CSM roles decline 700% as AI-native companies shift to forward deployed engineering

The Gist

• Traditional CSM titles now trigger buyer skepticism per Assembly AI data
• Forward deployed engineer roles grew 1000% while CSM hiring flatlined
• Harvey uses old-school EBRs for AI adoption in conservative industries
• AI-native companies avoid mentioning AI in positioning to signal maturity

• The CSM role grew over 700% through Q2 2022 and then flatlined for four years running, while forward deployed engineering is up more than 1,000% and still climbing, signaling a structural shift in post-sales roles.
• AI-native companies are shifting from traditional CSM roles to forward deployed engineering, focusing on building trust progressively, investing in domain expertise, and going deep rather than wide.
• Lovable's approach to customer success includes stopping the overemphasis on AI, rewiring the clock to match product speed, designing for experiences not activities, controlling the stack, and aligning value with revenue.
• Harvey's traditional CS motion in the legal AI space shows that selling AI is about selling a fundamental change in workflow, not just software, emphasizing the human layer in change management.
• Assembly AI's shift from CSM to FDE roles highlights the importance of technical capability in customer success, with metrics showing significant improvements in resolution rates and scalability.
• The new metrics for AI-native CS include eval pass rate, time to first value, velocity, and a reset NRR, reflecting the shift from protecting an annuity to operating a toll booth.

• Shift from traditional CSM roles to forward deployed engineering to align with the structural changes in post-sales work.
• Focus on building trust progressively, investing in domain expertise, and going deep rather than wide in customer engagements.
• Redefine customer success metrics to include eval pass rate, time to first value, velocity, and a reset NRR.
• Conduct a time-and-motion study to define your unit of work, map context and correctness inputs, and hire accordingly.

• 700% (Growth of the CSM role through Q2 2022, followed by a flatline for four years.)
• 1,000% (Increase in forward deployed engineering roles over the same period as CSM flatline.)
• 26% (Legal teams using GenAI, double the prior year.)
• 78% (Legal professionals who believe AI will be central to their work.)
• 4x (Firms with a visible AI strategy are more likely to see ROI than those with ad hoc adoption.)
• 75% (End-to-end resolution rate achieved by Assembly AI's customer support agent in 45 days.)