In the rush to scale, many AI startups are building customer success teams before achieving true product-market fit. This article highlights the danger: customer success becomes a renewal-chasing exercise rather than a value-creation engine. The author shares a conversation with an AI founder whose team is busy with onboarding, training, and reviews, yet questions whether they are genuinely helping customers or just delaying churn. The core insight is that without PMF, customer success cannot deliver sustainable growth. For B2B SaaS leaders, this is a timely reminder to prioritize product-market alignment before scaling customer-facing teams. The piece offers practical advice on measuring PMF and aligning customer success with real value delivery.
A critical look at how AI startups risk turning customer success into a renewal-focused function without product-market fit.