Why Investing in Customer Success Professionals Still Matters in the Age of AI
By Kristen Hayer
AI has made its way into Customer Success. It writes call summaries, suggests next steps, analyzes usage trends, and automates onboarding workflows. These innovations can bring clarity and speed to daily operations. For companies under pressure to scale, it is tempting to assume that AI might replace parts of the team altogether.
But even as automation gets smarter, the smartest CS programs are investing more in their people, not less. Customer Success is still a human-driven function. The more AI advances, the more important it becomes to equip CSMs with the skills and structure to deliver real business value.
AI Handles Tasks. CSMs Build Trust.
AI is powerful when it comes to tasks. It can pull data, send alerts, and even offer templated responses. What it cannot do is build trust. That is still the job of people.
Customers do not just want answers. They want confidence. They want to know that someone understands their goals, sees what is coming next, and will guide them through challenges and change. That kind of trust is not built through a dashboard or a bot. It is built through consistent, strategic, human interaction.
CSMs are often the only people in a company who truly understand the intersection of the product and the customer’s business. They know when a usage pattern is meaningful and when it is just noise. They can adapt a standard playbook to meet a specific customer’s needs. That kind of judgment cannot be automated.
The Strategic Role of the CSM Is Growing, Not Shrinking
As AI takes on more tactical work, the CSM’s role should become more strategic. When automation handles tasks like data gathering and routine communications, it creates space for CSMs to focus on business outcomes.
That shift is already happening. The best CS teams are not using AI to replace people. They are using it to elevate them. AI highlights usage patterns, but CSMs connect those patterns to customer objectives. AI sends renewal reminders, but CSMs build the relationships that lead to multi-year agreements. AI identifies product gaps, but CSMs translate those gaps into customer stories that move roadmaps forward.
These are not optional skills. They are essential to driving long-term customer value.
AI Is Only as Effective as the People Using It
Another reality often overlooked is that AI systems are only as good as the people behind them. Someone needs to define the right data inputs. Someone needs to review the outputs, apply context, and decide on next steps. Without trained and thoughtful CSMs, AI becomes disconnected automation. It may save time, but it will not move the relationship forward.
Leadership teams need to consider AI implementation as a team initiative, not just a tool rollout. If your CSMs are not part of the process, your customers will feel the disconnect. On the other hand, if your team is trained and empowered to use AI well, you will see efficiency gains and improved customer outcomes.
Investing in People Delivers Business Results
The core of Customer Success has not changed. It is still about delivering measurable value to customers. The way we get there is evolving, but the destination is the same.
Data from Customer Success Café shows that over 80 percent of customers still prefer working with people over AI. Why? Because humans offer insight, flexibility, and empathy. When a renewal is on the line, or a project hits a roadblock, customers want a person who knows their business and can guide them through the next move.
That guidance drives results. Proactive, strategic CSMs prevent churn, unlock expansion opportunities, and generate advocacy. AI might support those actions, but it cannot lead them.
How to Invest in a Tech-Enabled CS Program
If you are working to balance AI integration with team development, here are a few practical ways to invest wisely:
☐ Use AI to offload low-value tasks, freeing up your team to focus on high-impact conversations
☐ Provide training in consultative skills, business acumen, and customer storytelling
☐ Redefine success metrics to reflect customer outcomes, not just activity levels
☐ Give your team time and tools for strategic account planning
☐ Involve CSMs in shaping how AI tools are used and refined
☐ Reinforce the value of relationships through executive sponsorship and multi-threaded engagement
These steps help ensure that your investment in AI strengthens your CS team rather than sidelining it.
Conclusion
AI is not replacing your Customer Success team. It is changing what they focus on. The companies that win in this new landscape will be the ones that invest in automation and people at the same time.
The goal is not just to scale. It is to scale with strategy. And that requires trained, empowered CS professionals who know how to turn insights into impact.
Your team is still your most valuable asset. The tools are there to help them. Not to replace them.
Want to confidently drive strategic customer initiatives? Check out our NEW course: Project Management for Customer Success Professionals. Learn to manage scope, timelines, risks, and communication like a pro, all through the lens of Customer Success. Visit TheSuccessLeague.io for more on this and our other offerings.
Kristen Hayer - Kristen founded The Success League in 2015 and currently serves as the company's CEO. Over the past 25 years Kristen has been a success, sales, and marketing executive, primarily working with scaling tech companies, and leading several award-winning customer success teams. She has written over 100 articles on customer success, and is the host of 3 podcasts about the field. Kristen has served as a judge for the Customer Success Excellence awards, and is on the board of several early-stage tech companies. She received her MBA from the University of Washington in Seattle, and now lives in San Francisco.
