#13 | How CSMs evolve with Generative AI

Value creators

I’ve read a few fear mongering blogs recently about jobs being totally wiped out, including CSM, because of Gen AI.  These articles aren’t productive. I believe roles will evolve due to Gen AI and many manual, mundane tasks will be automated or eliminated, changing the way work is done. Gen AI is here to stay. It’s not going back into a box. This means it’s up to CS Leaders to find ways to embrace trusted, accurate, and responsible Gen AI to drive adoption. Those that do will see higher CSM productivity and better outcomes (client retention, NPS, growth).

Let’s dive in.

AI Adoption and Productivity

McKinsey found that AI Adoption in the enterprise has more than doubled in the last 5 years (20% to 50%). Companies have moved out of experimentation and into production. Gen AI is driving productivity and efficiency gains for most jobs including HR, Developers, and Sales. CSM will be no different. I mentioned in my CS 2024 Predictions that Generative AI can improve highly skilled worker’s performance by as much as 40% compared with workers who don’t use it.

CSM tasks will change with Gen AI

CSM tasks will change with Gen AI by eliminating mundane tasks, automating some (not all) client outreach, providing more client insight through summarization, advising on next best action through sentiment and timeline analysis, and increasing client adoption through retrieval augmented generation Q&A. This means CSMs will be focused on more technical and domain specific tasks to drive adoption. They will link technology adoption to business outcomes. They will be more hands-on keyboard. They will guide more training through in-person and virtual education. CSMs will leverage triggers and sentiment for personal, human connection with clients.

Clients want a CSM to be there through crit-sits and product feedback cycles ; to co-create and demonstrate how technology drives tangible business outcomes. Gen AI will not replace the human connection when something is all over the floor. Clients do not forget when you were for them when they were struggling with technology problems (and yes, unfortunately, it happens to all companies, no matter how great your technology is. ).

CS Leaders who embrace AI will be more competitive than those who don’t, because they’ll have teams with higher productivity, better client retention, and stronger client engagement.

Enterprise AI

Two of the biggest barriers I hear from clients adopting AI are trust and skills.

CS Leaders should consider Gen AI that is:

• Open: based on open technologies (do not lock yourself in)

• Trusted: responsible, governed, explainable (don’t end up on the front page of the paper)

• Targeted: designed for enterprise and domains (smaller models trained on domain specific data will be more accurate and cost efficient)

• Empowering: value creators that build with AI, not just consume (be a value creator)

It’s up to CS leaders to be honest with their CSMs on how their role will change. Empower them with AI training to learn how to be comfortable using AI and elevate their technical, soft, and consultative skills.

I’d love to hear how you are embracing Gen AI and what concerns you the most as you roll Gen AI out to your CSMs and clients.

Continued Success,

Janine