Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com.
Simon Farthing, VP of Customer Success at Bloomreach, joins Josh Schachter to discuss what it actually takes to lead a customer success organization in the AI era. Drawing from his experience leading a 100-person CS and services team, Simon shares the lessons he's learned from experimenting with AI tools at scale, building internal tools, rethinking team structure, and preparing for what's next. It's a candid conversation about moving beyond AI hype and turning it into measurable operational impact.
---
What You'll Learn
- Lessons from testing 60+ AI tools across a 100-person CS organization
- How Simon built a personal AI command center in Claude
- A practical framework for build vs. buy vs. build-on-top decisions
- Why AI accuracy becomes non-negotiable at the executive level
- Why "tool migration" is becoming a core professional skill
- How Bloomreach rebalanced CSM compensation around GRR and NRR
- Why Forward Deployed Engineers are emerging and where they fit
---
Timestamps
0:00 - Preview & Intro
1:28 - Meet Simon Farthing, BloomReach overview
2:48 - 60+ AI tools tested, tool proliferation problem
6:00 - Building "Mission Control" in Claude
8:57 - Bottoms-up AI leadership structure
11:00 - The accuracy problem: when AI slides hit the boardroom
13:52 - Tool migration as a critical human skill
15:05 - Build vs. buy vs. build-on-top framework
17:00 - CSM comp redesign
18:33 - The rise of the Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)
21:10 - Smaller customers and customer marketing, agentic AI
---
Josh is writing a book on building customer relationships. Follow his journey and insights at www.joshschachter.com
---
Where to Find the Guest
Simon Farthing: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-farthing/
---
Where to Find the Hosts:
Josh's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/
Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/
![[Un]Churned – The No. 1 Podcast for Customer Retention](https://img.poddtoppen.se/unchurned-the-no-1-podcast-for-customer-success-uw46Z26VGEbq.jpg?width=300&height=300)