chenoa at Enter Health revolutionized their Onboarding & Implementation process, cutting onboarding time from 6 months to 6-8 weeks. She introduced project management tools for seamless collaboration, established cross-team agile processes, and set SMART goals tailored to client objectives. This structured, client-aligned approach reduced year-on-contract terminations by 14.3%, built stronger relationships across client teams, and enabled new second-order revenue opportunities as departing client executives invited Enter Health to bid with their new employers.

Natalie at IHG Hotels & Resorts implemented a GEO Footprint Operational Scaling Program to drive efficiency and scalability. Her strategy focused on expanding geographic diversity, adding new partners, and integrating digital solutions to reduce costs and operational risks. This approach also led to reduced risk exposure and enhanced IHG’s ability to scale efficiently and sustainably.

Geoffrey at Core BTS transformed their Retention & Success Plans by creating collaborative Customer Success (CS) Plans. Each plan was co-authored with clients, combining both parties' perspectives on defining success. By making CS Plans part of the organization’s OKRs, Core BTS positioned itself as a partner in clients' value realization. This approach is forecasted to drive a 20% increase in Net Revenue Retention (NRR) based on customers committing to renew if Core BTS meets the goals outlined in these personalized CS Plans.

Daniel at NovoPath addressed key challenges in capturing post-activation license additions and consolidating customer data. Using a customer event log and automation tools, he established a health model to trigger retention-focused playbooks and improve customer satisfaction. Daniel also created a framework for a learning management system to enhance self-service and product knowledge. This initiative increased ARR, reduced ticket volume, and improved time-to-activation (TTA), driving revenue growth, retention, and overall customer enablement.

At Okta, Austin Henline tackled declining renewal rates by building a digital success plan that delivers personalized recommendations at scale. Using EverAfter’s integration with Okta’s tech stack, the initiative connected real-time adoption data to tailored success roadmaps aligned with each customer’s identity maturity stage. Customers received customized checklists, resources, and guided steps within their own admin consoles. The impact was clear: over 8,600 customer goals captured, 34 percent increase in Success Hub traffic, and 18-point higher adoption rates for engaged users. The program also empowered 200+ Okta employees to drive more strategic, data-backed customer conversations.

Angela at Inscribe implemented a comprehensive Retention & Success Plan to combat unpredictable renewal amounts caused by market fluctuations. Key initiatives included: 1. Renewal minimums with flexible discounts to incentivize scaling. 2. Early Business Reviews with key stakeholders showcasing value and new opportunities. 3. Collaboration with RevOps to create a customer health dashboard for proactive engagement & collaboration with Marketing to streamline ROI in presentation decks. This strategic approach allowed Inscribe to reduce forecasted downsell and churn by over 50%, creating a more dependable CS revenue forecast and strengthening client retention and value.

Pankaj Bhardwaj at Saviynt recognized that their one-size-fits-all support model wasn’t keeping up with rapid growth, resulting in a fragmented customer experience. To address this, he implemented an AI-powered Customer Success Program with personalized offerings and proactive interventions. By segmenting standard and premium support tiers, Saviynt achieved a 25% increase in CSAT, a 10% boost in NPS, and a 15% rise in premium support revenue—all while scaling alongside 40%+ company growth.

At Spryker, scaling Customer Success across hundreds of enterprise clients was becoming unmanageable. Pablo Kern built an AI-powered Customer Success Hub that automated routine work while personalizing the customer experience. The result was a 30% faster onboarding process, a 7% increase in CSAT, and zero churn among active users. The platform saved each CSM up to seven hours weekly and delivered consistent, high-quality engagement worldwide.

At Port.io, Jonathan Gruber redefined how proofs of concept transition into full customer success. By introducing a unified onboarding and scoping framework integrated into HubSpot and EverAfter, he replaced disconnected tools with a single, structured flow. Each POC now includes guided learning through Tech Academy and a discovery process using Command of the Message to capture user stories, pains, and business outcomes. The result: consistent execution across all teams, faster POC cycles, and seamless handoffs to CSMs with full business context — turning every POC into a repeatable, measurable customer success story.

