What Happens When a Chief Customer Officer Actually Puts Customers First

There’s a difference between saying the customer comes first and proving it.

For IT leaders, that proof shows up in how consistently they’re supported, how quickly issues are resolved, and how deeply a partner understands what matters to their business. These aren’t soft factors — they define whether your Technology Ally helps you move faster or slows you down. 

Which is exactly why Compugen created the role of Chief Customer Officer (CCO) — and why Stéphan Wener stepped into it with urgency and a focus on what matters most: outcomes. 

“I see my role as the leader of this shift toward doing what’s right for our customers,” says Stéphan. “Putting the customer at the heart of our business strategy is a very powerful commitment.” 

Listening, Learning, and Removing Friction 

When Stéphan took on the newly created role, he brought years of leadership experience inside Compugen — but even so, he approached his first months with fresh eyes. 

“We have amazing teams that are truly dedicated to success,” he says. “One of the main issues that I discovered is that we work in silos. That makes it more challenging to provide united delivery of our services.” 

Those silos weren’t about a lack of talent or intent — they were structural. Different teams engaging with customers in different ways, often without full visibility across the lifecycle of a project or relationship. 

“I believe companies that take a proactive approach with their customers build substantially better relationships.” 

Achieving that isn’t about adding layers — it’s about creating alignment and empowering people to make smarter, faster decisions. 

For IT leaders, this means fewer handoffs, faster resolutions, and a more coordinated experience across every interaction with Compugen. Whether you're onboarding, expanding services, or resolving an issue, the goal is the same: make it easier to get the outcomes your organization needs — without friction. 

Setting the Foundation for a Unified Experience 

“My CCO role is one of many I play within our organization,” Stéphan explains. “I see it as a leadership role where I make sure that our culture continues to embrace and extend its ethos of customer-centric execution.” 

The goal isn’t to overhaul what works — it’s to fine-tune and connect it. Compugen already delivers quality services. The opportunity lies in improving consistency, clarity, and responsiveness. 

“We have to be laser focused on our clients’ outcomes and align our business strategy accordingly,” says Stéphan. “We need to facilitate communication with our customers to better understand their needs, where to focus, and then elevate their experience.” 

To guide this evolution, he’s aligning the business around five main competencies: 

1. Honouring and managing customers as high-value assets 

2. Embedding customer experience into how we operate

3. Creating a customer listening path 

4. Consistently delivering proactive, high-quality interactions

5. Driving leadership, accountability, and culture 

“These aren’t just high-level goals — they’re real actions we’re taking to improve how customers experience our services.” 

“Early in my new role, I focused on better aligning sales and services toward one common goal: customer experience (CX),” he says. “Everyone understands that we have to earn the right to expand our client accounts through better CX.” 

Execution That Earns Trust 

But all the frameworks in the world mean nothing if they don’t translate into action. For Stéphan, early wins have come from being hands-on — especially when a customer is facing challenges. 

One example involved a long-standing national hospitality customer dealing with managed services delivery issues. 

“I got involved with the teams directly and implemented an approach that allows us — in partnership with the customer — to embark on a proactive improvement journey,” he explains. “As a result, the customer really opened up to me, felt listened to, and trusted that we would support their business goals.” 

That kind of engagement reinforces why the CCO role was created in the first place: to close gaps, remove ambiguity, and help customers feel confident they’ve chosen the right partner. 

“Luckily, Compugen already focuses heavily on customers, which is a great start,” he adds.  

Redefining What Success Looks Like 

As customer expectations evolve, so do the ways experience is measured. For Stéphan, it starts with asking better questions — and not being afraid of the answers. 

“We’ve started really viewing our customers as valuable assets,” he says. “This is a powerful change of vision that will allow us to better understand and measure what’s contributing to our growth — and what’s not.” 

That perspective shift will allow Compugen to focus on retention and satisfaction as strategic growth drivers. And it will bring more structure to how challenges are resolved. 

“It’s crucial to pay attention to details and be open to understanding why there are issues. That way, we can handle problematic situations with a step-by-step approach that will prove our dedication to making it right.” 

This isn’t about chasing perfection. It’s about committing to progress — and making that progress visible to customers in how issues are handled, updates are shared, and support is delivered. 

A Vision That Goes Beyond Titles 

Looking ahead, Stéphan doesn’t just see the Chief Customer Officer role as a position — he sees it as a signal to the entire organization about where Compugen is going. 

“Elevating our service delivery is key to retaining our customers and earning the right to expand with them,” he says. “It’s also crucial to our growth strategy.” 

And it’s not a one-year plan. It’s a cultural commitment. 

When asked to describe his vision for the next 12 months, Stéphan has three priorities: to be customer-centric, execution-focused, and constantly improving. 

Curious to know more about how a more unified experience could improve outcomes for your organization? Let’s start the conversation.