Episode 150
11 Mar 2026
40 min
Building Customer Success Skills That AI Can’t Replace
What if the fastest way to elevate your career is to get more human as you get more technical?
In this episode
Lessons from Bloomberg on customer advocacy without authority
Integrating a startup culture into Cisco's Customer Success team
Pragmatic AI use cases that compress a full day's work into minutes
How to create a safe culture to experiment and share failures
Redefining productivity as making time to be human
The secret to being a great leader
We sit down with Tamara Kempf, Regional Director, EMEA Customer Success at AppDynamics (a Cisco company), to unpack her career built on curiosity, grit, and the kind of EQ that technology can’t replace.
We trace her journey from science student to landing a first job at Bloomberg to now Cisco Customer Success leader, turning setbacks into growth, and using AI where it counts without losing the human edge. You’ll hear practical stories of how to save days of work, coach teams with empathy, and hire for skills that last.
If you’re navigating customer success, leadership, AI adoption, or all three, you’ll find tactics you can try today and a mindset that lasts.
Marija Skobe-Pilley
Founder and host
