TOP

251OOINFLUENCERS

STRATEGISTSCU

ST

OM

ER

S

UC

CES

S

2O17

TOP25

CUSTOMER SUCCESS INFLUENCERS

Catherine Blackmore

GVP Global Customer Success

@ catherineblckmr

Oracle Marketing Cloud

Todd Eby

Co-Founder and CEO

@toddceby

Success Hacker

Shep Hyken

Chief Amazement Officer

@Hyken

Shepard Presentations, LLC

MEET THE JUDGES

We evaluated thousands of members within the Customer Success community and created a

measurement that took into account a wide range of metrics, such as internet presence, influence,

community engagement and participation (including conference appearances). We then had three

judges—Catherine Blackmore (GVP Global Customer Success), Todd Eby (Co-Founder and CEO),

and Shep Hyken (Chief Amazement Officer), all recognized for their industry insights—choose the

Top 25 finalists from the distilled list of influencers.

TOP

251OOINFLUENCERS STRATEGISTS

CUSTOMER SUCCESS

2O17

TOP25

CUSTOMER SUCCESS INFLUENCERS

Jason LemkinInvestor & Founder Champion

@jasonlk

SaaStr

Byron DeeterPartner

@bdeeter

Bessemer Venture Partners

Chad HorenfeldtVice President Customer Success

@ChadTev

Bluecore

Nick MehtaCEO

@nrmehta

Gainsight

Bill CushardDirector of Marketing

@billcush

ServiceRocket

Dan SteinmanChief Evangelist and CCO Emeritus

@dantsteinman

Gainsight

Tomasz TunguzVenture Capitalist

@ttunguz

Redpoint Ventures

Tiffani BovaGlobal, Cust. Growth & Innov. Evangelist

@Tiffani_Bova

Salesforce

Ari HoffmanSuccess Fanatic

@arigobie

MindTouch

David SkokGeneral Partner

@BostonVC

Matrix Partners

Anthony KennadaVice President of Marketing

@akennada

Gainsight

Tien TzuoFounder and CEO

@tientzuo

Zuora

Paul PhilpCo-Founder and CEO

@pphilp

Amity

Emilia D’AnzicaVP Customer Engagement

@emiliadanzica

WalkMe

Lynn HunsakerCust. Exp. Maturity Strategist

@clearaction

ClearAction

TOP

251OOINFLUENCERS STRATEGISTS

CUSTOMER SUCCESS

2O17

TOP25

CUSTOMER SUCCESS INFLUENCERS

Omer GotliebCo-Founder & SVP Business Dev.

@omergotlieb

Totango

Guy NirpazCo-Founder and CEO

@guynirpaz

Totango

Kate LeggettVP and Principal Analyst

@kateleggett

Forrester Research

Nils VinjeWorld Class Cust. Success

for SaaS Startups

@NilsVinje

Glide Consulting

Andrew MarksFounder and COO

@CSuccessHacker

Success Hacker

Peter ArmalyPrincipal Transformation Advisor

@peterarmaly

Oracle

Aaron FulkersonFounder and CEO

@Roebot

MindTouch

Perry MonacoHead of Customer Success

@elvisrun

LinkedIn

Rob CastanedaServiceRocket

@robertcastaneda

Founder and CEO

Kristen HayerFounder and CEO

@KristenHayer

The Success League

TOP1OO

CUSTOMER SUCCESS STRATEGISTS

Anne PalmerineAssociate VP Customer Engagement

& Enrollment Services

@UPMCHealthPlanUPMC Health Plan

Eric YuanFounder and CEO

@ericsyuan

Zoom Video Communications

Maria PergolinoSVP Global Marketing and Sales

Development

@InboundMarketerApttus

TOP 3 UNPARALLELED STRATEGISTS

It started with creating a master list comprising social influencers (utilizing Sprinklr to scrub for influence on LinkedIn,

Twitter, and blogs), then adding in conference speakers, authors, and industry game changers.

But, this year there’s a twist...

The People’s Choice – TOP 100 CS Strategists list took a brand new approach. Aimed at finding those

influencers flying under the radar, we opened up the polls to allow people to add nominees they wanted to recognize

for outstanding work. In fact, over 20 percent of this year’s list came from write-in nominations. As a result, the final list

lets the world know what the industry as a whole is thinking. It gives balance to a weighted system allowing those lesser

known names, but still highly qualified candidates, to surface and join the ranks of the more familiar leaders.

