The 2026 GameChanger Awards

The Retention Champion award recognizes an organization that excels at protecting customer relationships through proactive, thoughtful action. These teams use data and insight to spot risk early and intervene before issues turn into churn. Rather than reacting at renewal time, Retention Champions embed retention into the customer lifecycle. Through decisive action at the moments that matter most, The Retention Champion has proven that retention isn’t just about saving deals—it’s about building lasting partnerships that fuel sustainable growth.

Key Success Indicators: Measurable reduction in revenue or logo churn, improvements in Gross Retention Rate (GRR) or Net Retention Rate (NRR), decrease in the number or percentage of at-risk accounts

The Adoption Accelerator award celebrates organizations that have transformed onboarding into momentum and product engagement into business growth. This is the team that designs experiences that help customers activate faster, reach meaningful milestones sooner, and consistently discover the features that drive long-term value. The Adoption Accelerator understands that every interaction is an opportunity to prove their product is indispensable. They don’t just track adoption metrics; they architect journeys that turn hesitant first-time users into power users and advocates. With a relentless focus on outcomes, The Adoption Accelerator has proven that adoption isn’t just a metric—it’s the strategy that fuels retention, unlocks expansion readiness, and creates customers who can’t imagine doing business without you.

Key Success Indicators: Significant increase in adoption of core or high-value features, substantial reduction in customer time-to-value (TTV), documented and verified customer outcomes (ROI)

The Digital Architect award celebrates organizations that have cracked the code on scaling customer engagement without sacrificing personalization or impact. This is the team that has strategically deployed in-app experiences, education programs, customer communities, or a combination of digital touchpoints to create seamless customer journeys that drive adoption, build confidence, and deliver measurable outcomes. The Digital Architect doesn’t just automate for efficiency—they design for effectiveness, ensuring every digital interaction moves customers closer to success. They’ve proven that with the right strategy, retention and product adoption  can increase  even in digital-led motionsKey Success Indicators: Increased engagement at scale (logins, interactions, journey participation), improved retention among digitally engaged customers, reduced cost-to-serve or CSM touch per customer, higher percentage of customers supported via digital motions

The Growth Catalyst award celebrates organizations that have turned customer success into a revenue growth engine. This is the team that not only retains customers but also grows them, leveraging insights, alignment, and proven value to systematically drive expansion and advocacy. The Growth Catalyst has built a strategic framework that identifies expansion-ready accounts, surfaces opportunities at the right moments, and aligns teams around turning customer success into measurable revenue impact. They understand that the best growth lives inside your existing customer base, and they’ve unlocked it. They’ve built repeatable motions that connect customer outcomes to growth—whether through expansion and multi-product adoption, increased advocacy, or monetizing customer value through premium services, learning programs, or certifications. With proven results, they’ve driven higher NRR, multi-product adoption, improved customer sentiment, and a steady pipeline of expansion opportunities that fuel sustainable growth.

Key Success Indicators: Expansion revenue influenced or sourced by CS, improved Net Revenue Retention (NRR), increased multi-product adoption, NPS improvements, higher CSQL conversion rates

The Customer Success Transformation of the Year award celebrates organizations that have fundamentally transformed how they deliver customer success across people, process, and technology, with Gainsight products as the backbone. This is the team that didn’t just adopt new tools but reimagined their entire operating model, aligning teams around shared outcomes, building scalable processes, and creating unprecedented visibility into customer health and impact. They’ve tackled the hardest challenges in customer success: breaking down silos, eliminating inefficiency, proving value to executives, and building a CS function that scales with the business. With measurable results across dimensions that matter—retention, expansion, adoption, engagement, and operational efficiency—they’ve proven that transformation isn’t a project but a commitment to fundamentally changing how an organization shows up for its customers.

Key Success Indicators: Measurable improvements in churn, NRR, adoption, or engagement; increased CS efficiency (customers per CSM); improved executive visibility into customer health and outcomes

The Intelligent Innovator award celebrates organizations that have harnessed artificial intelligence and agentic systems to fundamentally transform post-sales operations. This is the team that has moved beyond experimentation, strategically embedding AI throughout their workflows and redesigning customer programs with innovative approaches that scale impact. They’ve proven that when human expertise meets intelligent automation, post-sales reaches new heights. With measurable results in efficiency gains, widespread AI adoption, and tangible outcomes like earlier risk identification and proactive customer interventions, they’ve demonstrated that AI-powered operations aren’t the future—they’re happening now, and they’re leading the charge.

Key Success Indicators: Efficiency gains driven by AI or agents (time saved, scale achieved), AI adoption and usage rates, AI-driven outcomes (earlier risk identification, customers saved, proactive interventions)

The Rising Star award celebrates the individual who has achieved extraordinary impact in their first year implementing any Gainsight product, proving that newcomers can be gamechangers. This recognition honors the executive champion, the emerging leader, or the individual contributor who took ownership of any Gainsight implementation and turned it into a measurable business transformation in record time. The Rising Star doesn’t wait for permission to make an impact but launches with purpose, executes with focus, and delivers results that others take years to achieve. They’ve moved from go-live to business value at lightning speed, hitting critical milestones, achieving early wins, and demonstrating improvements across the metrics that define success. Whether leading from the top or driving change from within, they’ve proven that impact isn’t about experience but about vision, execution, and the courage to think big from day one.

Key Success Indicators: Rapid time to launch or go-live with Gainsight, achievement of initial business goals within 6–12 months, early improvements in churn, adoption, engagement, or retention