Planet Labs 2026 Customer Service Department of the Year

Planet was founded with the mission to image the Earth every day and make change visible, accessible, and actionable. Over the past decade with our customers, Planet has revolutionized the Earth observation industry, democratizing access to satellite data beyond the traditional agriculture and defense sectors.

Briefly describe the nominated department: history and past performance (up to 1,250 characters):

The Narrative: From Human Effort to Augmented Intelligence Technical support is an industry historically plagued by high burnout, repetitive tasks, and cold, robotic interactions. Our history is one of elite consistency. We have maintained a >98% CSAT for four consecutive years, but in 2025, we didn't just sustain these standards-we improved them. Year-over-year, we raised our CSAT from 98.1% (CY24) to 98.6% (CY25) while maintaining a nearly flawless SLA achievement rate (CY24 & CY25 @ 99%).

This stability is remarkable because the work became significantly harder and customer ARR revenue grew by 33%. While ticket volume remained consistent (7,896 in CY24 vs. 7,862 in CY25; largely thanks to our self-service strategy), the technical complexity grew with the integration of seven major new products, including the Pelican and Tanager constellations. Agents were no longer just solving routine issues but analyzing complex scientific variables.

To adapt, we pivoted to "Augmented Intelligence"-creating the "Bionic Agent." This strategy allowed us to absorb this cognitive spike while maintaining a 65-minute median first response time, proving that even as our technology rocketed forward, our customer care remained grounded in speed and empathy.

Outline the department's achievements since July 1, 2023 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 1,500 characters):

Pillar 1: The "Bionic Agent" (The Technology) We launched a Kapa AI ecosystem that serves both customers and agents. Externally, our AI assistant handled 36,000 inquiries with a 90% accuracy rate, currently resolving 26% of tickets (compared to other Kapa customers at 24%) in under a minute. Internally, the AI acts as a "super-brain" for agents, answering 4,215 complex technical queries. This reduced administrative "noise," allowing our team to master seven new product launches-including the Pelican Constellation and Federal Defense contracts-without dramatically increasing headcount. It's even allowed us to onboard new engineers to full productivity in half the time (when comparing their KPIs to experienced peers).

Pillar 2: From Reactive to Pre-emptive (The Strategy) We shifted from waiting for tickets to anticipating needs. We expanded our Designated Technical Support Engineer (DTSE) program to all key accounts, embedding TSEs and support leaders in customer meetings to review metrics and solve issues before they were filed. This intimacy reduced executive escalations to absolute zero.

Pillar 3: Radical Empathy (The Human Element) We combated the "robotic" trend by doubling down on humanity. We hosted two global off-sites focused on soft-skills training and customer advocacy. This investment yielded an internal "Well-being" score 23.5% higher than the company average. By prioritizing agent happiness, we ensured they had the emotional capacity to deliver our 99.1% CSAT.

Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 1,500 characters):

Outperforming the "Trendsetters" While the industry accepts a trade-off between speed and quality, we rejected it. According to 2025 Freshworks benchmarks, "Trendsetter" companies achieve 97% CSAT. Planet obliterated this ceiling with a CY25 99.1% CSAT, while managing complex geospatial queries that require deep analysis, not just password resets. Our Enterprise First Response Time of 30 minutes places us firmly in the upper echelon of elite support organizations, building strong and trusting relationships with our top customers. "Rahul is always a pleasure to deal with." is one example of Bayer, one of our key customers in the agriculture sector.

Support as a Revenue Engine: Since their release in 2021, our standard support offerings have successfully generated sufficient revenue to cover 40% the operating expenses (OPEX) for the entire global support organization.

Culture as a Competitive Advantage In an industry rife with burnout, our employee engagement scores are an anomaly. Our team outperformed the company eNPS average by 135%, and our staff reported feeling "valued" at rates 7.5% (achieving a perfect score of 100) higher (achieving a perfect score of 100) than the corporate average. By focusing on development-leading to internal promotions in our global CSR & TSE teams-we retain deep institutional knowledge. We are unique because we use AI to protect our humanity, not replace it.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 1,500 characters):

• Planet support site url added
• Planet support services site url added Planet support Help Center url added
• Freshworks 2025 Customer Service Benchmark url added Planet Labs CSAT png added
• Planet Labs CSAT Feedback samples png added Planet Labs SLA Achievement png added
• Kapa Dashboard png added Kapa ticket deflection png added Kapa Stats PNG added