At Alloy Labs, Amber Frye designed a data-driven, personalized success model to reenergize member engagement and strengthen partnerships. By creating tailored paths for banks at different innovation stages and introducing an AI-powered Strategy Session Prep Partner, she unified teams and made every conversation more strategic. The results: member retention rose from 86% to 96%, engagement grew by 70%, and executive participation tripled, transforming Alloy Labs into a trusted growth partner for its network.

Dannah Vaughan, Founder of Rebels of SaaS Podcast and Platform, created and deployed an innovative value mechanism called the Value Roadshow to address low customer engagement. By proactively connecting key customers with other relevant stakeholders, the Value Roadshow facilitated a continuous feedback loop that resulted in impressive outcomes: - CSAT improvement of 7%, elevating customer satisfaction. - Reduction in support ticket volume by 25%, streamlining operations. - Quarter-over-quarter retention increase by 6%, strengthening customer relationships. This approach not only enhanced engagement but also bolstered long-term satisfaction and loyalty, showcasing the power of proactive customer success.

At BhaiFi Networks, Shubham Parashar tackled “value paralysis” by transforming how Customer Success communicated impact. His team’s data was rich but buried in technical metrics that executives couldn’t connect to financial outcomes. To solve this, Shubham built the Proactive Value Mapping Engine (PVME), an AI powered system that converts operational data into executive level financial insights. The PVME automated 80 percent of reporting, raised Net Revenue Retention from 110 to 122 percent, and generated 4.1 million dollars in expansion revenue. It also increased C suite engagement by 410 percent, turning customer success from a cost center into a strategic growth driver.

Alexandra at PeopleForce developed a Retention & Success Program to drive expansion and price increases without overwhelming the high-touch CS team. She implemented a “15-Min Call” initiative, allowing Support to resolve technical issues quickly, freeing CS to focus on upsells and strategic calls. This approach resulted in $15,000 in Q3 net expansion, with expansion rates increasing by 10% monthly and CSAT reaching over 98% across four consecutive months, reflecting stronger customer satisfaction and openness to feedback.

At Silverfort, Noah Tradonsky led the creation of a Personalized Digital Touch Portal to automate repetitive onboarding tasks for nearly one thousand SMB and commercial customers. The portal offered step by step deployment guidance and training tailored to each customer’s setup, allowing CSMs to focus on adoption and growth. Within six months, more than thirty customers had joined the program, saving each CSM about five hours per onboarding and reducing the need for additional hires while improving the customer experience.

Rupal Nishar led the design and rollout of SaaS Business Management™ (SBM), a transformative operating model that broke down silos across Sales, Product, Finance, and Customer Success at a Fortune 100 SaaS company. Facing declining NRR and fragmented execution, Rupal’s framework aligned every team around shared metrics and connected strategy to measurable customer value. The model introduced three core “Operating Loops”: the Revenue Engine (driving expansion and retention), the Product-to-Value Loop (linking product development to outcomes), and the Capital Efficiency Core (enabling data-driven forecasting and ROI visibility). Within nine months, the program delivered a 9% improvement in NRR, 25% reduction in churn risk, and 30% faster renewals. Beyond the numbers, it redefined Customer Success as a growth catalyst, turning alignment into acceleration and establishing SBM as the enterprise’s new standard for value realization.

Angeline at Katalon transformed their Retention & Success Plans by upgrading a basic churn risk indicator to a data-driven Logistic Regression model. By analyzing historical product usage data, she identified and refined 19 potential metrics down to the six most impactful, focusing on what truly drives churn risk. This approach significantly enhanced forecasting accuracy, reducing surprise churn by 27% and saving 33% of at-risk revenue. Additionally, it improved renewal forecasting accuracy, enabling more precise resource allocation and empowering CSMs to intervene proactively, ensuring stronger customer outcomes.

Rachel at Provan Success, LLC developed The Focus Formula Program to help Customer Success teams transition from reactive to strategic work. By dedicating just one hour daily, CS Leaders focused on quarterly initiatives, while CSMs analyzed customer data for insights. Using AI tools and a structured mindset approach, 90% of leaders who implemented the program completed major strategic projects—such as journey mapping and digital customer strategies—within three months, boosting team efficiency and improving customer health.

At Unqork, Linda Lipovetsky turned product release notes into a communication engine for adoption and value. Instead of sending technical updates, she created personalized summaries linking new features to business impact, resource needs, and real use cases. The pilot led to higher feature adoption, proactive client engagement, and fewer support escalations. After proving success, Linda scaled the approach company-wide, enabling all customer-facing teams to deliver clear, value-driven product communication that strengthened relationships and improved outcomes.

