WoCS Austin X Cloudflare: The Forward Deployed Era + CS's Shift to Revenue
About Event
A new role is showing up on org charts across tech, and it's quietly taking the work that used to define the CSM seat.
The Forward Deployed Engineer is now hands-on with implementation and technical delivery in a way that used to sit with Customer Success. As that work moves off the CSM's plate, the CSM seat isn't disappearing, it's being redefined.
That is the real shift, and it is what this evening is about. When technical delivery is no longer how you prove your value, that value has to show up somewhere else, and more and more that somewhere is the number: the renewal, the expansion, the growth of the account. So the questions get practical fast. What do you hand off? What do you hold onto? And how do you build the language and instincts of someone who owns revenue, even if your title does not say so yet?
This time you'll hear from both sides of that handoff: a Forward Deployed Engineer who can tell you exactly what the role owns and why it exists, and a senior Cloudflare Customer Success leader whose team recently brought FDEs into the org, so she has lived what changes for CS when that work moves. The evening moves from fireside chat into small-group roundtable conversations, so every attendee leaves with a specific next step for wherever they sit in this shift.
As always, bites and beverages will be provided 🍽️
Fireside Chat Speakers
What We'll Dive Into
What a Forward Deployed Engineer actually does, and how it differs from a Technical Account Manager or Sales Engineer
What changes when technical delivery splits off from the CSM seat, and why this is happening industry-wide at the same time
Who owns the technical build or deployment now, and what CSMs are starting to own instead
Owning the number: what revenue ownership looks like for CSMs today, how CS value gets measured when it's less about hands-on technical work, and how the FDE partnership shows up in renewals and expansion
The hardest part of the transition: proving your value and staying close to the customer when you're no longer hands-on with the technical work
What to build toward over the next year to stay ahead of this shift rather than behind it
What You'll Take Away
Real talking points for the handoff conversations happening in your own org right now, straight from people who have lived this restructuring from both sides of it
Small-group time to work through the one question that hits closest to home for you, alongside peers navigating the same shift
A clearer read on what to build toward over the next year: the skills, habits, or relationships that put you ahead of this shift rather than behind it
Who This Is For
CSMs and Account Managers figuring out what's staying on their plate and what's moving off it
CS leaders and Directors/VPs who already own, or are being asked to own, a revenue number
Women working in Onboarding, Implementation, or Technical Account Management wondering what the creation of the FDE role means for them
Anyone in post-sales who wants to learn more about the Forward Deployed Engineer function
This event is part of the Women of Customer Success community, built for women working in tech and post-sales. If that's you, we'd love to have you in the room.
How to Access the Cloudflare Office
Enter Cloudflare along Comal St. and check-in at the front desk. Our event will be hosted on the first floor, to the right of security!
About Women of Customer Success
WoCS is the leading community for the best and brightest women in post-sales roles and leadership. Our mission is to connect, educate, and empower women to thrive in their careers and lead the way forward. With over 10 chapters worldwide, we are cultivating the next generation of women shaping the future of customer experience.
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