Customer Spotlight Recap: From Recognition to Results: Brad Sova, DailyPay
Thank you to everyone who joined our very first Customer Spotlight session! We had over 100 registrants tune in as Brad Sova, Senior Director of Revenue Operations at DailyPay and Gainsight Pulse 2026 Rising Star Game Changer Award winner, sat down with Scott Braga to share how DailyPay built a scalable CS operating model with Gainsight and Staircase AI.
About Brad & DailyPay
Brad leads CS Operations at DailyPay, partnering closely with CS leadership, data, and systems teams to build the operating model that helps the CS organization scale. His path into CS Ops started in public accounting and corporate finance and he brings that outcomes-first, trade-offs-aware mindset to everything he builds.
Key Highlights from the Session
Why DailyPay chose Gainsight
DailyPay had reached a point where they were adapting their business processes to fit their previous platform rather than the other way around. Brad wanted a platform that could grow with the organization they were becoming, not just the one they were at day one. What stood out about Gainsight was the opportunity to bring customer intelligence and execution together in a single platform, alongside Staircase AI for conversation and sentiment visibility.
How they drove adoption before the training even started
Brad's approach was to design the initial Gainsight experience to feel familiar to CSMs so they weren't relearning how to do their jobs at the same time as learning a new platform. He identified a group of power users early internally called "Game Changers" who became an extension of the design team, testing workflows and giving candid feedback before anything reached the broader org. By launch, CSMs weren't adopting a process ops had designed — they were rolling out something they'd already helped shape.
The feature they're most proud of — the CSM Scorecard
Using Gainsight's rules engine, DailyPay built a CSM scorecard that tracks key CS behaviors, stakeholder management, maintaining customer health profiles, and delivering executive business reviews and publishes results so managers and CSMs can see how they're tracking against targets in real time.
The results
- 105% expansion attainment for the full year up from 85% in H1
- 100% upsell attainment
- 389 health score CTAs closed
- 1,000+ Staircase-driven CTAs actioned
- 100% Staircase training completion within one week of rollout
Brad was careful to note: "Technology enabled the process our people actually delivered the results."
Top Staircase AI use cases
Brad shared three Staircase-driven CTA workflows the team relies on:
- Negative sentiment / churn risk flags conversations showing extreme negative sentiment for CSM review
- Gone quiet triggers a CTA when a customer hasn't responded in a reasonable window
- Communication gap alerts CSMs when they haven't spoken to an account in 30, 60, 90, or 120 days
Lessons learned
Brad was candid about one hard lesson: during implementation, the team made assumptions about how the Salesforce-Gainsight integration would work without fully validating them leading to rework and difficult conversations. His advice: spend more time challenging assumptions during discovery, not assuming it'll be as plug-and-play as expected.
What's next for DailyPay
The team is focused on continuing to identify new customer signals and putting more information in front of CSMs reducing the time spent searching and maximizing the time spent with customers. Brad's guiding principle: "Stay curious, continue asking questions, continue listening to your users."
Q&A Highlights
How long did it take to reach Gainsight maturity?
Around 9 months — once they'd worked through implementation challenges and checked off the boxes, the team shifted from "can Gainsight do this?" to "here's the best way to do this, here are the trade-offs."
Is DailyPay using Gainsight MCP?
It's on the radar. DailyPay uses multiple AI tools and the CS Ops team is testing applications of Claude — but Brad's approach is thoughtful: "It's not a matter of why not, it's what's the best route forward."
Do CSMs live outside of Gainsight with so many AI tools available?
For DailyPay's CSMs, Gainsight remains the primary environment; the goal is to make it as attractive and useful as possible so they don't need to go elsewhere. But Brad acknowledged the landscape is evolving and CS Ops has a responsibility to understand the trade-offs and make recommendations accordingly.
How did they avoid CTA fatigue?
By going back to stakeholders CS leaders and managers to understand what was actually a priority for CSMs, rather than letting ops prescribe everything. "If everything generates a CTA, then nothing is important anymore."
Poll Insights
From our mid-session poll, the top takeaway attendees were looking for how CS and Staircase AI work together (55%), followed by real metrics and outcomes from a peer (40%). In our closing poll, the next spotlight topic our audience most wants to see is a CS + Staircase AI integration story noted!
Drop any questions or thoughts in the comments below and a huge thank you again to Brad and the DailyPay team!
🎥 Watch the full recording here: