In the last few years we've seen an explosion in growth in the number of Chief Customer Officers (CCOs).
Its spread has been fantastic for putting customers at the center of businesses, but why has it become such a crucial function within SaaS?
With that question in mind, we went out and got three leading CCOs to discuss: what best prepared them in their career to be a CCO, what their role focuses on and how this varies between organizations, what future they see for the role.
Christian Jakenfelds
Senior Account Executive
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.
Jennifer Yorke
Chief Customer Officer
Omertria
Jennifer is Chief Customer Officer at Ometria, where she leads global post-sales teams across success, support, and services. With nearly 15 years in customer leadership, she’s helped scale high-growth tech companies through moments of transformation—launching EMEA success at Hootsuite, evolving customer teams at Box and Bazaarvoice, and mentoring early-stage startups through Seedcamp. At Ometria, she’s built a customer engine that pairs operational rigor with a people-first ethos, empowering teams to think differently and drive meaningful outcomes for retail brands.
Pat Phelan
Chief Customer Officer
GoCardless
Pat is the Chief Commercial Officer at GoCardless, where he leads global GTM after previously heading UK&I and serving as Chief Customer Officer. With over 25 years in customer success, GTM, and commercial leadership, he’s built and scaled global teams across SaaS and fintech. Before GoCardless, he led CS at Brandwatch and Bazaarvoice and co-founded a customer success function at Intellesys. Pat is also a Forbes Council member and former board advisor to German proptech firm casavi.
Chris Regester
Chief Commercial Officer
Planhat
Chris was the Chief Customer Officer at Planhat, where he led the global post-sales function. Named one of Pavilion’s “Top 50 CCOs to Watch”, he brought nearly two decades of SaaS experience spanning strategic planning, team building, and process excellence. Prior to Planhat, Chris spent 16 years at Meltwater, where he launched and scaled revenue and CS teams across Asia and Europe, supporting growth from $100M to $400M+ and leading through seven acquisitions and an IPO. Chris passed away in June 2025 and is remembered for his generosity, global perspective, and deep commitment to customer-led growth.
