For many of us, our introduction—and most of our understanding—of AI came from media. Whether AI found us through movies, cartoons, or books, it wasn’t a part of our everyday lives. And we weren’t positive it ever would be.
Today, AI tools are everywhere. AI voice agents are on our phones, generative AI summarizes our Google searches, and, according to Reuters, over 400 million people use ChatGPT weekly. We are living in the future.
Despite its popularity, AI still makes some people nervous, specifically when it comes to their careers. They worry robots will replace them. Or they won’t be able to match the efficiency and productivity of AI, putting their position in jeopardy.
We understand why some people might fear the implications of AI. As AI becomes more embedded in our workflows, it’s natural to wonder: Will AI take over Customer Success? But the reason we don’t share this concern, and, in fact, feel the opposite, is because we know the realities of AI. The truth of AI is much more exciting than any scary, fictionalized versions we’ve seen. For CS professionals, especially, AI can automate tasks, analyze data, and even generate insights—but it cannot replace human relationships, trust, and strategic thinking. What it can do is take on time-consuming, repetitive work, so Customer Success Managers (CSMs) can focus on what they do best: building meaningful relationships and driving customer outcomes. AI for CS is not about replacing human connection; it’s about enhancing it.
To help you unlock the power of AI at your business, here are a few facts about how AI works with existing CS teams to create exponential growth:
1. AI Needs Humans to be Effective
As powerful as AI models are, they can’t replace CSMs. AI solutions for Customer Success will always require a human being at the helm, ensuring customer touchpoints are personalized and strategic. CSMs or Account Managers (AMs) will still trigger the emails, hold the meetings, and generally conduct the activities that lead customers to successful outcomes. However, AI empowers CS teams to make those efforts matter the most they possibly can.
In particular, AI offers CS teams a game-changing capability: real-time customer health insights. By feeding CSMs signals on customer sentiment in real time, tools like Staircase AI are like a churn-prevention superpower. But those insights alone won’t steer your customers on a fruitful journey with your product or service—you still need CSMs and AMs to perform outreach. AI just ensures every outreach activity is well-timed and effective.
2. AI Is a Multiplier, Not a Replacement
The second truth about AI is it will always work best as a multiplier of CSMs, not a replacement. Any company’s ultimate goal is growth. Organizations want to expand their engagements with existing customers while also finding new customers to onboard. They can’t, however, keep hiring new people each time they earn a new piece of business.
Companies also can’t afford to let the customer journey suffer from a lack of CS engagement. Enter: AI. As a co-pilot to CSMs, AI ensures nothing gets missed. From identifying churn risks to engaging in-app with daily users, AI solutions can be everywhere that a CSM can’t be.
The results of the collaboration between AI and CSMs is exponential. Companies are only able to keep up with the ever-evolving demands of customers when they rely on the work of both AI and humans.
3. Exceptional CS Relies on Relationships
The last, but most important, truth about AI and CS organizations is that relationships cannot be automated. No matter how advanced AI becomes, it will never replace the human connection between CSMs and their customers.
Trust isn’t built through algorithms. Customers need to feel heard, understood, and supported—something AI simply cannot replicate. AI can summarize data, highlight patterns, and even draft responses, but it takes a CSM’s empathy, creativity, and strategic thinking to turn those insights into action.
With more companies relying on CS teams to drive revenue, the demands on their time and expertise become more critical. Rather than spending their limited workday hours on emails or building reports, CS experts need to be in meetings with Sales closing deals or improving onboarding processes to improve time-to-value (TTV). This is the complicated, human-led work that AI tools make space for. Without help from AI solutions, there simply wouldn’t be enough time for companies to do the necessary work to reach their goals.
Grow Faster With Staircase AI by Gainsight
For more information about how AI can empower CS teams to drive unstoppable growth, check out Staircase AI by Gainsight. It provides real-time updates about customer health, a comprehensive look at customer health, and so much more. Staircase AI by Gainsight makes customer success automatic. Learn more today.
