As the industry shifts towards recurring revenue, Cisco and its partners lead the way.
But how do you create a great customer experience in a time of intense transformation? And how can you capitalise on the current turbulence to strengthen your business in the long run?
Watch Mikael Casserberg, Partner Transformation Lead at Cisco, Lisa Milnes, Client Success Director at Natilik and Ben Gardner, Customer Success Manager at Planhat as they discuss: customer experience and customer success within the Cisco ecosystem, building a sustainable lifecycle practice to drive recurring revenue, comparing customer success strategies, Cisco, managed services and SaaS.
Christian Jakenfelds
Forecastable
Christian is a customer success and revenue leader with a flair for community-led growth. He currently serves as Senior Account Executive at Forecastable and Go-To-Network Evangelist at Commsor, helping companies drive revenue through trusted networks over traditional outreach. Previously, he spent nearly three years at Planhat, where he earned Top 25 CS Thought Leader recognition and played a key role in product-led research and GTM. Christian began his career at Tessian, rising from CSE to Customer Operations Manager while leading major U.S. accounts and building internal CS tooling. He brings a unique blend of operational depth, storytelling, and strategic thinking.
Mikael Casserberg
Cisco
Mikael is a strategic sales and partner leader with over 20 years of experience driving growth across global tech organizations. At Cisco, he serves as EMEA Strategic Partner Account Executive, overseeing market expansion across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa through high-impact alliances. He previously led partner transformation across Northern Europe and managed success programs to improve client adoption. Earlier in his career, Mikael held senior roles at Xerox and OpenText, with a focus on enterprise services and account development.
Lisa Milnes
Natilik
Lisa is Client Success Director at Natilik, where she oversees strategic client relationships and drives operational excellence across the UK. With more than 20 years of experience in customer success and client services, she has led high-performing teams across the UK, Asia, and the Middle East. Her earlier career includes senior roles at Mashizan, Sabio, and Logicalis Singapore, where she managed large-scale client engagement and complex account operations across APAC.
Ben Gardner
Planhat
Ben is a customer success and commercial leader with over 10 years of experience building post-sales teams across SaaS. At Planhat, he serves as a Customer Director, having progressed through multiple roles since joining the company in 2022. He previously led customer success at Rio ESG and held commercial leadership positions at Vuelio and Cision. Alongside his tech career, Ben also chairs Emerging Leaders, a nonprofit focused on entrepreneurship and leadership development in underserved communities. He brings a rare blend of mission-driven leadership and operational excellence.
