Join hosts Kimberly Ayala and Raymond Otero for an engaging series exploring the fast-changing world of customer experience (CX) and customer success (CS).
Each episode brings together leading voices to share real-world challenges, big wins, and proven strategies for building stronger customer relationships.
Expect actionable insights, inspiring stories, and expert perspectives to help you take your CX and CS game to the next level.
Did you know that all historic episodes are free to stream OnDemand for all members.
Episode 5: The impact AI is having on customer expectations and how to reach them [Register now]
Episode 4: Stay relevant or get left behind: Reinventing yourself in the age of AI, CX, and constant change - employee experience factor [Watch now]
Part 1: The AI reset: Framing the shift and the reality check
Part 2: The new currency: From effort to authority (hard truths)
Part 3: Breakthrough: reinvention, rapid fire, and defining the future
Episode 3: The future of customer success [Watch OnDemand]
Episode 2: Hiring and developing the best [Watch OnDemand]
Episode 1: The art of AI in customer experience and feedback [Watch OnDemand]
Episode 5: The impact AI is having on customer expectations and how to reach them
📆 September 23
⏰ 4pm BST
đź“Ť Online
AI is changing the game for customer expectations.
When AI can answer complex questions in minutes, customers will increasingly expect that same speed, efficiency and accessibility from their customer success teams. But there’s a catch: the more AI enters the customer experience, the more valuable human connection becomes.
Customers still want authenticity, empathy and meaningful relationships - the things AI can’t truly replicate.
So, how do you strike the right balance?
In this session, we’ll explore how customer expectations are evolving in the age of AI and what this means for the future of customer success. We’ll unpack where AI can enhance the customer experience, where the human touch is essential, and how to equip CSMs with the skills they need to make an impact without burning out or checking out.
You’ll discover:
- 🤖 Where and when to use AI and where the human touch matters most
- đź’¬ How to balance efficiency with empathy as customer expectations evolve
- 🧠The skills CSMs need to thrive in an increasingly AI-powered world
- ⚡ How to deliver greater impact without adding to CSM burnout
- 🚧 The challenges to watch out for as teams navigate this shift
Expect practical insights, real-world considerations and a fresh perspective on what it means to deliver human-first customer success in an AI-powered world.
Guest Speaker: Dannah Vaughan | Director of Customer Success at Silverline Solutions
Dannah Vaughan is an AI-led, full-funnel growth and customer experience (CX) executive who specializes in turning post-sales operations into scalable revenue ecosystems.
Currently serving as Director of Customer Success at Silverline Solutions, she leads an integrated motion spanning Customer Success, CX, Onboarding/Projects, and Marketing team.
Throughout her career leading global customer organizations, Dannah has leveraged modern workflow orchestration and AI-first operating models to deliver over $500M in retention and expansion revenue, achieve up to 122% NRR - all while slashing Time-to-Value by as much as 59% while reducing cost-to-serve.
She is a recognized voice on commercial revenue growth, executive risk modeling and customer journey orchestration6. She is the founder and host of the globally recognized Rebels of SaaS podcast, a multi-year Chairperson for the Customer Success Collective Summits, and an Advisory Board Member for Women in Customer Success.
Episode 4: Stay relevant or get left behind: Reinventing yourself in the age of AI, CX, and constant change
Episode 4 (Part 1 ): The AI reset: Framing the shift and the reality check
This episode explores the rapid changes in Customer Success and CX, featuring a "reality check" on staying relevant and overcoming misconceptions in the generative AI era.
Guest Speaker: Paul Christin | CX & Success Thought Leader & Tech Evangelist
I’m a sixty-year-old software release still running on original architecture, stable, well-documented, and only occasionally prone to sarcasm with a splash of bad dad-jokes. I’ve spent decades navigating big tech’s shifting terrain, from Motorola pagers to AWS’s cloud-native buzzwords, surviving layoffs, reorgs, and more acronyms than a government agency. I specialize in turning corporate chaos into clarity, usually through satire, claymation, or a well-placed metaphor on Teams chat during lost-in-translation weekly meetings. I don’t chase trends, I debug them. And while I may be approaching end-of-life on the roadmap, I’m still fully operational, with a few upgrades in progress, hoping to find what is out there awaiting me on the horizon.
