When Gainsight Inc. Chief Executive Nick Mehta decided to announce that his firm’s upcoming online-only conference had set a record for registrations, he didn’t send out a self-congratulatory, dry company memo. He went on a video stream from his home before the entire company and had his kids pie him in the face.

“The world wants to see CEOs being pied in the face,” said Mehta (pictured). “At Gainsight, we talk about a human-first approach to business, and we’ve never been more human as a world than we are right now. If you’re willing to be vulnerable, which takes some bravery, it can really pay off for your business, but also for you as a person.”

Mehta spoke with Jeff Frick, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the recent integration of work and home, adverse consequences for monitoring employees remotely, Gainsight’s upcoming annual conference and Mehta’s new book on customer success.

Breaking the artificial wall

The global coronavirus pandemic and a massive shift to remote work have restructured notions of leadership, communication and empathy in the workplace. Children, pets and home life in general are now all part of the mix as video conferencing has replaced stuffy meeting rooms in crowded offices.

“We can integrate our home and work in ways we never could before, and it’s really powerful,” Mehta said. “I’m in a customer meeting and the customer is bringing their kids onto the screen. It’s breaking this artificial wall between who we are at home and who we are at work.”

Despite the positive vibes being generated by the abrupt shift to remote work, there has been a downside as well. The transition has led a number of companies to invest in monitoring software tools designed to keep tabs on employee dedication to work while at home.

“There’s an older approach to work which is more like a factory,” Mehta noted. “If you’re in a world where your job is information services and software and the value is the people and their knowledge, managing them that way is a losing battle. Take that time that you spend on your micromanaging and analyzing Zoom sessions and spend it on inspiring your team.”

Content and connection

Gainsight, a software-as-a-service company focused on revenue optimization and customer success, is planning to break down more artificial walls when it holds its annual Pulse Everywhere event later this month. The company wants to move beyond the pure online presentation component and will be implementing a feature called Tribes, which will allow online attendees to reach out to others.

“How do we make it feel like you are in this really connected community even though you’re not able to shake peoples’ hands?” Mehta asked. “When you go to an event, the goal is often content, but a lot of it is connection. We will let people breakout into their own tribes and then chat with each other throughout the event.”

Gainsight’s CEO has a recently published book — “The Customer Success Economy” — that offers examples and advice on customer retention. Mehta makes the point that customer success has shifted from being a job function to a company-wide priority.

“It’s about the idea that customer success started in tech companies, but it’s now gone into many industries like healthcare, manufacturing and services. The future of the economy isn’t about market and selling and transactional products, but it’s making sure what your customers are buying is actually delivering value for them.”

Here’s the complete video interview, one of many CUBE Conversations from SiliconANGLE and theCUBE:

Photo: SiliconANGLE