Boaz at Centrical transformed the AI-powered Customer Success Program by integrating ChatGPT into the QBR process, enabling CSMs to enhance presentations through dynamic role simulations. After a two-part workshop, CSMs could use GPTs tailored as either customer executives or seasoned CSMs to refine QBRs, anticipate questions, and align more closely with customer goals. Early results showed 90% of CSMs found the AI tools valuable for QBR preparation, resulting in improved engagement, more strategic discussions, and stronger alignment with customer needs.

Seeing a need for a dedicated space for CS leaders to share insights and break free from internal echo chambers, Mike founded Customer Success Leaders London. Modeled on the success of CS Snack events, this community was created to connect CS leaders in tech across southeast England through in-person gatherings. Hosting events every two months at various member offices, the group has grown to nearly 80 members, fostering collaboration on topics such as value generation, CS funding, AI, and account enablement. With five successful events to date, this initiative is now expanding onto a dedicated platform, amplifying knowledge-sharing and industry collaboration.

Haig launched The CS Studio newsletter with a mission to educate and empower CS professionals at all levels, from senior leaders to those just starting out. Through this platform, he provides valuable content on customer success enablement, career growth, and industry insights. In just 10 months, The CS Studio has gained over 500 subscribers, making it a go-to resource for CS education and professional development.

At Brandwatch, Matt Wood transformed the customer education and digital experience by using Studio to fully align product interfaces with Brandwatch’s signature design and energy. Before Studio, limited widget flexibility made it hard to achieve the clean, engaging branding seen across their Academy and Community assets. With Studio, the team can now customize and animate widgets that feel entirely native to Brandwatch’s ecosystem. The result: more cohesive, on-brand experiences and growing internal excitement to roll out these enhanced spaces to higher-tier customer segments.

Gloria launched The CX Men’s Club, a Customer Success community platform exclusively for men, addressing the lack of tailored support in the industry. This program includes personalized mentorship, mental health resources, and peer-led learning, fostering a strong support system for men’s growth in Customer Success. Since June, membership has grown to over 500 active users, LinkedIn posts reached 15,000 impressions, and the inaugural event attracted over 100 participants, demonstrating strong demand and engagement.

At LifeLoop, Jeremy Donaldson transformed the QBR process by integrating Gong’s AI to automate preparation and improve strategic alignment. The new system generates custom briefs built around ten key customer questions, replacing manual decks and reports. This innovation cut QBR prep time by 50 percent, improved discovery quality, and enabled a 25 percent increase in strategic customer conversations, allowing teams to focus more on value and less on admin work.

Shambhavi at Commvault tackled declining engagement and customer satisfaction by launching a Customer Success Program focused on proactive education, personalized support, and community engagement. Key initiatives included onboarding workshops, dedicated CSMs, and a knowledge base with self-help resources. This multi-layered approach led to a 25% increase in customer retention, a 40% rise in product adoption, a 30% reduction in support tickets, and an NPS jump from 45 to 65. The program also increased upsell revenue by 20%, driving both customer and business growth.

At Silverfort, Eran Silverman enhanced cross-team collaboration by introducing an AI-augmented journey that automatically summarizes and translates meeting recordings from Gong. Each summary is shared with customers via email and internally through Slack, keeping all stakeholders aligned without manual effort. This automation has saved CSMs significant time, improved internal visibility, and strengthened ongoing customer engagement through consistent, high-quality communication.

Adele applied the SPICED framework to improve customer retention at SafetyCulture, centering her approach on critical customer success metrics. By tailoring interactions and anticipating needs through SPICED insights, she strengthened client relationships and achieved impactful outcomes in safety and operational efficiency. Internally, Adele’s GTM team launched initiatives like a Retention Playbook, Customer Impact Brainstorming Sessions, and Quarterly Win Reviews, all focused on aligning GTM and CS efforts. These strategies collectively reduced churn by 15%, highlighting SafetyCulture’s commitment to proactive and lasting customer success.