Episode 4 (Part 2): The new currency: From effort to authority (hard truths)
This installment provides a 90-day action plan for future-proofing careers by shifting from intuition to data-driven thinking with tools like Gemini, emphasizing authority over mere effort.
Guest Speaker: Suzanne Hitcho | Advisor & former Director GTM Value Strategy and Transformation at FirstUp
Suzanne Hitcho is a Customer Success and GTM value strategy and operations leader with 20+ years of experience driving measurable business outcomes across enterprise B2B SaaS, Fortune 500 organizations, and global consulting. Most recently as Director Value Strategy & Transformation at Firstup, she led the architecture and adoption of value realization frameworks, ROI tools, and business case consulting engagements that equipped customer-facing teams to better connect platform outcomes to customer business priorities across the full lifecycle. Known for bridging strategy and execution, Suzanne combines consultative depth, cross-functional alignment, and a passion for AI-driven innovation to accelerate retention, expansion, and revenue growth. She co-founded Firstup's AI Working Group and was named Customer Success Manager of the Year in 2020.
Episode 4 (Part 3): Breakthrough: reinvention, rapid fire, and defining the future
The final episode offers a practical playbook for reinvention, featuring an unfiltered back-and-forth between the two guest experts and a rapid-fire round on essential skills and tools to navigate the current market "filter."
Guest Speakers: Both Paul Christin & Suzanne Hitcho will return for the finale of this mini-series.
You can watch our last episode of CX and CS Happy Hour right here 👇
Episode 3: The future of customer success
Customer success has come a long way - but where is it going next?
In our latest episode, The evolution and future of customer success, Kimberly Ayala and Raymond Otero dig into the real history, present state, and bold future of CS.
From the early days when “success” meant closing tickets faster…
To today, where 73% of high-growth SaaS companies tie ARR growth directly to CS (Gartner, 2024)…
To the future, where AI-native workflows, revenue ownership, and global lifecycle orchestration will define the next decade.
We also share a Future of CS Skills Toolkit — including a skills map, curated AI tools, and example org structures to help CS leaders get future-ready.
Tune in to episode 3 of our series and walk away with insights (and a few laughs) that can reshape how you think about Customer Success.
Meet your hosts:
🎤 Kimberly Ayala, Director of Customer Success at Akeneo
🎤 Raymond Otero, Director of Global Customer Experience at Microsoft
Episode 2: Hiring and developing the best
Hiring the right people is only the beginning—how do you truly set them up for success and keep them motivated? In this in-depth conversation, Ray Otero and Kimberly Ayala dive into every stage of talent management: from identifying red flags and running behavioral interviews to onboarding, recognition, and long-term career development.
Key takeaways:
- Interviewing for impact: Ask open-ended behavioral questions, dig deep with follow-ups, and focus on measurable results to see how candidates think, pivot, and reflect.
- Onboarding and engagement: Build mentorship, skill development, and recognition into the first 90 days and beyond to retain top performers.
- Career growth and personalization: Understand what motivates each team member – whether leadership ambitions, personal goals, or long-term vision – and create tailored pathways to help them succeed.
Meet your hosts:
🎤 Kimberly Ayala, Director of Customer Success at Akeneo
🎤 Raymond Otero, Director of Global Customer Experience at Microsoft
Episode 1: The art of AI in customer experience and feedback
AI is transforming customer success and experience - but are we keeping it ethical, human, and truly valuable? In this must-watch session with Deepgram, Ray Otero, Kimberly Ayala, Perline Moran, and Shilpi Sharma, industry leaders reveal how to harness AI for smarter insights, better personalization, and stronger customer trust.
Key takeaways:
- AI can’t run on autopilot: Clean data, feedback loops, and human oversight are critical to avoid bias and misinterpretation.
- Personalization at scale is possible: AI tools help analyze sentiment and predict customer needs across the entire journey.
- Governance matters: clear frameworks and ROI checks ensure AI delivers real value without compromising privacy or compliance.
Meet the panelists:
🎤 Kimberly Ayala, Director of Customer Success at Akeneo
🎤 Raymond Otero, Director of Global Customer Experience at Microsoft
🎤 Shilpi Sharma, Head of Transformation at Innovation Nexus
🎤 Péroline Moran, Global Director of Customer Experience at HiBob
Incase you didn't know - we have a Slack channel for this series. Join the Customer Success Collective Slack Community and find us in the #cx-and-cs-happy-hour channel to continue the conversation.
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