At Pavilion, we believe the future of go-to-market belongs to the cross-functional teams who look beyond the funnel—and into the full customer lifecycle. That’s why I sat down with Karen Budell, CMO of Totango, fresh off her time at Forrester’s B2B Summit, to unpack her sharpest takeaways for fellow GTM executives.
Karen didn’t hold back. From the myths of digital-only customer success to the quiet revolution brewing in AI adoption across post-sale teams, here’s what’s top of mind for one of the sharpest CS-aligned CMOs in tech.
What was the biggest theme you walked away with from the B2B Summit?
Honestly, it's this growing realization among CS leaders that we may have over-rotated to digital at the expense of the human touch. Many teams scaled down human CSMs thinking tech could replace them—but now they're seeing gaps. Digital programs alone—emails, in-app messages, knowledge bases—aren’t always enough to drive retention and expansion.
So what does the right mix look like?
It’s about strategic blending. Use digital for quick fixes—a knowledge base for how-tos, webinars for integrations, AMAs for FAQs. But when a customer is navigating a business change, unsure if they’re tracking to goal, or needs to revisit strategy? That’s when a human CSM becomes essential.
We’ve started seeing this hybrid role emerge—a “digital CSM”—powered by AI. These bots can answer routine questions and signal when a customer needs escalation to a real person. Done right, it frees your team up for more strategic work.
What else are GTM leaders overlooking?
The post-sale funnel. For too long, we've been addicted to acquisition. Ring the gong, move on. But that’s not sustainable. Retention and expansion are where reliable growth lives.
You spent all that time and money acquiring a great-fit customer. The smartest move now is to keep them. And that requires CS, marketing, and sales sitting at the same table. I’m amazed at how few companies align cross-functionally around the customer base.
Marketing’s mantra is “know your customer”—but we often forget the ones we already have.
Exactly. Marketers obsess over personas for prospects, but often ignore the treasure trove of insight sitting in their existing customer base. What makes a sticky customer? What behaviors lead to expansion? CS and Marketing together should be mining that gold daily.
You also mentioned your passion for Customer Advisory Boards (CABs). Tell me more.
Our CAB is one of the most impactful things we do. We curate 20 senior leaders—think VP+, C-level in revenue and post-sale—and meet quarterly. It’s not a sales pitch. It’s a community.
We use CABs to listen: What are their top business priorities? Where do they need support? We bring in external speakers, share what we’re seeing in the market, and co-create solutions. It also helps us refine our product roadmap and strategic direction.
And these aren’t just users—they’re budget holders. CABs are a smart way to deepen multi-threaded relationships that matter at renewal time.
Let’s talk AI. Where do you see CS teams on the adoption curve?
Lagging. Marketing and Sales are already experimenting with AI. Customer Service has jumped in to manage ticket volume. But Customer Success is still hesitant—mostly because of the “human-first” ethos of the role.
But AI isn’t here to replace relationships—it’s here to remove the repetitive. If we can take the admin and task work off a CSM’s plate, they can focus on strategic value delivery. That’s what executives want from their CS teams now: more technical, more strategic. Not ticket routing.
One last takeaway?
Data chaos. Everyone at the summit seemed to be selling insights. But the truth is, most GTM orgs are still struggling with messy CRMs and inconsistent inputs.
The silver lining? AI is making it easier to work with imperfect data. You don’t need to clean everything before gaining value. What will matter most is the insight layer—tools that help you optimize revenue-generating workflows. But beware of black boxes. Transparency and actionability are key.
Final Thoughts
Karen’s take is clear: the future of GTM isn’t just about getting more customers. It’s about keeping and growing the right ones—and that means rethinking how we partner across functions, invest in customer experience, and augment human strategy with smart technology.
At Pavilion, we’re seeing this shift across our membership too. If you’re a marketing, CS, or sales leader looking to grow in a more efficient, customer-centric way, now is the time to align post-sale with your go-to-market engine.
