EMEA CSMs

View the CSM Handbook homepage for additional CSM-related handbook pages.

Introduction

This handbook page defines processes and approaches that are unique to CSMs aligned with customers in EMEA. For further information about CSM activities, responsibilities and strategy, please have a look at the AMER CSMs handbook page and the CSM Handbook homepage.

Org Structure

CSM EMEA is further divided into different regions. There are four different teams:

  • CSM SOUTH - responsible for customers in the south of Europe such as France, Italy and Spain
  • CSM DACH - aligned with customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
  • CSM NORTH - responsible for customers in northern Europe, for example in the UK and the Scandinavian countries
  • CSM META - manages customers in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa
  • CSA EMEA - responsible for Customer Success Architecture across the region

Team Contacts and Responsibilities

Elaine Barry is the director of CS EMEA. The DACH team is led by Christina Souleles with Amy Walker leading the NORTH/SOUTH team The GitLab SME collaboration requests project contains a list of the Subject Matter Experts within CSM EMEA.

  • Staff team - Specific experts / DRIs for EMEA CSM

Regional Specific Details

Compared to AMER or APJ, the EMEA CSMs are further divided into four different regions within EMEA (SOUTH, DACH, NORTH and META). Due to the many different countries, cultures and languages within Europe, the Middle East and Africa it makes sense to have designated CSMs for each sub-region. This facilitates collaboration and cooperation with different customers and makes it easier to address the individual needs and expectations of each customer.

Regional Initiatives FY26/FY27

Protected Learning Time Initiative

Overview

Issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/customer-success/csmerm/emea-cs/csm/-/work_items/152

To address the challenge of maintaining deep product knowledge amid rapid product evolution (especially AI/Agentic capabilities), EMEA CS has implemented a structured Protected Learning Time initiative. This program ensures all CSM and CSA team members have dedicated time for hands-on learning, skill development, and knowledge sharing.

The Challenge We’re Addressing

CSMs and CSAs face a critical gap between the need to maintain deep product knowledge and the reality of their workload:

  • Team members need weekly learning time but typically have only 0-1 hours available
  • Rapid product evolution (especially AI/Agentic) means knowledge becomes outdated faster than it can be refreshed
  • Training is often too generic or too technical rather than customer and business-oriented
  • No protected time historically existed for hands-on learning and experimentation

How It Works

Protected Time Allocation

  • 2 hours every Friday reserved for learning and upskilling
  • Learning time is factored into capacity planning - it’s not “extra” work
  • Managers support and protect learning time from meeting encroachment
  • No customer meetings or internal meetings should be scheduled during this time

Focus Areas

Q4 FY26 Priority: GitLab Duo, Duo Agent Platform (DAP), and Agentic AI capabilities to support FY27 customer success goals

General Learning Categories:

  • Hands-on product exploration and testing (not just videos or documentation)
  • Customer-relevant scenarios and use cases
  • Strategic positioning and business value articulation
  • Technical deep-dives in areas relevant to your customer portfolio
  • Discovery and expansion strategies

Recommended Learning Path for Q4 FY26 + Q1 FY27

To bridge self-directed learning with structured guidance, we’ve created a lightweight recommended curriculum for Q4 FY26. This path ensures team-wide baseline knowledge on priority topics while remaining flexible for individual needs.

This is guidance, not mandatory - CSMs can skip ahead, go deeper, or pivot based on urgent customer needs or existing expertise. However, following this path ensures you build foundational knowledge systematically and makes your protected time more immediately actionable.

