David Kay
Principal of DB Kay & Associates, Inc.
A Thought Leader with a Track Record
David has been innovating in using technology in service of knowledge-intensive businesses like customer support since 1984. He has managed change, developed business processes, and applied software that has empowered knowledge workers in the fields of customer service, e-commerce, library science, software development, and national intelligence analysis.
A Focus on Customer Support
David Kay is a trusted advisor to service and support executives at NetApp, Unilever, Farmers Insurance, Citrix, and Extreme Networks. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and webinars. He was recognized as an Innovator by the Consortium of Service Innovation (CSI), and is KCS Trainer Certified by the KCS Academy to teach the Knowledge-Centered Service Practices, Coaching, Leadership, and Intelligent Swarming workshops. He has been granted five patents for his work in knowledge management technology.
His current work leverages twenty-five years of experience in envisioning, developing, marketing, and rolling out technology to aid knowledge-intensive businesses. David is co-author of Collective Wisdom: Transforming Support with Knowledge, available on Amazon.com, and teaches the LinkedIn Learning course on Customer Service with AI and Machine Learning.
Developing Product Strategy for a Software Innovator
David Kay held leadership roles at Kanisa Inc., a leader in knowledge-empowered customer service from 1998 to the launch of DB Kay & Associates at the end of 2002. He developed product strategy and oversaw his company’s transition from a custom software house to an application service provider to a software products company.
Prior to that role, Kay led TRW Search Access, a software start-up delivering a new way for researchers and librarians to access multiple information repositories seamlessly, and held product management and marketing positions at NeXT Software and Apple Computer. Kay graduated from Dartmouth College with an A.B. in Computer Science.
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Jennifer Crippen
Principal Consultant
Jennifer joined DB Kay & Associates, Inc., in July of 2010 with 25 years of experience in Customer Support. She was most recently KCS Program Manager at VeriSign, Inc., where she actively participated in Knowledge-Centered Service since its launch in 2001.
She started her career in the Natural Food industry, working her way up to Store Manager where she independently oversaw store operations. This experience provided her with continued focus on customer experience, budget decisions, employee management and growth, and operational determination for the business.
She decided to change gears and move into High Tech. Jennifer joined VeriSign, starting as an agent in the call center, then being promoted to a supervisor, and then to a business analyst responsible for internal control audits and all operational reporting for Support. She then moved over to KCS program management, where she drove the Knowledge-Centered Support Program for about 4 years. During this time, she managed an InQuira implementation and launched a new Self Service Support site to thousands of customers worldwide.
As a KCS Program Manager, Jennifer joined the Consortium for Service Innovation, actively participates in program meetings and has been recognized as an Innovator by CSI. She has also participated in the KCS professional certification criteria as a member of their Certification Committee and as a contributor to the KCS v5 and v6 Practices Guide, the KCS v6 Adoption Guide and is KCS v6 Practices Certified. Jennifer is KCS Trainer Certified and spends most of her time delivering multiple KCS focused classes. Jennifer has a wealth of experience in Knowledge-Centered Service practices and implementations, operational management in Support and self-service localization strategy.
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