[Un]Churned – The No. 1 Podcast for Customer Retention

Meet Jim Richmond, Chief Customer Officer at Smartling — a seasoned leader across sales, success, and services. He discusses why gross revenue retention is his North Star. He explains four-quarter forecasting, building systems to scale 4x, role specialization for CSMs, and how AI bots eliminated single-touch support tickets. He also shares why he still carries a book of business to stay connected to customers.

In this engaging discussion, Abbas Haider Ali, Senior VP of Customer Success at GitHub, shares insights into post-sales investment strategies. He argues that budget allocation should drop from 10% to 7% of revenue driven by AI integration. Abbas introduces a six-layer customer health model and emphasizes the need for evolving playbooks to match customer demands. He also explores the concept of the 'specialized generalist' role in customer success, poised to revolutionize the field with AI tools. This conversation provides a roadmap for CS leaders in today’s rapidly changing landscape.

Ready to churn less and win more? 🏆 Subscribe for a simple, once-a-month rundown of the episodes at gainsight.com/unchurnedWhat if the fastest path to product-market fit isn't building more features—it's deploying engineers to solve customer problems?Diego Ballona, Senior Director of Engineering at Intercom, runs Forward Deployed Engineering—a team that helped scale Fin from 5 design partners to 7,000 customers, hitting a 67% resolution rate in 18 months. But FDE isn't professional services rebranded. It's product managers, engineers, and data scientists working directly with customers to accelerate outcomes and turn real friction into features everyone can use.Diego breaks down the exact team structure that makes this work, why outcome-based pricing changes go-to-market strategy, and how to know if FDE is right for your business. If you're scaling an AI product or rethinking how engineering and CS collaborate, this conversation delivers the blueprint.---Timestamps0:00 - Preview & Introduction3:00 - Diego's origin story at Intercom and how FDE emerged organically5:35 - Intercom's scale: 7,000 Fin customers, 67% average resolution rate across all segments7:25 - From 5 design partners to proving the FDE model9:12 - Building the business case and getting leadership buy-in12:05 - FDE team structure18:55 - How FDE turns customer insights into product features23:15 - Ownership boundaries: CSMs vs. FDE teams 25:25 - Outcome-based pricing and why it aligns incentives perfectly27:00 - Diego's golden nugget: Stay open-minded ---What You’ll Learn* How Intercom scaled from 5 design partners to 7,000 Fin customers in 18 months using Forward Deployed Engineering* Why the FDE team structure requires three specific roles working together* How outcome-based pricing changes everything about go-to-market incentives, comp plans, and team alignment* Why FDE engineers need different skills from product engineers* How to know if FDE is right for your business (and why it might not be)* The ownership boundaries between FDE teams and CSMs that make cross-functional collaboration actually work---Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com.---Where to Find Diego:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dballona/Intercom: https://www.intercom.comFin AI Agent: https://www.intercom.com/fin---Where to Find Josh:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/

Kristi Faltorusso, a Customer Success leader and builder, shares her insights after leaving ClientSuccess. She discusses three pivotal trends shaping Customer Success in 2026, including the rise of CS Ops and a looming tech-stack consolidation, dubbed the 'ERR apocalypse.' Kristi reveals how she built four products through daily AI learning and emphasizes the importance of discovering AI champions within organizations. Her reflections on deep trust in leadership and a call to balance tech use with joyful reading round out this engaging conversation.

Yvette Hill, SVP of Customer Success at F5, has a remarkable 35-year career across tech giants like IBM and Microsoft. In this insightful discussion, she tackles the transformation from traditional customer success to an AI-driven model. Yvette emphasizes the importance of leveraging AI to enhance customer interactions and drive real value. She shares her bold decision to allocate 100% of her budget to AI, unlock data-driven insights with 175 customer signals, and encourages teams to embrace experimentation. Her vision for a curious, AI-enabled workforce is truly inspiring!

Join Cassie Young, a General Partner at Primary Ventures with expertise in customer success, and Kyle Poyar, founder of Growth Unhinged and pricing analyst, as they delve into the alarming trend of churn in AI-powered companies. They reveal shocking stats like nine out of ten customers abandoning products soon after investment. Discover the difference between Experimental Recurring Revenue and true profitability, and how forward-deployed engineering can drastically reduce churn. The discussion also highlights a Customer Success Renaissance aiming to deliver real value.

Alexis Hennessy, a Partner at Heidrick & Struggles and co-founder of their post-sales executive search practice, shares her insights on the evolving role of the Chief Customer Officer. She highlights the necessity of retention, explaining why hiring for CCOs is on the rise again. Alexis emphasizes the importance of listening in the first year and adapting strategies accordingly. The conversation also touches on the traits that successful CCOs possess and the increasing relevance of AI in customer retention strategies, suggesting a promising future for the role.

In this enlightening discussion, Erica Kuhl, EVP at Gainsight and a key architect behind Salesforce's massive customer community, shares her journey from early employee to community innovator. She reveals how she built a peer-driven forum with limited resources, emphasizing community as a vital retention strategy. Erica discusses the significance of creating a unified Digital Customer Success experience and provides actionable insights on pitching community initiatives to boost retention by four times. Prepare to be inspired by her scrappy approach to customer engagement!

Colin Slade, Senior VP of AI Strategy and Customer Success at Cloudbeds, led a nimble team that transformed a struggling post-sales operation into an AI-powered powerhouse. They developed over 150 workflows in just nine months, automating 75% of repetitive tasks and saving 7,000 hours monthly. Colin discusses the initial fears of job loss among staff, the stepwise approach for AI adoption, and the importance of team structure. He emphasizes the impact of embracing constraints for innovation and fostering a culture of fearless experimentation.

Cat Valverde, founder of the Enterprise AI Group, specializes in helping organizations adopt AI effectively. She discusses the common pitfalls of enterprise AI projects and reveals her groundbreaking 15-Minute Rule for enhancing adoption rates. By focusing on human-centered approaches, she outlines a simple four-week framework to engage users and boost buy-in. The conversation highlights the importance of reducing cognitive load, using psychological insights, and leveraging social proof to achieve remarkable increases in AI adoption.