At ClearPoint Strategy, Tricia Jessee simplified a complex onboarding process by designing a two-part experience that blended structure with personalization. A Pre-Kickoff Kit guided new admins through key setup steps before the first meeting, while an AI-generated welcome graphic added a personal, engaging touch. Customers then moved into an Onboarding and Adoption Kit that outlined milestones, training, and resources in one place. The result: faster onboarding, higher completion rates, and consistently strong CSAT scores, proving that even complex setups can feel simple, efficient, and human.

At Xrecruiter, Emma Lamb created a customer facing system powered by EverAfter.ai that guides clients through every stage of their business journey. The platform is built around the concept of Start, Run, and Grow: onboarding and training, mentoring and tools for daily operations, and frameworks to accelerate growth. Since launch, client engagement has surged, with a 75 percent reduction in manual support requests and steady growth in active users. By centralizing processes and resources, Xrecruiter now delivers a seamless, scalable experience that helps clients run and grow their businesses with confidence.

Leading a lean start-up team within a large organization, Tomer Yair Zemel faced the challenge of proving product value with limited resources. To overcome this, he built a comprehensive AI strategy that automated critical functions across support, customer success, and marketing. From multilingual AI support agents to lifecycle automation and content creation, every process was redesigned to maximize efficiency and impact. The result was transformative: a 144% increase in ARR in just nine months, dozens of new customers, and a scalable model that continues to enhance collaboration across CS, support, and R&D. By using AI to amplify human potential, Tomer turned constraints into a growth engine for AudioCodes’ emerging voice AI leadership.

At Brandwatch, Emily Markham redefined customer enablement by creating personalized, self-guided learning journeys that extend far beyond onboarding. Using EverAfter, her team designed dynamic kits aligned with individual user goals and tool usage, syncing this data with Salesforce to track progress and adapt over time. By prompting users to define and revisit their goals, Brandwatch delivers continuously relevant learning experiences tailored to each role and outcome. The result has been a significant rise in task completion and long-term engagement, proving that personalization drives sustained customer success.

At ConstructConnect, Beauly transformed AI hesitation into measurable performance gains through a scalable enablement program that empowered every leader and team to adopt AI with confidence. Anchored on three principles, leaders first, champions everywhere, and continuous feedback, the program trained all 10 managers to model AI use, activated peer champions, and refined learning through real-time pulse insights. Within 12 weeks, active AI usage surged 140%, manager confidence grew 32%, and reclaimed productivity delivered $1.55M in annual value, a 7:1 ROI. The initiative proved that systematic enablement, not experimentation, drives sustainable AI transformation.

Margo Barysheva at Stream Security recognized that new customers were struggling to use basic features due to the absence of an onboarding process. She built an Onboarding & Implementation Program from scratch, starting with a playbook that evolved into presentations and automated email resources. This structured approach allowed customers to reach full product adoption within two weeks. Though early, Margo’s onboarding initiative is set to reduce churn and create a smoother, more effective customer journey.

Abhinav at Disprz faced a retention challenge with a major client utilizing only 20% of their licenses amid leadership changes and competitive pressures. He implemented a Retention & Success Plan that included discovery workshops, tailored solutions, and interactive demos to address the client’s needs and showcase product value. Building strong relationships and creating internal advocates were key to success. As a result, Abhinav expanded the client’s license usage to 80%, improved CSAT from 4 to 9, and increased ARR significantly, boosting overall retention by 4%.

Neelu at ZoomInfo addressed high churn in the emerging products division by creating an AI-powered Customer Success Program with advanced health scoring and churn prediction. The solution integrated customer sentiment from call recordings, multivariate churn predictors, and automated health scoring across four metrics: product usage, customer sentiment, support health, and engagement. This AI-driven approach freed up CSMs, improving productivity by 40%, boosted pipeline by generating 15% more CSQLs, and enhanced risk identification by 30%, transforming retention efforts and long-term customer relationships.

At evcoms, Tracie Newton built the company’s first Customer Success function from the ground up, transforming support from reactive to strategic partnership. With no automation tools, she created a structured success framework, launched customer feedback programs, and aligned internal teams around measurable outcomes. The result was a 100% renewal rate, customer satisfaction of 9.14 out of 10, and world class advocacy scores, proving that process, empathy, and partnership can deliver enterprise level results in any organization.

