KEYNOTE SPEAKER
The Leaders Who Win With AI Won't Be the Most Automated. They Will Be the Best Led.
Keynotes for post-sale executives navigating the AI transition.
“I took notes on things I could do tomorrow. Actionable, practical, and exactly what post-sale leaders need right now.”
Josh Rutberg
VP Customer Outcomes, Glean
Post-sale organizations are being asked to deliver more.
Higher retention.
More expansion.
Better customer experiences.
Lower costs.
And now, a clear strategy for using AI to achieve those results.
When Rod takes the stage, he asks the audience a question most of them have been quietly sitting with:
If you were designing how your organization creates and delivers customer value today, knowing what AI makes possible, what would you build?
That question reframes the conversation from AI adoption to AI leadership, and it gives every person in the room something concrete to take back to their team.
Attendees leave with a clearer view of what needs to change, where to begin, and how to turn strategy into stronger customer and financial outcomes.
SPEAKING TOPICS
Rod’s Keynotes
All programs can be delivered as a keynote presentation, executive session, or extended learning experience. Each presentation can be customized around your audience, business priorities, and event objectives.
KEYNOTE 1
Move Beyond AI Experimentation and Redesign How You Create and Deliver Customer Value
The Chief Customer Officer Playbook for the AI Era
Most post-sale organizations are already experimenting with AI. They have launched pilots, tested tools, trained teams, and found ways to complete existing work faster. The gap between AI activity and AI results is where most organizations are stuck.
In this keynote, Rod challenges leaders to move beyond the question of how to use AI and ask instead: if you were designing how your organization creates and delivers customer value today, knowing what AI makes possible, what would you build?
Drawing from his new book, The Chief Customer Officer Playbook for the AI Era, Rod introduces a practical approach for moving from scattered experimentation to measurable improvements in retention, expansion, customer experience, and cost-to-serve.
Audiences will learn how to:
- Understand the difference between optimizing existing workflows and redesigning work around what AI makes possible
- Identify which customer workflows should be improved, redesigned, or stopped altogether
- Connect AI investments to clear customer and financial outcomes
- Establish stronger priorities instead of launching disconnected use cases
- Build a more adaptive model for creating and delivering customer value
- Lead teams through the operating model changes that AI makes possible
Best for: Chief Customer Officers, Vice Presidents of Customer Success, emerging executives, customer leadership teams, professional associations, and leadership development programs.
KEYNOTE 2
From AI Activity to AI Results
How Post-Sale Leaders Connect AI Investments to the Metrics That Matter
Most post-sale leaders can point to the AI work their teams are doing. They can name the tools, describe the pilots, and share the early wins. What they struggle to answer is the question their CEO is already asking: where has AI actually changed our customer or business outcomes?
That gap between AI activity and AI results is not a technology problem. It is a measurement and prioritization problem. And it is one of the most common challenges facing post-sale leaders right now.
In this keynote, Rod gives leaders a practical framework for connecting every AI initiative to the five places business impact actually shows up: revenue protection, revenue expansion, productivity, cost-to-serve, and customer experience.
Audiences will leave with a clear way to evaluate their current AI investments, identify which initiatives are producing real results, and walk into their next executive conversation with the ROI answer already in hand.
Audiences will learn how to:
- Identify the five places AI impact actually shows up in post-sale organizations
- Evaluate current AI initiatives against business outcomes rather than activity metrics
- Stop measuring tools adopted and time saved and start measuring what changed
- Connect AI investments to retention, expansion, productivity, cost-to-serve, and customer experience
- Build a credible AI ROI story for their CEO, CFO, and board
- Prioritize the initiatives most likely to produce measurable results
Best for: Chief Customer Officers, post-sale executive teams, revenue leadership teams, AI councils, organizations working to move beyond early AI pilots, and company leadership meetings where AI investment accountability is on the agenda.
KEYNOTE 3
Lead the Post-Sale Organization Your Business Needs Next
Evolve From Functional Leadership to Enterprise Impact
Today’s Chief Customer Officer is being asked to operate as an enterprise leader, not just a functional head. That means financial judgment, cross-functional influence, and the ability to translate customer strategy into measurable results the business already tracks.
Rod gives current and future customer executives a practical model for expanding their impact. He explores the decisions, relationships, operating rhythms, and leadership skills required to earn credibility with CEOs, boards, peers, and teams.
