Beyond the flashy shoes, the fun swag, and the adorable puppies, Pulse is a place to share CS knowledge with like-minded people. For two days, customer success leaders and practitioners get together to educate, swap strategies, and collaborate. It’s one of the reasons our community is so strong—we dedicate time to helping each other succeed.
It’s impossible to share everything that we learned at Pulse 2024, but we picked our top 8. Here’s what you need to know about all things customer success.
1. There Is A Plan for Human-First AI
Human-First AI is not just a philosophy for Gainsight. We made a playbook for ensuring that AI is a tool that makes it easier for people to do the work they love—not a robot that takes all the most important work away.
We outlined all the steps and what they mean in our Day 1 Recap, but for a quick refresher, we have six steps to the Human-First AI Playbook. They are:
- Eliminate Blindspots
- Remove Grunt Work to Make Room for What Matters
- Turn Every Teammate into the Best Version of Themselves
- Make Self-Service Not Suck
- Transform Novices into Gurus
- Help Customers Find Their Work Bestie
We’ve also created a destination for the latest and greatest insights on Human-First AI which follow as new information, content and tools get released over time.
2. High School Is Much More Fun Years Later
The theme of Pulse this year celebrated high school through the decades. It may have been a bit of a risk because not everyone loved their high school experience. But we wanted to give everyone a chance to redefine what the glory days could be. We knew it would be so much better if we were all surrounded by people who love the things we do and get excited about the future in the same way.
It didn’t hurt that the information we learned in the breakout sessions really is useful to our future selves. It’s safe to say the Pulse community knows how to embrace a theme!
3. We’re Still Building What Customer Success Means
The industry has gone through tremendous change in the last few years. The debate surrounding customer success continues to happen in the headlines, but inside Pulse, we saw that those debates aren’t happening between the people who do this job every day.
When you let CS leaders and practitioners take the floor, the debate isn’t whether CS is necessary. The conversation is about what is possible when we expand and evolve what CS can be for our organizations. We heard from so many CS professionals, all of whom were inspired and excited about what’s next for CS. Disruptions will continue to change our jobs, but our mission remains: deliver world-class customer experiences that help our customers find success in a way that is profitable for our company.
4. Gainsight AI Is Your Most Important Co-Pilot
Pulse offers the perfect chance for attendees to see the newest product features available for Gainsight customers, and this year was no different. The incredible product team added to a deep list of existing AI-powered functionality by revealing Gainsight Co-Pilot, an AI tool that can help you discover nuances about each of your customers so you never miss an opportunity.
Customers can ask Gainsight Co-Pilot for information on each account to prep for meetings or extract insights about churn risks or expansion opportunities. Co-Pilot will also help write emails, summarize meetings and more. It’s the complete tool you need to ensure that you’re doing the most meaningful work every day.
5. Better Education Creates the Best Communities
We knew when building the Human-First AI Playbook, we needed to focus on empowering customers as well as practitioners. Pulse is a prime example of what can happen when your community can access the information they need to take charge of their own success. The result is unbelievable growth and innovation.
That’s why we’re building AI tools that can recognize each customers’ goals and build a training customized to what they need to know immediately. We’re also making it easier to find customers that have similar use cases. By connecting customers with similar experiences, you can fortify your community and ensure success for everyone. We’re living proof of that.
6. We Have Your Summer Book Club Pick Covered
We announced the book earlier this month, but Pulse was really the big moment for our newest book from Nick Mehta, Gainsight CEO, and Kellie Capote, Gainsight Chief Customer Officer, Digital Customer Success: Why the Next Frontier of CS is Digital and How You Can Leverage it to Drive Durable Growth.
The book covers how to design and deploy touchless and automated digital touchpoints that help your customers learn and grow as they use your product and unlock the value within it. And all of this happens without requiring more hours from your CSMs. If that’s not summer reading, we don’t know what is!
7. Trust Is Critical for Human-First AI
During the second day keynote, Robin Merritt, Gainsight Chief People Officer, hosted a panel of CS leaders about how to integrate AI into the future of customer success. It was a brilliant conversation full of insights and inspiration. But the heart of the conversation was about trust.
In order for Human-First AI to work, in order for it to be a tool that makes each of us better instead of replaced, we need to trust. We learn to trust by understanding the models that make AI work, by knowing exactly what data goes into them and what gets excluded. And we need to trust that there will always be a place for CSMs to do the meaningful work that only a human can do.
8. And of Course…Always Bring Puppies
While it would have been a marked improvement on anyone’s high school experience, Pulse is known for always bringing the puppies. And the childlike joy they bring to everyone’s faces is something we keep with us year after year.
Thank you again for another incredible Pulse! We can’t wait to do it again with you all in Las Vegas 2025!