Jenelle of LionHeartCS designed an Emotional Intelligence Bootcamp after a transformative personal journey in EQ. The 12-week program empowers professionals to boost self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship skills through practical application, proven methods, and guest speakers. Starting with 45% of participants at a low EQ level (3-5/10), the bootcamp saw 80% increase to 7-9/10. Additionally, 30% received promotions or career advancements, and 90% applied core concepts within four weeks, transforming both personal and professional lives.

At OneTrust, Justin Chappell reimagined onboarding for customers without assigned CSMs or paid services. His Digital First Onboarding and Activation program introduced scalable, self guided enablement and adaptive engagement nudges based on user behavior. The results were remarkable: 82 percent of customers went live within the first month (up from 16 percent), and average deployment time dropped from 40 to 16 days. The initiative set a new standard for scalable onboarding, driving faster time to first value and measurable improvements in adoption and ROI.

At mindZvue, Vinay Chaturvedi recognized that teams were buried under static data and manual processes, slowing decisions and limiting insight. To change that, he integrated Agentforce capabilities into mindZvue, creating an intelligent automation layer that transforms how teams interact with data and workflows. By combining adaptive AI agents with human-centered design, the platform now predicts next best actions, personalizes insights, and automates reporting in real time. Within six months, manual data work dropped by 40 percent, response times improved by 30 percent, and onboarding adoption rose by 25 percent. Agentforce turned raw data into real-time intelligence—empowering teams to move faster, make smarter decisions, and focus on strategic growth.

Ezra Zimbler launched a consultative Enablement & Academy Program using LinkedIn Talent Insights to deliver data-driven hiring and skill mapping solutions. Initially piloted with a major EMEA client, the program received 100% positive feedback and achieved 0% churn. By aligning Talent Acquisition with Learning & Development teams, Ezra’s initiative has helped bridge skill gaps, drive internal growth, and unlock interest from senior stakeholders across regions, demonstrating the strategic value of skill development in fostering customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Judith Platz at SupportLogic launched the innovative “How Low Can You Go 30-Day Challenge” to tackle the high costs and operational strain caused by frequent escalations. Customers were empowered to reduce negative sentiment in support interactions, leveraging SupportLogic's AI-powered insights to identify and resolve issues proactively. Through gamification and clear milestones, the challenge transformed sentiment management into a fun and impactful team effort. Top-performing participants achieved up to a 31% reduction in negative sentiment, with others seeing improvements of 24%, 23%, and more. This initiative not only improved customer satisfaction but also enhanced team efficiency and strengthened the overall customer journey.

Amber at Paradigm enhanced the Customer Dashboards & EBRs Program by implementing a structured EBR form that standardized questions, automated feedback collection, and eliminated manual CRM updates. This efficient process increased weekly EBRs from 15-20 to 92 in the first week post-launch, and 67 the following week, totaling over 150 EBRs within 3.5 weeks. This solution allows Paradigm to engage 50% of its customer base quarterly—up from 12%—while gathering valuable, consistent customer insights for business growth.

At Recruiterflow, Raman Bindra launched the Customer Success Bootcamp to strengthen strategic thinking and value-driven customer engagement. The program focused on consultative mindset, value articulation, and partnership building through real customer scenarios and peer learning. Within one quarter, engagement scores increased by 30 percent, time to first value dropped by 25 percent, and expansion revenue grew by 15 percent, proving the initiative’s power to transform both team performance and customer relationships.

When Virginia Bloom stepped into her role, she found a renewal process that was fragmented, reactive, and disconnected from customer value. Instead of layering on sales tactics, she reimagined the entire approach by making Customer Success the natural owner of renewals. By aligning process, data, and purpose, Virginia built a model where renewals aren’t just transactions. They are moments to deepen trust, showcase outcomes, and drive mutual growth. The new process led to stronger adoption and higher net revenue retention, proving that when customers stay at the center, growth naturally follows.

Keishla Ceaser-Jones at EAB is working to change partner conversations by shifting the focus from product usage to value-driven KPIs. She led the development of a tailored ROI calculator for higher education campuses, integrating metrics to demonstrate break-even calculations and long-term returns positioning her solution as a revenue driver. The tool empowered Partner Success Mnagers with clear, data-driven insights to support impactful conversations that address partner questions about value and highlight the benefits of EAB’s solution measurably. This early initiative is showing a positive impact on retention and strengthening partner relationships by connecting the performance of the tool to KPIs that matter to the partner while equipping her team with tools to confidently deliver value-focused engagement.

