If you’ve been around the Gainsight CxO Summit long enough, you know it’s never just another conference. Over the past decade, it’s evolved into a traveling salon for customer-obsessed executives — part big-idea forum, part working session, and part reunion of peers who truly learn from and challenge each other.
Even the venues tell a story: Skywalker Ranch in Marin, Hotel Californian in Santa Barbara, The Newbury in Boston, The Parker and Gene Autry Estate in Palm Springs, Omni Barton Creek in Austin, South Lodge in Sussex, Oakley Court in Windsor — and this year, the St. Regis Deer Valley in Park City, Utah. Our most alpine and reflective setting yet.
What Endures After Ten Years
Across all these gatherings, several themes have stayed constant.
Community that works. The CxO cohort values candor — honest conversations about what’s working, what’s not, and which metrics truly matter.
From “squishy” to strategic. Customer Success has evolved from soft-skill storytelling to boardroom influence by proving its direct link to value creation, GRR, and NRR.
AI as a force multiplier. The question is no longer “should we?” but “how does it create leverage?” It now spans onboarding, health scoring, renewal forecasting, expansion modeling, engagement automation, and beyond.
Human-first leadership. Even in an AI-powered world, empathy and thoughtful design stay at the core. Technology should amplify what works, not replace it.
Park City: Elevating Retention in the Agentic Era
You feel the St. Regis before you see the agenda. Perched above the valley and reached by a hillside funicular, it quite literally lifts you into altitude thinking. As the Wasatch Range stretches out below, it feels symbolic: leave the tactical noise at the base and bring only the challenges worth solving to the summit.
Chuck Ganapathi, Gainsight’s CEO, set the tone in his opening keynote:
“Retention isn’t a workflow — it’s an outcome.”
He shared benchmark data showing how far our discipline has come:
- Over 80% of participants now sustain high GRR.
- Digital, mid-touch, and pooled models have overtaken high-touch engagement.
- Renewal and expansion rates continue to rise.
- 82% of companies are increasing technology investment even as headcount levels off — clear evidence that the AI era is here.
From SaaS to RaaS
This year’s defining idea was the shift from Software as a Service to Retention as a Service.
The old model relied on high-touch, manual engagement with a limited set of customers. The new model is agentic — humans and AI working together to deliver retention as a scalable, measurable outcome. Every customer can now experience the level of care once reserved for the top tier.
This reframes Customer Success from managing activity to realizing value, challenging us to build systems that can predict, personalize, and prove outcomes at scale.
The Rise of Agentic AI
“Agentic AI” emerged as more than a buzzword — it’s a blueprint for the next phase of growth.
AI-driven agents are now orchestrating digital journeys, connecting signals across systems, and automating routine work so humans can focus on creativity, empathy, and problem-solving.
New roles are forming around this shift, including Journey Managers who design experiences from start to finish and Customer Outcomes Architects who align value design with delivery.
Through every conversation, one truth held firm: AI doesn’t replace care; it scales it.
From Product-Led to Success-Led Growth
Another strong theme was the evolution from Product-Led to Success-Led Growth (SLG) — expansion driven by customer outcomes rather than just product usage.
Renewal and growth follow when customers realize measurable value. That’s why leading companies are bringing Product, Success, and Support together to make customer success an integral part of the product experience.
Benchmark Breakouts: Insight into Action
The most valuable moments came in smaller groups, where executives turned benchmarks into action. We discussed how to prove ROI through value metrics, balance AI, digital, and human engagement, and align teams around outcomes instead of functions.
These were not theory sessions — they were peer-led workshops shaped by real-world results.
Key Takeaways
As I flew home, a few ideas crystallized:
- SaaS → RaaS: Customer Success is now centered on retention and measurable outcomes.
- Success-Led Growth: Expansion follows realized value.
- Agentic AI: Digital orchestration is redefining how we scale experience and insight.
- Integrated Journeys: True customer success is a connected flow across product, support, and success—creating one seamless, value-driven journey.
The conversations in Park City reflected a discipline that has matured — data-driven, collaborative, and committed to impact.
Why This Year Stood Out
Two things made Park City stand out.
First, the focus: uniting post-sales leaders around one shared goal — driving customer value, with AI as the accelerant.
Second, the setting: intimate, elevated, and built for authentic connection. The St. Regis inspired both candor and altitude in thinking.
The agenda balanced inspiration with reflection, giving leaders space to pause, connect, and turn insight into action — a gift in today’s always-on world.
A decade in, the CxO Summit is still about more than technology. It’s about people coming together to redefine what customer value means.
And in Park City, that future felt within reach.
Omid Razavi — Reflections inspired by the Gainsight CxO Summit 2025 at the St. Regis Deer Valley, Park City, UT
