Intro

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The customer success landscape is about to shift dramatically. Kristi Faltorusso, fresh off her departure from ClientSuccess after five years, reveals the three trends that will define CS in 2026—and the second one might surprise you. From the explosion of CS Ops to the "ERR apocalypse" hitting tech stacks across the industry, Kristi breaks down what's coming and how to prepare. Plus, she shares the uncomfortable truth about why she left a job she loved and how an hour a day of AI learning built four products in 2025.

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Timestamps

0:00 - Preview & Introduction

1:23 - Kristi is back!

2:34 - Why Kristi Left a Perfect Job?

5:20 - What She'll Miss Most

6:50 - Building Unbreakable Trust with Leadership

9:20 - Kristi's Next Chapter

10:35 - Kristi's 2026 Predictions for CS

13:13 - The ERR Apocalypse & The Consolidation Wave

15:45 - The Rebranding of CS Ops Roles

18:15 - Kristi's Vibe Coding Journey

21:30 - Make AI Learning Fun

25:00 - Find and Champion Your AI Champions

26:10 - Device Addiction & Reading for Fun

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What You’ll Learn

* Why companies have been accumulating AI tools and what triggers the consolidation

* How CS Ops will become critical as AI and automation require system builders

* How to identify and champion the AI early adopters in your organization

* The trust formula that built an unbreakable 5-year executive partnership

* What the "ERR apocalypse" means for your tech stack

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Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com.

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Where to Find Kristi:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristifaltorusso/

Website: https://www.kristifaltorusso.com/

Newsletter: https://www.kristifaltorusso.com/the-journey-cs-newsletter

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Where to Find Josh:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/

Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/

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Referenced Episodes:

- https://www.gainsight.com/episode/why-100m-ai-companies-are-failing-at-renewals-ft-cassie-young-kyle-poyar/

- https://www.gainsight.com/episode/how-to-scale-customer-success-with-ai-agents-ft-leeron-yahalomi-aligned/

Resources:

- ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/

- Claude: https://claude.ai/

- Gamma: https://gamma.app/

- Zapier: https://zapier.com/

- Replit: https://replit.com/

- Lovable: https://lovable.dev/