When Ilse joined Simetrik, adoption was lagging. The onboarding process was fragmented, the educational materials lived on limited platforms, and clients struggled to navigate a highly specialized accounting tool without heavy support. To turn this around, Ilse reimagined the entire enablement journey—building a centralized learning library, creating user personas, and giving the platform a new, customer-centered voice. She introduced workshops and webinars across LATAM, turning complex concepts into simple, actionable steps and fostering a community of shared learning between industries. The result: completion rates on educational materials doubled from 30% to 60%, over 50 customer workshops were launched, and engagement surged among Simetrik’s largest enterprise clients.

Letitia identified a need for clearer insights into customer usage patterns, specific project types, and areas where additional support could drive the most impact. To address this, she implemented a Customer Insights Program that created tailored project briefs for each client. This structured approach allowed her team to capture detailed customer data, revealing usage patterns, key feature demands, and unmet needs. As a result, the program not only strengthened client relationships but also provided a roadmap for product development, ensuring updates were aligned with authentic customer priorities, fostering both engagement and growth.

At ZoomInfo, Nate Alcorn reimagined the onboarding process for SMB customers by launching Digital Touch, a self-guided onboarding experience powered by the ZoomInfo Journey Portal (ZJP). Traditional 90-day, human-led onboarding was no longer serving smaller, fast-moving customers who needed speed, clarity, and autonomy. Digital Touch replaced manual tracking with a dynamic, data-driven portal that personalizes milestones based on product mix, ACV, and user behavior. Within 30 days, 215 customers were live — a 27 percent increase in onboarding share — and onboarding time dropped from days to hours. The initiative saved 250 onboarding-manager hours in its first month, redirected human focus to complex enterprise accounts, and became the blueprint for scalable, high-quality digital onboarding across ZoomInfo.

Pablo Kern at Spryker Systems GmbH developed an enhanced Customer Interface Program using EverAfter to streamline access to essential resources for customers navigating Spryker’s complex digital commerce solutions. By implementing a one-stop portal for documentation, QBRs, checklists, and more, Pablo’s team ensured customers received timely, tailored support at each stage of their journey. This approach cut time to value by 30% and doubled customer satisfaction, allowing the CS team to focus on strategic needs while saving time and enhancing efficiency on both sides.

Mohit Lal at TruOps addressed customer uncertainty around adoption success by developing an Enablement & Academy Program focused on measurable, customer-centric engagement. Through personalized plans aligned to each account’s key objectives and timelines, and continuous adoption assessments, Mohit’s team tracked a "stickiness score" to identify and address low-engagement accounts. The program included customer certification to build confidence with the platform. This proactive approach led to a 40% increase in usage and over 25% revenue growth by aligning TruOps more closely with customer success.

Delia at Success Sphere Strategies developed a Retention & Success Plan to address low engagement and renewal rates caused by the company's product-focused approach. Delia’s framework guided CSMs to gather valuable customer feedback, assess customer sentiment, and apply insights to improve retention and satisfaction. Of the 14 feedback-driven meetings conducted, five customers renewed ahead of schedule, and four requested upsell opportunities. The framework fostered more open, positive customer relationships, supporting both retention and expansion goals.

David identified a need to reduce the time customers took to move from kickoff to deployment, which was delaying value realization. To streamline this process, David introduced a structured onboarding timeline displayed visually during kickoff calls, allowing clients to see their journey and next steps from the outset. This program empowered customers to engage earlier and stay on track, transforming kickoff calls into actionable planning sessions. The result was a faster deployment across accounts, significantly improving time-to-value and setting clear, shared expectations for a seamless onboarding experience.

To streamline complex enterprise onboarding projects, our post-sales team developed a comprehensive "Onboarding to Production" program in EverAfter, tailored to different customer use-case complexities. This structured program offers detailed task milestones, clear role assignments, and automated progress updates, and it integrates with Salesforce, providing real-time status updates on each project to enhance visibility for the company and management. A customer questionnaire was included to assess the use-case complexity, enabling the creation of a tailored onboarding timeline. A project delay mechanism was also implemented, allowing proactive identification of potential delays. The results were impactful, establishing smoother processes, enhancing internal communication, and reducing time to value by 50%, enabling faster customer deployment and production readiness.

