After years of growing as a practice and department we are seeing Customer Success (CS) being asked to prove its connection to value and revenue generation.
Some companies are able to show this, while others are being forced to restructure their CS departments and approach in light of the current market. Our main question is, with these changes occurring, where will the pendulum stop for CS? Will CS move away from being a core business function? Or will it soon swing back and prove that it is vital to increase customer revenue in both good and bad times?
Watch Greg Daines, founder and CEO of ChurnRX, Shanta Bodhan, Director of Customer Success at ArborXR, and Seth Johnson, VP of Customer Experience at LearnUpon as they discuss the questions: how can CS leaders demonstrate their value throughout the business? will we see the return of Account Management instead of Customer Success? And what is the 'right' version of CS, now and in the future?
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.
Greg Daines
Founder and CEO
ChurnRX
Greg is a leading voice in customer success with over 20 years of experience as a CEO, researcher, and strategist helping B2B SaaS companies drive expansion and reduce churn. He currently serves as CEO of ChurnRX, where he developed the Total Customer Strategy framework and certification, adopted by CS leaders and teams worldwide. Greg is also Co-Founder of the Customer-Led Growth Forum and has advised hundreds of companies through Client Velocity, his long-running consultancy. His work blends research-backed insights with practical tools to help organizations deliver measurable impact.
Shanta Bodhan
Director of CS
ArborXR
Shanta is an accomplished customer experience leader with over a decade of experience driving success for SaaS, EdTech, and AI-powered platforms. Currently serving as Director of Innovation Customer Experience at Cornerstone OnDemand, she specializes in scaling global support functions and optimizing customer journeys through data-driven insights. Shanta brings deep expertise in customer retention, satisfaction, and operational excellence, having led remote teams at Talespin, ArborXR, and SupplyShift. She is known for aligning strategy with execution and fostering strong cross-functional collaboration.
Seth Johnson
VP Customer Experience
LearnUpon
Seth is the Chief Client Officer at Panorama Education, where he leads client-facing teams supporting K–12 schools through data-driven tools that improve student outcomes. With over 15 years of experience in customer success and experience leadership, he has held senior roles at LearnUpon, Lucid, and Instructure—building and scaling high-impact teams across SaaS and edtech. Known for his strategic approach and passion for service, Seth blends operational rigor with a deep commitment to customer-centric growth.
