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When the Work Changes
[Un]Churned Chapter 012
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AI is reshaping Customer Success at the speed of light, and the real shift may be how the work itself is changing.
Here’s what’s been on my mind this week.
How This Former CRO Is Making CS Impossible to Ignore ft. Manish Chawla (This Week’s [Un]Churned 🎙️)
As the industry evolves, the expectations around the role of CS are changing. It’s more important than ever to show how the work connects to revenue outcomes.
On this week’s [Un]Churned episode, Manish Chawla, CCO at PowerSchool, shares how he views Customer Success through a revenue leader’s lens. With years of experience leading revenue teams, he uses a straightforward test: if Customer Success doesn’t drive measurable revenue, it won’t pass executive review.
Manish and I discuss how companies are starting to see Customer Success as a revenue discipline. Now, customer signals, expansion efforts, and accountability are all tied directly to revenue results.
This shift makes it much clearer whether Customer Success is effective.
Start Small, Learn Faster
“AI isn’t a magic wand.” Ankit Aggarwal at MoEngage anchored their copilot project around that idea. Using data they already had, Ankit created an AI assistant for CSMs that removed the need to crowdsource answers from other teammates.
The impact showed up quickly, but it required a shift in mindset. The team had to treat the copilot like a teammate, not just another tool.
Here’s his blueprint for building a copilot that made CSMs faster and helped the entire organization get smarter.
When Busywork Disappears
Will AI replace CS? Todd Saunders suggests something slightly different.
Much of the operational work around the role is exactly the type of work AI handles well. Meeting prep. Account research. Interpreting customer signals across systems. A large portion of the job sits in that layer.
The comments on Todd’s post were interesting. Some saw relief. Others saw risk. When AI removes the busywork, what actually defines the role?
The Delegation Shift
AI is forcing an operating model decision inside Customer Success. Karthick JL points out what happens when systems begin acting on customer signals rather than just surfacing them.
Outreach can trigger automatically, lifecycle plays can launch, and expansion signals can begin revenue motion. Customer Success teams are moving from copiloting work with AI to delegating parts of the job to it.
Bonus [Un]Churned Episode: Inside SAP’s Scaled Customer Success Strategy
What does Customer Success look like when it has to operate at enterprise scale? In this bonus episode, Carsten Schütz, VP & Global Head of Scaled CS at SAP, shares how his journey from startup CSM to SAP executive reshaped his thinking about scale, specialization, and the real role of AI in customer success.
The conversation explores how large organizations structure digital programs, where human engagement still matters, and how both come together at scale.
☕ Off Topic: What Else I’m Reading
A few things I’m reading beyond the CS lens.
“The Real AI Strategy Is Personal” by Randy Wootton
Randy frames AI adoption through a personal maturity model instead of a technology roadmap. Reading it made me think about where I sit on that curve and where I can be more intentional.
There is Exactly One Way SaaS Can Be Saved by Eoghan McCabe
Eoghan shares a stark look at what it took for Fin by Intercom to get record growth from a place of record lows; all while navigating the AI disruption we’re all feeling. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t pretty, but it’s possible and Fin is proof.
Skills Are Among the Most Consequential New Technologies by Ethan Mollick
Mollick’s post made me think about Skills a little differently. If AI can help create and test them the way we build software, the pace of learning might start to look very different.
Wrapping Up
AI may remove a lot of the work around Customer Success, but that might make the role clearer than it has ever been.
See you next Monday. 🧠
— Josh
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