De’Edra Williams set out to transform Customer Success from a reactive support function into a strategic revenue engine. Through her innovative Fab5 for 2025 framework, she combined storytelling, AI, and cross-functional alignment to guide teams into the next evolution of Customer Success. Each “Fab” represented a core initiative: customer-led growth through journey “Flight Plans,” cross-team alignment via the S.P.I.C.E.D. methodology, AI-driven personalization with “Star Maps,” revenue dashboards linking CS metrics to growth, and engagement programs elevating employee experience. This creative and structured approach delivered powerful results: $1.5 million in expansion revenue, a 20 percent increase in renewals, 45 percent faster time to value, and higher executive and employee engagement. The initiative redefined Customer Success as a creative, data-driven growth driver and positioned De’Edra’s vision at the forefront of the Customer Success 5.0 movement.

Dmitry Harapko at airSlate tackled the challenge of equipping the CSM team with a unified, holistic view of customer usage data. Without centralized insights or alerts, the team lacked the tools to proactively address new ARR opportunities. To solve this, Dmitry led a program that integrated data from three separate products (with two more on the way) into a Data Warehouse and merged it with Salesforce data, making it available across the company via one unified ID, combining business and usage information. This initiative introduced a flexible schedule for alerts and predictions for when customer usage was nearing limits, along with detailed health scores pinpointing areas needing improvement, historical trends, and a variety of cross-product dashboards. Furthermore, the availability of unified data and signals made it possible to create a complete CSM ecosystem with actionable insights delivered via Slack on various occasions. The program transformed the post-sales process, generating $500k in new ARR for only 6 months since kick off with an additional $500k in the pipeline and reducing churn by 5% through more proactive and targeted QBRs, as well as equipped Digital CSM motion with tools to proactive onboarding.

At CustomerXSuccess, Parul Bhandari helped a client launching a brand new company and product build their entire go-to-market and Customer Success foundation from scratch. She led market research, customer journey mapping, and crafted enablement materials for both beta and full launch phases. Parul gamified user training with quizzes and incentives, boosting engagement among 500 beta users. The result: 95 percent adoption within 90 days and 90 percent manager participation within six months, proving that strong Customer Success design can drive immediate impact even from day one.

This year, our Go-to-Market strategy centered on Account Teaming—a collaborative approach that unites Account Executives, CSMs, Account Development Representatives, Solution Engineers, and Consultants within a defined territory. Each team member leverages their expertise to drive renewals, expansions, and adoption within accounts, with the Account Executive leading the charge. As a CSM, my role was to strengthen relationships by helping clients fully realize the value of our solutions, thereby securing renewals and driving expansion opportunities. The impact of this strategy was remarkable: we achieved a 100% Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) across all accounts.

At NovoPath, Daniel Wilson tackled inefficiencies caused by repetitive issue resolution and a lack of feedback loops across support systems. Using Zapier, he built an AI agent that scans incoming tickets, searches the knowledge base for relevant solutions, drafts responses, and when no solution exists, creates new documentation automatically. This continuous learning system streamlined operations, reduced resolution time by 20 percent, cut touches per ticket to under two, and raised CSAT to 98 percent. The result: faster problem solving, smarter knowledge reuse, and a consistent customer experience at scale.

At Payatu, Bharath Jagannath saw that clients were stuck in a reactive cycle, identifying security vulnerabilities only after they were exploited. To break this pattern, he launched a proactive cybersecurity program combining continuous vulnerability assessments, research-driven insights, and real-time advisory. The program blended automation with expert-led analysis, giving clients earlier visibility into risks and clear remediation paths. This hands-on, partnership-based approach strengthened client confidence, increased customer satisfaction by 25 percent, and led over 80 percent of clients to re-engage within a year. The initiative set a new standard for how proactive, high-touch security success can drive long-term customer retention and trust.