TOP1OO

CUSTOMER SUCCESS STRATEGISTS

Aaron Levie CEO Box @levie

Adam Avramescu Director of Optiverse and Customer Education Optimizely @avramescu

Adam Waid Director of Customer Success Salesforce @adamwaid

Ajay Agarwal Managing Director Bain Capital Ventures @ajay_bcv

Alex Konrad Staff Writer Forbes Magazine @alexrkonrad

Alka Tandan Principal Turbine B2B @TurbineB2B

Allison Ewell Director of Customer Success Seismic Software @SeismicSoftware

Allison Pickens Chief Customer Officer Gainsight @PickensAllison

Amanda Kahlow Founder and CEO 6Sense @AmandaKahlow

Andrew Bergen VP of Customer Success Seismic Software @SeismicSoftware

Andrew Rhodes Director of Customer Success Education CSM Practice @CookWriteRepeat

Andy Campbell HCM Strategy Director Oracle @Axcampbe

Andy Jacobson Senior Director of Operations, User Experience Blackboard @yakubsin

Andy Mowat Sr. Director: Customer Success Operations Box @netmow

Anne Janzer Author, Writer, Writing Coach Cuesta Park Consulting @AnneJanzer

Anne-Marie Bitman Director of Customer Success Oracle @AM_Bitman

Annette Franz VP Marketing and Client Experience Compellon @annettefranz

April Underwood VP of Product Slack @aunder

Bill Hobbs VP of Enterprise Totango @hobbs_bill

Bill Lapcevic Chief Operating Officer Sentry @billlap

Boaz Maor Customer Success Advisor Independent Contractor @BoazMaor

TOP 100 OUTSTANDING STRATEGISTS

TOP1OO

CUSTOMER SUCCESS STRATEGISTS

Bob Hayes Chief Research Officer Appuri @bobehayes

Bob Hoffman Director Product Management - Global View Compliance ADP @ADP

Candace Sauve Enterprise Customer Success HackerOne @candacesauve

Carsten Thoma President CEC SAP @CarstenThoma

Catherine Blackmore GVP of Customer Success Oracle Marketing Cloud @catherineblckmr

Chris Schwass Head of Relationship Management Intercom @intercom

Colleen Taylor Editorial Director Y Combinator @ycombinator

Connie Loizos Silicon Valley Editor TechCrunch @Cookie

Craig Dalton VP of Customer Experience Planview @Planview

Dan Adika Co-Founder and CEO WalkMe @DanAdika

Danielle Morrill Co-Founder and CEO Mattermark @DanielleMorrill

Dave Blake Founder and CEO ClientSuccess @davecblake

David Baga Chief Business Officer Lyft @justbaga

David Cancel CEO Drift @dcancel

David Mihala HCM Sales Dir. It./Spn./Port., HCM All. & Chan. S. Eur. Team Ldr. Oracle @dmihala

David Sakamoto Head of Customer Success, the Americas Cisco @hapapower

Denise Stokowski VP Solutions - Product Management and Security Gainsight @dstokowski

Don Otvos Head of Solutions Engineering Salesloft @donnyo

Don Peppers Co-Founder CX Speakers LLC @DonPeppers

Donald Matejko Exec. VP Global Field Ops - Customer Engagement & Commerce SAP @dmatejko

Edmund Daly Senior Director of Global Customer Success Cisco @Cisco

Elliot Antrobus-Holder Group Head of Digital Product TUI Group @TUIGroup

Emmanuelle Skala VP Sales and Customer Success DigitalOcean @elleskala

Erin Fogerty Senior Customer Success Manager Affinio @efogess

TOP1OO

CUSTOMER SUCCESS STRATEGISTS

Eve Kedar Manager Sales Enablement Gainsight @kineretk

Gianluca Bacchiega Solutions Lead CRM and Customer Care EMEA Electroux @Electrolux

