I started at Appian 12 years ago after finishing my Masters degree in Systems Engineering. I wanted to grow my technical skills but also wanted more out of my day besides coding.
I started as a Customer Success (CS) Consultant, where I was able to grow a mix of technical and people skills. After becoming a Senior Consultant, and then a Manager, I’m now a Senior Technical Delivery Manager, owning one of our service lines.
“My technical background helped me excel at Appian and, regardless of the growth path you choose, it will always be a huge benefit to your Appian career in Customer Success.“
How I learned technical skills as a CS Consultant.
There are two CS sectors at Appian: the Public Sector, working with government customers, and the Commercial sector, working with businesses across industries. I’m in the Commercial sector and from my first role, have been able to work with customers in many different fields.
In this role, I’ve not only honed my technical skills but also developed stronger communication abilities. By leveraging my technical expertise and clear, efficient communication, I’ve helped customers overcome critical challenges. This experience has deepened my technical knowledge while refining my ability to articulate complex ideas in a way that’s both accessible and impactful.
“Consulting was the perfect fit for me. The role was a great way to start my career at Appian with the mix of technical-focused work and building relationships with customers.”
Zainab with her customer success teammates
Three main growth tracks: Business, Specialist, and Architect, with space to create your own role.
I continued to learn and grow in the Customer Success team at Appian, to be a Senior Consultant and then Principal Consultant, where I took on more complicated customer projects. I even moved to London, UK, and worked at the Appian UK office for a few years supporting our European customers.
As you get more senior, there are three main paths you can grow into within Customer Success:
- Business Track – Leading a delivery team
- Specialist Track – Leading a specialist team (ie. Success Management, Solutions, Incubation, Product Design)
- Architect Track – Focusing on the technical work and leading design
No matter which path you take, leveraging technical knowledge is always valuable. Throughout my journey, I’ve learned Java, Python, and the low-code Appian platform, along with other languages that sharpen logical thinking. Once you grasp the underlying logic, you can apply it in countless ways, making problem-solving more intuitive and efficient. This foundation is an asset that will continue to benefit my career at Appian and beyond.
For the next step in my career, I chose to become a Manager, leading a team of Consultants and gaining valuable experience in management and team building. Yet, the technical skills I developed during my early years as a Consultant at Appian continue to support me every day. My technical background keeps me informed about the latest advancements, including AI, which I’ve leveraged to help customers solve their most critical challenges. This blend of technical expertise and leadership has been instrumental in my growth and success.
Within these main growth paths, there is still room to shape your role. Even when I got to the Manager level, I didn’t want to continue with a traditional path. I talked to my manager about how I could work on larger customer projects – that conversation led me to owning a new service line called Spark offering, which is focused on discovery for large customer transformations. So now, I’m a Senior Technical Delivery Manager owning the Spark offering. It’s always an open conversation here and there are many growth opportunities on the Customer Success team.
My day-to-day owning the Spark offering in CS.
When a customer embarks on a large-scale transformation with Appian, we don’t jump straight into development. Instead, we take a step back to strategize. By assessing the landscape and identifying key challenges, we create a vision of what the future with Appian will look like. Our approach helps customers build confidence, excitement, and momentum for the future.
In CS, you get to work with a variety of different companies and industries. With Appian, customers can reduce costs, save time, and improve their operations through automation.
In one of my most meaningful projects, I was able to contribute to a healthcare organization during which Appian helped them manage projects and get medical equipment to hospitals in a shorter amount of time. This ultimately helped patients receive treatment and care quicker than they were before.
My day-to-day involves meeting with customers like this in healthcare, insurance, or other fields to better understand their challenges and how Appian can help. I work closely with other teams in Customer Success and Sales to best serve our customers.
Growing your career at Appian in Customer Success.
The opportunities for career growth were one of the main reasons I joined Appian and 12 years later, it’s one of the reasons I have stayed. There are clear paths for growth to the next step, but there are also opportunities to create your own path. People at Appian are talented, trustworthy, and continuously learning. There are programs to support your growth, both technically and personally, and it’s an environment of people that gets you excited about learning and future growth ahead.
Interested in joining Appian as a CS Consultant? See our Customer Success job openings.