Audiences will learn how to:
- Connect customer priorities to company growth and profitability
- Communicate more effectively with CEOs, boards, and executive peers
- Build alignment across Customer Success, Support, Services, Sales, and Product
- Focus leadership attention on the decisions that matter most
- Develop the operating discipline required to scale
- Understand how AI is redefining the CCO role and what leadership looks like when the work is changing around you
- Transition from functional expert to influential enterprise leader
WHY ROD?
6 Ways Rod's Keynotes Create Lasting Value
He is an Experienced Operator
Rod has spent more than 20 years leading customer-facing organizations at companies including Intuit, Marketo, RingCentral, and Gainsight. He understands the pressure customer executives face because he has made the decisions himself. That credibility changes how audiences receive what he says.
A Recognized Voice in the Field
Rod is the author of The Chief Customer Officer Playbook for the AI Era, the founder of the AI in Post-Sale Council, and one of the most-cited researchers on AI adoption in post-sale organizations. He is an award winning thought leader who is recognized for his easy to understand insights and relevant stories.
Actionable Frameworks
Audiences leave with practical questions, models, and next steps they can apply inside their own organizations.
Real-World Examples
Rod brings ideas to life through examples drawn from his operating experience, advisory work, research, books, and conversations with customer leaders across the industry.
Executive Level Relevance
Rod connects customer strategy to the issues CEOs and executive teams care about most, including growth, retention, profitability, productivity, and organizational performance.
Practical Customization
Every presentation is shaped around the audience, event theme, company priorities, and desired outcomes. Rod works with event leaders in advance to understand what their people need to hear and what action should follow.
“I used Rod’s frameworks the night before a senior executive meeting on AI strategy and walked in with a sharper, clearer approach. He makes the path forward concrete.”
Laurence Leong
Head of Scaled Customer Success, Okta
THE EXPERIENCE
The Rod Cherkas Experience
A keynote that starts a conversation.
An experience that continues it.
Rod brings the perspective of an experienced operator, trusted executive advisor, and three-time author to every engagement. His presentations combine candid observations, practical frameworks, real customer examples, and questions that challenge leaders to think differently about how they create and deliver value to customers.
Depending on the needs of your audience, Rod’s keynote can be paired with:
An executive leadership discussion
An interactive breakout session
A half-day or full-day executive session
Signed copies of Rod's books
Customized tools and follow-up resources
Post-event advisory or implementation support
MEET ROD
Meet Rod Cherkas
Rod Cherkas has spent his career as a post-sale executive and trusted advisor to CEOs, CCOs, and their customer-facing teams. Over more than 20 years, he has led customer-facing organizations at companies including Intuit, Marketo, RingCentral, and Gainsight.
Today, Rod works with executives and leadership teams to improve customer retention, generate expansion revenue, and use AI to produce measurable business results. He is the founder of the AI in Post-Sale Council and the author of three books for post-sale leaders: The Chief Customer Officer Playbook, REACH: A Framework for Driving Revenue Growth From Your Existing Customers, and The Chief Customer Officer Playbook for the AI Era.
His audiences leave with clear ideas they can apply, decisions they can make, and conversations they can take back to their teams.
HOW ROD HELPs
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of events does Rod speak at?
Rod speaks at customer conferences, company kickoffs, executive meetings, leadership offsites, best-practice offsites, industry events, and internal leadership programs. His keynotes are especially relevant for customer executives, post-sale leaders, revenue teams, and SaaS leadership organizations.
Can Rod customize his presentation for our audience?
Yes. Rod tailors each presentation to the audience, event theme, business priorities, and desired outcomes. He works with event leaders in advance to understand what their audience needs and what action they want the presentation to inspire.
Does Rod charge a speaking fee?
Rod speaks at a range of events including sponsored engagements, conference appearances, and private company events. Investment varies depending on the format, audience, and scope of the engagement. Contact Rod directly to discuss your event and what makes sense for both parties.
Can Rod’s keynote be paired with an executive or working session?
Yes. A keynote can be paired with an executive discussion, interactive breakout, half-day executive session, book signing, customized resources, or post-event advisory support.
How do we invite Rod to speak?
Share your event date, location, audience, preferred format, and goals through the contact form. Rod will follow up to discuss availability, topic fit, customization, investment, and next steps.
The Leaders Who Win With AI Won't Be the Most Automated.
They Will Be the Best Led.
Bring Rod to your next conference, company meeting, leadership offsite, or customer event.