Godard Abel SVP and General Manager Salesforce @godardabel

Guilherme Lopes Co-Founder Resultados Digitais @guilhermelopes

Irit Eizips Chief Executive Officer CSM Practice @iriteizips

James Scott Associate Partner SuccessHacker @ukjamesscott

Jamie Cappelli VP Client Success 360insights @jamescappelli

Jeff Cann VP Customer Success Sysomos @jeffcann

Jeff Lawson Co-Founder and CEO Twilio @jeffiel

Jerome Breche Co-Founder and CEO SnapEngage @jerome10

Jill Rowley Member Board of Directors Affinio @jill_rowley

Jim Berardone Chief Customer Officer OnlyBoth @JimBerardone

Jim Murphy Regional Director of Strategic Accounts Gainsight @JimMurphySTL

Joe Chernov VP of Marketing InsightSquared @jchernov

Joe Payne President and CEO Code42 @paynejoe

John Gleeson VP of Customer Success Affinio @JohnGleeson10

John Heald Global VP of Market Development SAP Hybris @JohnHeald72

Josh James CEO and Founder Domo @joshjames

Kamal Ahluwalia Chief Revenue Officer Apttus @kahluwalia

Katie Rogers VP of Customer Success Salesloft @KatieKortnie

Keri Keeling VP of Customer Success and Operations Bluenose Analytics @M1sskaos

Kevin Bury Senior VP Customer Experience and Business Operations SolarWinds @solarwinds

Leo Widrich Co-Founder and COO Buffer @LeoWid

Lilian Klemz Customer Success General Manager Resultados Digitais @liliklemz

TOP1OO

CUSTOMER SUCCESS STRATEGISTS

Maksim Ovsyannikov VP of Product Grovo @Maksim

Maranda Dziekonski VP of Customer Operations HelloSign @marandasays

Mark Roberge Senior Lecturer Harvard Business School @markroberge

Marvin Storey Director Customer Experience Personal Systems HP @HP

Mary Poppen Chief Customer Officer Glint @Mary__Poppen

Matt Myszkowski Head of Customer Success Rant & Rave @MattMyszkowski

Melinda Gonzalez CEO Melinda Gonzalez Advisors @RealMelindaG

Michael Moaz VP and Distinguished Analyst, Customer Strategies Research Gartner @mimaoz

Mick Frederick VP of Concierge Experience Eaze @Mick

Mikkel Svane CEO Zendesk @mikkelsvane

Mitzi Avanzado Marketing Manager McKinsey & Company @McKinsey

Monica Norton Senior Director of Content Marketing Zendesk @monicalnorton

Nate Skinner VP of Marketing Salesforce @renniksn

Neal Kaplan Director of Technical Communications Interana @NealKaplan

Nichole Elizabeth DeMere Founder Authentic Curation @NikkiElizDemere

Omid Razavi Global Head of Customer Success, Customer Service Mgmt. ServiceNow @orazavi

Paul Reeves VP of Customer Success TokBox @bohappa

Paul Slakey VP of Client Services BrightEdge @PaulSlakey

Philip Nguyen Senior Director, Customer Success and Community Ephox @phillyphillio

Rachel English Director Customer Experience Zuora @Zuora

Sam Brennand VP of Customer Success Uberflip @SamBrennand

Sarah Bedrick Certifications Program Manager Hubspot @sbedrick

Sarah E. Brown Head of Customer Community and Brand Marketing ServiceRocket @SEBMarketing

Scot Chisholm CEO and Co-Founder Classy @scotchisholm

TOP1OO

CUSTOMER SUCCESS STRATEGISTS

Sean Cramer Head of Voice of the Customer Atlassian @cosmocramer

Sean Ellis Founder and CEO GrowthHackers @SeanEllis

Sean Kester VP of Product Marketing SalesLoft @TheSeanKester

Seth Faber Global Services eServices Manager Hitachi Data Systems @HDScorp

Shep Hyken Chief Amazement Officer Shepard Presentations LLC @Hyken

Shreesha Ramdas CEO Strikedeck @shreesha

Stephanie Berner Senior Director, Customer Success BOX @BoxHQ

Steve Yeager Manager New Business and Sales Development Zuora @Yeager_Steve

Tiffany Cosgrove Director of Customer Success Calendly @Calendly

Timothy O’Brien Manager, Strategic Accounts Informatica @Informatica

Todd Eby Founder and CEO SuccessHacker @toddceby

Todd Pearson Senior VP of Customer Success Zuora @toddpearsonca

Travis Sousa Director of Support, HR Manager, Comptroller DealerTeam @TravisSousa

Vinay Bhagat Founder and CEO TrustRadius @vinaybhagat

Westley Hendriks Team Lead – Customer Success Consulting LinkedIn @WesleyHendriks

Westly Richards Customer Education Manager Optimizely @Optimizely

Whitney Hillyer VP of Customer Success BounceX @WhitneyHillyer

Zainal Khair Contact Center and Knowledge Manager, EMEA Electrolux @Electrolux

Ziv Peled VP of Client Services AppsFlyer @zivpe

CUSTOMER SUCCESS

TOP 1OOSTRATEGISTS

25INFLUENCERS

2O17

THANK YOU TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS