Austin, Texas

Chad
Gardner

Solutions and Customer Success Engineering leader. I find the business problem behind the request, design the solution that actually fixes it, and stay with it until the value shows up at renewal.

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About Me

I've spent about 15 years in enterprise SaaS, on both sides of the deal. In pre-sales, I'm the one asking why: what's broken, what it's costing, and who feels it. Then I build the demo, POC, or architecture that shows how the platform solves that specific problem.

In post-sales, I make sure it actually does. That means onboarding, integrations, and renewal work that turns what was promised into results a customer can point to.

I've done this at Quantum Metric, Salesforce, Affinity, and Freshpaint, and today at WalkMe, where I lead a global Customer Success Engineering team focused on renewals and applied AI.

Discovery & Value Mapping Demos & POCs Solution Architecture RFP & Security Reviews Enterprise Integrations Renewal Strategy Applied AI Team Leadership JavaScript HTML / CSS SQL Digital Experience Analytics
15+
Years in SaaS
40+
Engineers Led
950+
Accounts Covered
$40M+
Revenue Overseen

How I Work

Both Sides of the Deal

Most people pick a side: sell it or deliver it. I've spent my career doing both, and the best work happens where they overlap.

Pre-Sales

Find the real pain
  • Discovery that gets past the feature checklist to the business problem and what it costs.
  • Tailored demos and POCs with success criteria agreed up front.
  • Solution architectures and RFP responses executives and engineers both trust.

The Overlap

Sell what you can deliver, deliver what you sold
  • Knowing where implementations stall makes scoping honest and promises credible.
  • Clean handoffs that carry the "why we bought" into onboarding.
  • Customer feedback that flows back to Product, from both the deal and the account.

Post-Sales

Prove the value
  • Onboarding and integrations that shorten time-to-value.
  • Creative use of the platform to solve problems the customer didn't know it could.
  • Renewal and expansion programs that catch risk early and tie work to outcomes.

Career

Experience

WalkMe (an SAP company)
Jun 2026 – Present
Austin, TX (Remote)
Sr. Manager, Customer Success Engineering
  • Lead 11 Customer Success Engineers across North America, EMEA, and APAC, covering 950+ accounts and ~$25M in ARR up for renewal.
  • Leading the move from reactive request work to proactive renewal coverage, with a two-stage Renewal Assessment program for the FY27 $100K+ Attack List (~95 priority renewals): Stage 1 surfaces the risk, Stage 2 does the work to fix it.
  • Rebuilt intake and scoping so every engagement starts from a defined customer pain point, with set deliverables, owners, and closure criteria, plus an approval gate for anything over ~5 hours.
  • Restructured coverage into seven pods aligned to CSM manager books plus a Scaled queue, and built a workload dashboard from live Salesforce data used for prioritization and reassignment.
  • Leading the AI rollout for Client Solutions: shared Claude workspace, automated assignment notes and health scans, a use case register, and a weekly AI forum, with proven automations packaged as enablement for adjacent teams.
  • Position AI inside each customer's digital adoption strategy so solutions stick and tie directly to renewal value.
Freshpaint
Apr 2024 – 2026
Austin, TX (Remote)
Enterprise Customer Success Engineer
  • Led technical onboarding for healthcare clients, implementing Freshpaint's HIPAA-compliant data platform in highly regulated environments.
  • Partnered with Account Management to map product capabilities to each client's goals, driving feature adoption and high customer satisfaction.
  • Monitored client KPIs in the platform and turned the findings into recommendations that improved their data strategies.
  • Translated technical and compliance concepts for marketers, engineers, and executives, and brought customer pain points back to Product.
Affinity
Jul 2023 – Apr 2024
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Vice President, Solutions Engineering
  • Led pre-sales solutions engineering, running technical discovery and tailored product demonstrations to advance enterprise opportunities.
  • Directed proof-of-concept design and execution for complex deals, defining how the solution would be supported through implementation.
  • Owned security and data privacy in the sales cycle, handling RFI/RFP requirements and engaging C-level executives on their concerns.
  • Wrote RFP responses and integration plans that aligned the technical solution to client requirements and sharpened sales qualification.
  • Led Professional Services in building custom API integrations with iPaaS platforms, connecting what was sold to what was delivered.
Quantum Metric
Aug 2022 – Aug 2023
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Director, CS Engineering
  • Led 20+ post-sales engineers responsible for 150 enterprise clients and ~$40M in revenue.
  • Built and ran a 6-person implementation team for complex configurations, shortening time-to-value.
  • Managed a personal portfolio of ~10 clients (~$6M ARR), including Quantum Metric's largest enterprise account.
  • Joined active deals with the sales team to walk prospects through the CS model, clear contract blockers, and validate that Quantum Metric could meet required use cases.
  • Vetted, built, and documented the most requested integrations; reported CSE KPIs mapped to company OKRs.
Oct 2019 – Aug 2022
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Manager, CS Engineering
  • Oversaw a team of 10 CS engineers responsible for 50+ clients and ~$20MM in recurring revenue, while scaling operations to support double the client volume.
  • Balanced a personal portfolio of 18 accounts contributing ~$5MM in recurring revenue.
  • Streamlined, implemented, and documented priority integrations to enhance operational efficiency and client satisfaction.
  • Created workflows and processes to ensure the effective onboarding and success of CSEs across all regions.
  • Focused on strategic initiatives to improve efficiencies across all teams, driving significant improvements in performance and customer satisfaction.
Maropost
Apr 2019 – Oct 2019
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Solutions Engineer
  • Partnered with sales and account teams to lead the discovery and technical requirements phase for new opportunities.
  • Developed and delivered customized product demonstrations and proof-of-concepts for new prospects and existing clients.
  • Documented conceptual frameworks and technical approaches to solutions.
  • Scoped and implemented integrations with customer CRM, e-commerce, and marketing platforms.
  • Built custom, bi-directional data workflows aligned to client use cases.
Salesforce
Jan 2018 – Apr 2019
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Solutions Architect (Datorama)
  • Led technical consultative engagements with enterprise customers.
  • Reviewed and assessed client technology stacks and data structures to scope and plan implementation projects.
  • Engaged with technical and functional stakeholders to produce statements of work, implementation plans, and customer enablement plans.
  • Streamlined documentation and workflows around scaling the scoping and onboarding processes.
Signal
Jan 2018 – Jan 2019
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Director, Product Solutions
  • Architected scalable, repeatable product solutions using internal components and features to meet client use cases.
  • Created internal solution design documentation to support pre-sales engineers and solutions consultants.
  • Partnered with product managers and engineers to build new features to support the future state of the platform.
  • Served as technical lead on structuring, engineering, and maintaining the Signal Identity Network.
Feb 2017 – Jan 2018
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Director, Implementation Delivery
  • Oversaw a team of global implementation consultants to standardize new client solutions.
  • Partnered with solutions consultants to develop the pre-sales to post-sales handoff process.
  • Partnered with product to share client feedback for product roadmap development.
  • Disseminated technical requirements internally across all departments to ensure operational success.
Apr 2014 – Jan 2017
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Solutions Consultant
  • Partnered with account and sales teams to lead the discovery and technical requirements phase for new opportunities.
  • Developed and delivered customized product demonstrations and proofs of concept for new prospects and existing clients.
  • Educated customers and partners on the benefits of Signal's products and identified new product functionality opportunities.
Performics
Jul 2013 – Mar 2014
Chicago, IL
Technical Account Manager, Strategy & Analytics
  • Provided technical support and training to implement tracking solutions with SEM and ad serving technology platforms across all channels.
  • Worked closely with account teams, partners, and clients to identify appropriate strategy, created tracking tags, and QA'd integrations.
  • Partnered with business intelligence and analytics teams to integrate data into the Performics data warehouse.
Oct 2010 – Dec 2013
Chicago, IL
Sr. Operations Account Manager, Local Search
  • Built, launched, and managed industry-leading, customized local paid search campaigns.
  • Focused on creating and refining efficiencies to increase scalability and effectiveness across accounts.
  • Managed 125+ advertisers and 350+ campaigns concurrently as the technical lead and launch manager for the Local Search team.

Recognition

Awards

★
Maropost Value Award
August 2019
★
Signal Amplifier Award: Innovation Winner
2017
★
Performics Vanguard Award
2012

Background

Education

Iowa State University
Bachelor of Arts, Advertising
Ames, Iowa
2001 – 2005
Let's Connect

Get in Touch

Open to new opportunities and conversations. The best way to reach me is via email or LinkedIn.

cg@chadgardner.me Resume (PDF) LinkedIn chadgardner.me