Q4 FY26 + Q1 FY27 Recommended Curriculum:

Weeks 1-2: DAP Fundamentals + Hands-on Setup

  • Understand Duo Agent Platform architecture and key concepts
  • Set up DAP in your own test environment
  • Complete basic configuration and first agent workflow
  • Focus: Technical foundation and environment readiness

Weeks 3-4: Agentic Workflows + Customer Use Cases

  • Explore common agentic workflow patterns
  • Map workflows to customer use cases in your portfolio
  • Experiment with workflow customization
  • Focus: Practical application and customer relevance

Weeks 5-6: Business Value & Discovery Strategies

  • Quantifying AI/Agentic impact for customers
  • Discovery questions for identifying AI readiness
  • Positioning Duo Enterprise in strategic conversations
  • Focus: Strategic selling and customer success planning

Weeks 7-8: Consolidation & Customer Application

  • Apply learnings to specific customer accounts
  • Document customer success stories and use cases
  • Share insights and learnings with the team
  • Focus: Real-world application and knowledge sharing

How to Use This Path:

  • Ideal for: CSMs new to DAP/Agentic capabilities or those wanting structured progression
  • Flexibility: Skip weeks where you’re already proficient; spend extra time where needed
  • Customer-first: If urgent customer needs arise, prioritize those and adjust your path
  • Collaboration: Use buddy learning to work through topics together

Buddy Learning (Optional but Encouraged)

  • Pair up with another team member during your protected learning time
  • Share discoveries and insights in real-time
  • Build collective knowledge faster through collaboration

Implementation Details

For All CS Team Members

1. Block Your Calendar

  • Reserve Friday mornings (2 hours) starting January 16, 2026
  • Mark as “Protected Learning Time - Do Not Schedule”
  • This is non-negotiable capacity planning time

2. Plan Your Learning

  • New to DAP/Agentic capabilities? Start with the recommended learning path for Q4 FY26 above for structured progression
  • Experienced or need specific focus? Identify learning goals aligned with your customer portfolio needs and skip ahead in the curriculum
  • Choose hands-on learning over passive content consumption
  • Track what you’re learning in your personal notes
  • Adjust your path based on urgent customer needs or existing expertise

3. Share Your Learnings

  • Contribute key insights to regional team meetings
  • Document useful discoveries in the team Slack channel
  • Help scale knowledge across the team

4. Measure Your Progress

  • Set quarterly learning objectives
  • Track skills development in 1:1s with your manager
  • Connect learnings to customer outcomes

For Managers

1. Protect the Time

  • Do not schedule team meetings on Friday mornings
  • Support team members in declining meeting requests during protected time

2. Enable Learning

  • Help team members identify relevant learning priorities
  • Connect learning to customer portfolio needs and team OKRs
  • Recognize and celebrate learning achievements

3. Track Impact

  • Review learning progress in 1:1s
  • Connect upskilling to customer satisfaction and outcomes
  • Participate in quarterly effectiveness reviews

Learning Resources

For the Recommended Learning Path:

If you’re following the recommended learning path for Q4 FY26 + Q1 FY27, here are suggested resources:

  • Weeks 1-2 (DAP Fundamentals):

  • Weeks 3-4 (Agentic Workflows):

    • Workflow pattern documentation
    • Customer use case examples in the CSM knowledge base
    • CSA team office hours for technical questions

  • Weeks 5-6 (Business Value & Discovery):

    • Discovery framework documentation
    • Customer success case studies
    • Sales enablement materials on AI positioning

General Resources:

Where to Get Help:

  • #emea-cs-team Slack channel for questions and discussion
  • Regional team meetings for knowledge sharing
  • CSA team for technical deep-dives
  • Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for specialized areas

Success Metrics

We’ll measure the success of Protected Learning Time through:

  • Quarterly team surveys on learning effectiveness
  • Increased GitLab Duo Enterprise / DAP adoption in customer accounts
  • Improved product knowledge scores in customer interactions
  • Reduced time-to-competency for new product capabilities
  • Team member satisfaction with learning opportunities

Quarterly Review Process

Every Quarter (Starting Q1 FY26):

  • Team feedback collection on program effectiveness
  • Adjustment of focus areas based on product roadmap and customer needs
  • Recognition of learning achievements and knowledge sharing contributions
  • Program refinement based on team input

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What if I have an urgent customer issue on Friday morning?
A: Customer emergencies always take priority. Reschedule your protected learning time to another slot that week.

Q: Can I use this time for certifications or mandatory training?
A: Yes, if they’re directly relevant to your role and customer portfolio. However, prioritize hands-on learning that immediately applies to customer success.

Q: What if my manager schedules a meeting during protected learning time?
A: Respectfully decline and point them to this handbook page. Managers are briefed to protect this time.

Q: Can I combine my 2 hours with other weeks for longer learning sessions?
A: The intent is weekly, consistent learning. However, if you have a specific need (like a certification exam), discuss with your manager for flexibility.

Q: How do I share what I’ve learned with the team?
A: Brief updates in regional team meetings, Slack posts in #emea-cs-team, or quick recorded demos work well. Keep it lightweight.

Q: What if I don’t know what to focus on?
A: Start with the recommended learning path for Q4 FY26 + Q1 FY27 outlined above. It provides a structured 12-week curriculum covering DAP fundamentals, agentic workflows, and business value articulation. Your manager can also help you identify specific areas based on your customer portfolio.

Q: Do I have to follow the recommended learning path exactly?
A: No, it’s guidance, not mandatory. The recommended learning path ensures baseline knowledge across the team and makes protected time immediately actionable for those who want structure. However, you should adapt based on:

  • Your existing expertise (skip topics you already know well)
  • Urgent customer needs (customer-first always applies)
  • Specific gaps in your portfolio (focus where you need the most impact)
  • Personal learning preferences (some prefer structured, others self-directed)

The goal is team-wide competency in key areas while respecting individual needs and circumstances.

Feedback and Continuous Improvement

This is a living program. We want your input to make it better.

How to Provide Feedback:

  • Regular team retrospectives
  • Direct feedback to @manuel.kraft or @azaher2 in Slack
  • Quarterly surveys (distributed by program owners)
  • Your manager’s 1:1s

Program Evolution:

  • Quarterly reviews of focus areas
  • Adjustments based on team feedback
  • Alignment with GitLab product roadmap and customer needs
  • Integration with broader CS enablement initiatives

Meetings

Regular EMEA CSM Meetings

There are several meetings for all EMEA CSMs:

  • EMEA CSM & CSE Sync - biweekly on Mondays. In this meeting, announcements, changes, issues and learnings that are relevant for all CSMs in EMEA are discussed.
  • EMEA CSM Triage & CSE Office Hours - weekly on Tuesdays. CSMs can ask questions, discuss current problems and share insights.
  • EMEA CSM Social - weekly on Fridays. This is an informal and optional meeting without an agenda to chat with your coworkers.

Meeting Recordings and Summary

Zoom meetings can be recorded or summarized using the AI Companion feature provided by Zoom. Meeting Summaries allow the people who could not attend a call to quickly catch up on discussions, decisions and action items. This makes it easier for everyone to stay informed and enhances productivity and efficiency. The feature is turned off by default and can be enabled by the meeting host. The meeting host should always ask all attendees if it is alright to record or summarize the call. Additionally, all attendees will see a notification banner when Zoom call recording or Zoom AI Companion get enabled. This is especially important for customer meetings. If the customer does not want Zoom call recording or Zoom AI Companion to be used, the host should turn it off. We also have a section about call recordings in our Privacy Statement.

Slack Channels

There are multiple Slack channels for EMEA CSMs and for anyone who has a question to the EMEA CSM team:

  • #emea-customer-success - anyone can ask questions, get advice, ask for help or share insights regarding customers and events in EMEA
  • #team-csm-emea - for EMEA CSMs to communicate announcements, ask questions and share information
  • #social-csm-emea - informal communication channel within CSM EMEA to share pictures, memes, funny stories and other content that might be interesting for the rest of the team
Last modified January 9, 2026: CS EMEA - Added "Upskilling Amid Rapid Product Evolution" initiative (d2b56121)
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