19 November 2026 09:15 - 09:45
Build vs. buy has reached your customers: How to fight back against AI-driven customer risk
As AI makes it easier than ever for customers to build lightweight versions of products themselves, Customer Success teams need a new way to think about retention, expansion, and value. In this session, Kurt Haberkamp will explore how CS leaders can identify where AI creates risk in their customer base and respond by steering customers toward higher-value capabilities that are harder to replace.
Kurt will share how teams can spot customers whose use cases are vulnerable to AI substitution, especially those relying on basic reporting functionality, and reposition the relationship around deeper value such as regulatory expertise, data services, and more embedded, sticky solutions.
This session will offer a practical lens for CS leaders who want to protect revenue, reduce churn risk, and make sure their teams are selling value that AI alone cannot replicate.
Key takeaways:
- Why AI substitution risk should now be treated as a core CS concern
- How to identify customers whose current use case is vulnerable to being rebuilt with AI
- How to shift conversations toward value AI cannot easily replace, including regulatory services, data services, and sticky workflows
- How Kurt is framing this internally across CS, peers, and adjacent teams
- What CS leaders can do to turn AI disruption into an upsell and cross-sell opportunity