Mastering CS: Candid Leader Insights

Custify | Customer Success

Welcome to Mastering CS – Candid Leader Insights, where I, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, take you on a journey into the depths of Customer Success. Each episode, I sit down with some of the most influential minds in the CS world, from seasoned managers and renowned influencers to dynamic team leaders, to uncover the challenges and opportunities that shape our profession. Our conversations are rich with insights, drawing on personal experiences and innovative ideas to offer practical solutions. Join me as we make every interaction count in the dynamic world of Customer Success!

  1. 16h ago

    Ep 74 | Kate Panasenko

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Kate Panasenko, Customer Success Manager at Raccoon Gang, a company that builds and customizes e-learning platforms. Kate's path into Customer Success is anything but conventional—from selling apples at a market at age eight to working in industrial sales before managing customer relationships across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. She shares what CS looks like when every client receives a fully customized product, why onboarding is fundamentally different in software development, and how early career experiences shaped her approach to forecasting, accountability, and customer relationships. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What Customer Success looks like when every client receives a customized solution ☑️ How Raccoon Gang supports customers across regions, time zones, and market segments ☑️ Why onboarding in software development is about aligning stakeholders—not just teaching the product ☑️ How Kate defines customer health and what drives renewals in a custom development environment ☑️ What the operational and AI infrastructure behind the CS function looks like ☑️ Why clean, reliable data is the foundation for successful AI initiatives ☑️ What industrial sales taught Kate about patience, forecasting, and accountability ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    22 min

  2. 2d ago

    Ep 73 | Patrick Ford

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Patrick Ford, Customer Success Manager at Softr, a no-code platform for building apps and client portals. Patrick brings a background in education and instructional design, which shapes how he helps customers solve problems and build the software they need. He shares what onboarding looks like when customers must be convinced not only to use a product, but to create something with it, and how Softr’s CS team combines support, sales engineering, and product feedback into a single role. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What Customer Success looks like at a no-code platform ☑️ How CS, Support, and Sales Engineering blend into one role ☑️ How Softr’s shift from PLG to a hybrid GTM model is reshaping CS ☑️ Why onboarding in no-code requires convincing customers of two things, not one ☑️ What a healthy customer looks like across SMB, mid-market, and enterprise segments ☑️ How the CS team uses AI and dashboards built within Softr itself ☑️ Why many PLG customers still prefer human support over AI chatbots ☑️ How to think about the build-versus-buy decision when customers build on your platform ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    27 min

  3. 6d ago

    Ep 72 | Viola Marku

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Viola Marku, Head of Customer Success at WunderGraph, an open source platform that helps engineering teams manage their APIs at scale. Recently promoted from individual contributor to Head of CS, Viola shares what that transition really looks like, how her lean technical team uses AI to resolve issues faster, and why curiosity remains the most important habit she has carried throughout her career. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ How WunderGraph structures a small but highly technical CS team ☑️ How Viola balances customer-facing work with leadership responsibilities ☑️ What tools and processes keep a lean CS team productive without added overhead ☑️ How AI and Claude help the team resolve issues without engineering escalations ☑️ What changed when Viola moved from individual contributor to Head of CS ☑️ What’s next for the CS team, including health scoring across all customer tiers ☑️ Why curiosity and getting to the “why” are essential skills in technical CS ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    22 min

  4. Jun 24

    Ep 71 | Veronica Bianchini

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Veronica Bianchini, Senior Strategy Customer Success Manager at Discuss, a qualitative research platform for enterprise insights teams. Veronica brings a unique blend of experience in political science, data science, research, and consulting across three countries and five languages. She shares why customer silence concerns her more than complaints, how she proves value when success isn't measured through feature adoption, and why she believes technology will always follow people—not the other way around. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ How Veronica’s background shapes her approach to Customer Success ☑️ What an effective first 90 days of onboarding looks like ☑️ Why easier onboarding can create new renewal challenges ☑️ The earliest warning sign of an account at risk—before it appears in the data ☑️ How to tell the difference between engaged pushback and an oversold customer ☑️ How to align multiple stakeholders within a complex enterprise account ☑️ How to measure and prove value when success is about decision quality, not usage ☑️ How Veronica uses AI with a data science mindset—and what she chooses not to automate ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    20 min

