Customer education is an ever-evolving field with endless learning opportunities.
While books and podcasts offer a wealth of knowledge, nothing beats learning from those who are deeply entrenched in the industry—those who are actively shaping the world of customer education.
In this updated list, meet 25 remarkable individuals whose insights and experiences are invaluable for anyone looking to deepen their understanding and expertise in customer education. Follow these pioneers and leaders to stay ahead in this dynamic field.
25 People to Follow in Customer Education
Click each linked name to go directly to each person’s LinkedIn page, then hit the follow button!
1. Vicky Kennedy
Vicky started her career in customer education at Meta, working on technical enablement, then Amazon, where she led advertiser education. Since then, she’s held several executive titles focused on organizational education, education strategy, and certifications and assessments.
In 2023, she founded Ecthus, a consultancy focused on using education as a business strategy.
Hear from Vicky on The Jasons Podcast or on the Customer Educated Podcast.
2. Joe Ryan
Joe is the glue that holds us all together. Each week Joe publishes Customer Education Weekly—a roundup of recently published content for folks in the industry. This incredibly valuable resource delivers top articles, events, podcasts, and LinkedIn posts to your inbox every Monday.
3. Eric Mistry
As the Strategy & Shared Services Operations Manager at ContentSquare, Eric blends technology and education. If you’re interested in educational technology and automation, give Eric a follow!
Check out this podcast episode where Eric talks about automations he built for the customer education team at Heap, saving hours of manual and repetitive work.
4. Kevin Alster
As the head of Synthesia Academy, Kevin educates on using AI for workplace learning. His focus on synthetic humans and the FOCA framework is changing how we think about video instruction in customer education.
You can frequently find Kevin contributing to the customer education community through webinars and speaking engagements.
5. Blair Mishleau
As the Principal Customer Education Manager at Clever, Blair spends a lot of time thinking about how to improve his teams’ capacity through automation and process improvement. And he’s sharing what he's implementing with us on LinkedIn.
In his new series, 2% Better, he’s highlighting an operational improvement his team is making to gain small efficiencies.
6. Adam Avramescu
Any list on customer education would be incomplete without Adam, who literally wrote the book on customer education. He’s also the co-host of one of the only customer education-focused podcasts, CELab, and VP of Customer Education at Personio. He’s now encouraging people to share what they’re doing and how on LinkedIn—rather than high-level posts that leave people struggling to implement.
7. Dave Derington
Dave is the other co-host of CELab and a long-time practitioner of customer education. Following him on LinkedIn, you’ll find videos, podcasts, and other applicable resources on growing a customer education program.
8. Debbie Smith
Debbie is an OG in the world of customer education. She serves as the President of CEdMA (a customer education association), the Senior Director of Visier University, and a moderator in the Customer Education Slack. Debbie has a strong background in education—including instructional design, customer education, credentials, and certifications—and you can find her sharing her knowledge and experience through webinars, ebooks, and events.
9. Courtney Sembler
Most customer education practitioners look to HubSpot Academy as a kind of holy grail of customer education. Courtney currently serves as Director of HubSpot Academy and has been on the HubSpot Academy team since 2017. You’ll find her on webinars, speaking at INBOUND, and sharing about the next generation of customer education.
10. Kristin Thompson
Kristin’s background bridges product success, customer education, and scaled customer success—making her a powerhouse resource on the customer journey. Kristin shares insightful posts on how we can think differently to engage customers throughout their lifecycle.
11. Dan Braithwaite
As Senior Director of Product Training, Dan is practicing the craft at Mediaocean. He also pays it forward by hosting CE Beers EMEA and writing articles for Training Industry about topics like measuring training outcomes.
12. Matthew Tidwell
For nearly 10 years, Matthew has been working as an extension of teams to create training content and program materials. He posts regularly with short tips and videos on how to create engaging content. Each week, he publishes the customer education blueprint newsletter, filled with strategies to grow your customer education program.
13. Jeff Campbell
Jeff has been in education a long time—and his passion is helping people create engaging learning experiences that drive ROI. He regularly posts about motivational design and incentives to drive engagement.
14. Tiffany Taylor
Tiffany is the Senior Director of EDU Success & Education at Handshake, a job connection platform for college students and grads. Each week, Tiffany posts a video tip about education and onboarding.
15. John Leh
John is the founder of Talented Learning, a learning tech analyst company. His background spans both LMS sales and education, giving him a unique perspective on the market. His podcasts Talented Learning and Customer Ed Nuggets offer valuable insights.
16. Lila Meyer
Lila is the Director of Education Services at Gainsight and regularly shares her insights on all things customer education, customer success, and related subjects. You can also join live workshops Lila offers through Gainsight or find her speaking at events like Pulse and CEdMA.
17. Kat Breeggemann
With a background in marketing, customer success, and customer programs, Kat now oversees digital customer success at Salesloft. Like many of us, Kat is passionate about delivering customers what they need when they need it. On LinkedIn, she shares what she’s learning from building out the digital customer journey at Salesloft.
18. Kristine Kukich
Kristine is overall a great person to be connected to. On LinkedIn, you’ll see a mix of job postings, articles, and events related to customer education and training on her page. Kristine serves with CEdMA (Customer Education Management Association) and co-hosts Mixology, a video series on the intersection of customer marketing and customer education. She’s also regularly updating the community on practical applications of AI in CE.
19. Sarah Norton
Sarah is the Manager of Customer Enablement and Experience Programs at Salesloft. She’s also neurodivergent and shares tips and insights on how we can make both learning and work more accessible to all people.
20. Roberto Aiello
Roberto is a Sr. Learning Experience Designer at Personio. Before Personio, he spent almost 9 years at Zendesk as an LXD and manager of instructional design. Roberto is a passionate, multidisciplinary thinker and shares what he’s learning along his journey.
21. Donna Weber
Donna Weber is the author of Onboarding Matters and a leading voice on the topics of onboarding and everboarding. Follow her on LinkedIn or subscribe to her email list for content on customer education throughout the customer lifecycle.
22. Said Saddouk
Said calls himself the “Facilitainer”, and he lives up to the moniker. Said’s all about making learning and facilitation fun and engaging. If you host live, or virtual training and are looking for creative inspiration, give him a follow up.
23. Simon Dunant
Simon has a unique voice in the industry as someone who has spent over 15 years building online, academies, customer, education programs, and digital training media. As the founder of CourseProfs, he now serves as an extension of in-house teams, and shares his years of experience through content and webinars.
24. Pam Micznik
Pam is the unofficial (or maybe official?) cheerleader for customer education. On her website, Zenya Learning, she shares a round up of conferences and resources for customer education and customer success professionals. (And if you need a reminder about speaker submission deadlines, she’ll share those on LinkedIn!)
25. Brian Childs
For the last few years, Brian has been collaborating with folks in the CE industry on resources like job-level guides, a budget calculator, a maturity model and more. He also hosts the monthly CE Beers event—live in the Pacific Northwest, and virtual for those who can tune in after hours.
26. Shannon Howard
I know it’s very not-cool to add yourself to a list like this, but my hand has been forced! I consider myself a champion of and advocate for education. I host a monthly webinar series highlighting CE thought leaders, write for the Intellum blog on all things CE, co-host Mixology with Kristine, and host regular Roundtable conversations. Follow me on LinkedIn for ideas and inspiration or if you want a connection to another CE friend.
Of course, Intellum is here to help you on your customer education journey as well. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to get a recap of recent articles and events on running successful education programs.
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