At Omnify, Arun PR transformed how Customer Success and Growth Operations function by embedding AI across every stage of the customer journey. Facing scattered data, repetitive onboarding, and slow decision-making, he designed a unified AI ecosystem that automated onboarding, streamlined workflows, and empowered both teams and customers. His initiatives included custom GPTs for discovery and analysis, an internal knowledge portal for cross-functional alignment, AI-powered dashboards for adoption tracking, and automation that delivered actionable insights in real time. The impact was transformative: faster time to launch, a 60% increase in adoption among non-tech-savvy users, and consistent customer experiences across all segments. By using AI not as a tool but as an enabler, Arun redefined how Omnify drives growth, efficiency, and customer confidence.

At the Women Reform Organization, Gloria Michael launched the Switch to Tech as a CSM program the first Africa-focused Customer Success education and mentorship initiative. Designed for professionals transitioning from support to strategic CS roles, the program combines job-ready training, mentorship, and locally relevant learning to address the lack of accessible, contextual education in Africa. Since launch, it has trained over 400 learners across three countries, helping many secure global SaaS and fintech roles and proving that world-class Customer Success talent is thriving across the continent

At Salesloft, David Jessup tackled the challenge of inconsistent, time-consuming call evaluations by developing the CSM Call Grader Gem, an AI-powered system that transforms unstructured call data into objective, actionable insights. Using predefined rubrics for key call types, the tool automatically scores transcripts and pinpoints targeted coaching opportunities. This innovation replaced subjective reviews with data-backed performance insights, reducing manager prep time from up to 6 hours to just 1.5 hours per week — a 62.5 percent efficiency gain. The result is standardized excellence, faster coaching cycles, and consistent, high-quality customer interactions across the entire CS team.

When Haig joined Employment Hero, the UK business had no formal advocate program and no process for tracking saved churns. Seeing the gap, Haig introduced a structured customer advocacy framework and began tracking advocates, growing this from 0% to nearly 10% of ARR, equivalent to $14 million. In parallel, he launched a new risk process to proactively identify and mitigate churn risks. Within just four months, the program has driven $294,000 in saved ARR and achieved 100% logo retention across the portfolio.

Kobi Alaluf at Playtika implemented a multi-phase Retention & Success Plan by adapting B2B customer success methodologies to a B2C environment. This approach included customer segmentation, reducing the CSM-to-customer ratio, and developing tools to enable CSMs to enhance customer relationships and achieve business KPIs. The program led to over 5% revenue growth and a rise in paying users, demonstrating how B2B strategies can effectively drive engagement and revenue growth in the B2C space.

Jaime at Ontic revamped the Onboarding & Implementation Program by introducing a Slack-based workflow to improve XFN leadership visibility (all the way up to the ELT) and expedite onboarding. This workflow allowed CSMs to provide consistent updates, flag challenges, and request support for timely interventions. For the Enterprise and Global segments, Jaime’s team selectively added Implementation and/or Project Managers Managers and phased deployment, bringing Time-To-First-Value (TTFV) down from 12 to 10-12 weeks for Global clients and from 10 to 8-10 while maintaining high CSAT scores above 75%. These adjustments increased client satisfaction and reference-ability across segments.

Marcus Euzebio at Logicalis faced the challenge of scaling Customer Success support beyond large accounts while retaining a personalized approach. He implemented a hybrid tech-touch model that combined automated communication with proactive CSM interventions, effectively serving SMBs while nurturing mid-market accounts. Through personalized automation, strategic CSM involvement, and educational resources, Logicalis saw a 20% increase in renewals, a 35% conversion of SMBs to mid-market clients, and a 15% rise in CSAT, reducing churn by 10% and boosting lead generation by 25%.

Yamika Cherukupally launched the Adoption Acceleration Program to counter a declining trend in product adoption that risked impacting retention and renewals. The program included three key stages: tailored onboarding with early cadence meetings and data-driven interventions, personalized training, and engagement through gamification and incentives. These initiatives drove a 90% adoption rate across customers, a retention rate exceeding 95%, and a 25% increase in ARR expansion, ultimately boosting CSAT and strengthening customer loyalty.

Sara Arecco at Antavo Ltd enhanced customer sentiment by embracing an “action over perfection” approach within the Retention & Success Plans framework. By increasing feedback collection points and openly sharing the company’s commitment to improvement, Sara encouraged customers to offer insights that guided strategic decisions across teams. Initiatives like improved documentation, targeted mini-courses, and tools to showcase platform value led to a 23% increase in customer sentiment, a 70% rise in customer-authorized award submissions, and a 20% boost in published case studies year-over-year.