How Human-Centric AI Frees CSMs for Strategic Work at BMC

Leading customer success at a global scale is never easy—especially after a company split. For Sofia Barbosa, this meant steering a leaner team while still supporting hundreds of BMC products worldwide. The challenge: deliver more impact with fewer hands. The solution: build Succedo, an AI platform that reimagined how her team worked. The results spoke for themselves—customer success stories accelerated from months to days, output tripled, escalations dropped, and CSMs finally had time to focus on the strategic work that drives growth.

In this episode, Sofia shares the inside story of how she’s embedding AI across customer success at BMC. From value summaries and training path recommendations to support prioritization and statements of work, Sofia is proving that AI isn’t about replacing people—it’s about elevating them. She explains how she manages change, structures her AI teams, and why she believes experimentation (and even failure) is the only way forward.

What you’ll learn:

- How Succedo helped triple the output of customer success stories.

- The role of AI in reducing escalations and improving customer sentiment.

- How to build specialized AI teams inside a large enterprise.

- Why “human in the loop” remains critical in AI adoption.

- The mindset shift leaders need to drive AI transformation.

Check out the Key Takeaways & Transcripts: https://www.gainsight.com/presents/series/unchurned/

Where to Find Sofia:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiabarbosa/

Where to Find Josh:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/

In this episode, we cover:

0:00 – Preview & Introduction

1:40 – Meet Sofia Barbosa (CCO, BMC Software)

3:15 – Sofia’s promotion and the BMC split

6:53 – Why & how Succedo was born

11:30 – The impact of using Succedo

12:55 – Using AI to create value summaries

15:40 – Creating personalized training paths with AI

18:35 – AI for support: prioritization and sentiment analysis

21:18 – Automating statements of work with AI

24:35 – Building “Succedo Forge” and “Succedo Care” teams

27:10 – Managing change and team sentiment around AI

28:45 – Advice for CCOs driving AI transformation

Referenced:

- Sofia's post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sofiabarbosa_customersuccess-ai-bmc-activity-7366224818586685441-q74P