David Knuth

About David Knuth

I’m a Customer Success leader with 20+ years of experience scaling global post-sales teams and building renewal and expansion engines in complex enterprise environments. I’ve led organizations of 300+, grown annual bookings from $80M to $300M+, and maintained churn below 1% while expanding customer adoption and value realization.My specialty is operationalizing Customer Success: defining the metrics that matter, building repeatable plays, and creating account health and renewal forecasting systems that executives can rely on. I focus on outcomes, not activity — and on building programs that drive adoption, mitigate risk early, and accelerate expansion.I’m also deeply focused on automation and AI. I believe the future of Customer Success is an automation-first operating model, where AI-assisted workflows handle the noise (signals, routing, follow-ups, escalations) and humans focus on executive alignment, strategic planning, and customer outcomes. I’ve implemented scalable systems using platforms like Salesforce and Gainsight, and I’m passionate about applying agentic AI patterns to post-sales execution.I bring a blend of strategic leadership, operational discipline, and technical fluency — and I’m at my best when building systems that grow revenue, improve customer experience, and scale globally.

Experience

1. Senior Director, Customer Success - Ai Automation & Scale - Adoption, Renewals, Expansion

   Palo Alto Networks

   Feb 2026 — Present

   Senior Director leading Customer Success for North America, accountable for driving full platform adoption, customer experience, expansion, and renewals with a zero-churn mindset across a portfolio of customers. In cybersecurity, the stakes are mission-critical — customer outcomes directly impact risk reduction and operational resilience. In this role, I am building a scalable account health operating model and applying automation and AI-enabled execution to identify risk earlier, accelerate time-to-value, and drive measurable customer outcomes across the post-sales lifecycle, with a focus on scaling high-quality coverage through segmentation and digital-first engagement.

Education

• University of Michigan

  Bachelor of Science, Mathematics and Computer Science

• UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

  MBA, Marketing & Finance