  5. Jun 18

    Ep 70 | Katrin Loodus

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Katrin Loodus, Customer Success Manager in the cybersecurity space. After more than a decade with the same organization, Katrin shares how working across multiple roles shaped her approach to Customer Success, why deep product and organizational knowledge help her serve customers more effectively, and how AI is helping her save time while delivering more value. She also discusses a personal social engineering incident that changed her perspective on cybersecurity and the human skills that will remain essential as AI continues to evolve. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ How working across multiple roles creates a stronger CS foundation ☑️ The advantages of deep product and organizational knowledge ☑️ How cybersecurity readiness is measured beyond training completion ☑️ What a real-world social engineering attempt taught Katrin about security ☑️ Practical ways AI can automate and improve Customer Success work ☑️ How to communicate customer needs more effectively to product teams ☑️ Which skills will remain valuable as AI transforms Customer Success ☑️ Why curiosity and continuous learning matter more than ever ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    18 min

  6. Jun 16

    Ep 69 | Nir Kalish

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Nir Kalish, VP of Customer Success at BlinkOps, an AI platform that helps security teams automate their operations at scale. Coming from a company where AI is the product itself, Nir offers a unique perspective on the future of Customer Success. He shares why white-glove CS cannot be replaced by AI agents, how BlinkOps uses its own platform to build internal CS tools, and how he approaches the build-versus-buy decision in a world where anyone can create software with AI. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ How BlinkOps structures its Customer Success and Support teams ☑️ Why an AI company still invests heavily in human Customer Success ☑️ What AI can—and cannot—do in a white-glove CS environment ☑️ How BlinkOps uses its own platform to build internal CS tools and agents ☑️ Why over-relying on AI can be as risky as ignoring it ☑️ How Nir approaches the build-versus-buy decision for CS technology ☑️ What CSM-to-customer ratios look like with and without AI assistance ☑️ Why some roles may be disrupted by AI while Customer Success remains essential ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    27 min

  7. Jun 11

    Ep 68 | Alexandra Ardelean

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Alexandra Ardelean, Senior Customer Success Manager at BigTime, a professional service automation platform for project-based businesses. Alexandra brings a uniquely diverse background to Customer Success, combining a design degree, Lean Black Belt certification, and years of operational experience—including time spent as a customer of the very platform she now supports. She shares what post-acquisition CS integration looks like in practice, why localizing playbooks requires human expertise beyond AI prompts, and why patience remains one of the most important skills she continues to develop. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What CS looks like during a post-acquisition integration—and what the role involves day to day ☑️ Why localizing CS playbooks requires cultural knowledge, not just AI prompts ☑️ How cultural differences between the US, Eastern Europe, and Poland affect CS interactions ☑️ Why being a former customer gives Alexandra a unique advantage as a CSM ☑️ How call transcripts and AI help surface insights for product discussions ☑️ What “form follows function” means in Customer Success ☑️ How Alexandra applies Lean principles when building CS processes from scratch ☑️ Why patience is a critical professional skill—and one she’s still developing ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    23 min

  8. Jun 9

    Ep 67 | Silviana Prodan

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Silvana Prodan, Team Lead Customer Success at Bloomflow, a platform that helps large organizations deploy and manage their innovation programs. Silvana brings a unique background to Customer Success, combining a PhD in communication, a career in conference interpreting, and experience working across German-, French-, and English-speaking clients. She shares how these experiences shape her approach to enterprise relationships, navigating champion and sponsor dynamics, and balancing AI tools with critical thinking. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What Customer Success looks like inside an innovation platform serving global enterprises ☑️ How Silvana’s background in languages, interpreting, and research influences her client approach ☑️ How to manage champion and sponsor relationships without losing trust ☑️ What strong adoption looks like beyond login metrics—and how to track data quality ☑️ How Silvana uses AI and automation to create more time for critical thinking ☑️ What was hardest about transitioning from project management into CS ☑️ What advice Silvana would give to someone considering a career in Customer Success ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    20 min
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About

Welcome to Mastering CS – Candid Leader Insights, where I, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, take you on a journey into the depths of Customer Success. Each episode, I sit down with some of the most influential minds in the CS world, from seasoned managers and renowned influencers to dynamic team leaders, to uncover the challenges and opportunities that shape our profession. Our conversations are rich with insights, drawing on personal experiences and innovative ideas to offer practical solutions. Join me as we make every interaction count in the dynamic world of Customer Success!

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