Post-sale teams are working harder inside a model built for a different era.
# CSS
# Renewals
# CCO
# SaaS
# AI
# CustomerLeadership
The burden on customer success has changed materially. The model underneath it has not.
April 21, 2026
Over the past year, in conversations with CCOs and post-sale leaders, one reality has become hard to ignore: pressure is building from every direction, including customers, CFOs, boards, budgets, and now AI, with consequences that are commercial, operational, and increasingly strategic.
Teams are carrying broader books of business, facing greater financial scrutiny, and being asked to prove value with far more rigor. The burden on customer success has changed materially. The model underneath it has not.
This is no longer a question of incremental improvement. It is a question of operating model redesign.
In the article, I identify three shifts that now make redesign unavoidable.
🔹 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗱. Renewal decisions are increasingly shaped by the CFO, not just the champion.
🔹 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱. In more accounts, the real alternative at renewal is not another vendor. It is internal substitution.
🔹 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗦 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁. Teams that have not redesigned around that shift are becoming less competitive.
I also outline five principles I see in the organizations moving ahead:
▪️ Value proof as an operating discipline
▪️ Signal intelligence instead of periodic review
▪️ Digital as a designed motion
▪️ A sharper definition of the CSM role
▪️ Renewal as a lifecycle outcome, not a late-stage commercial event
One area I address directly is 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘃𝘀. 𝗯𝘂𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. That issue is moving faster than many vendor teams have recognized. In more accounts, the question is no longer whether the customer sees value. It is whether the product remains in the stack or is designed out.
My aim is to give customer leaders and executive teams a sharper frame for what now requires redesign and where urgency is overdue.
For more on what this redesign requires, I’ve attached the article in PDF for download.
If this is a conversation happening inside your organization, I’d value your perspective.
