Krishna Saw

At Splunk, we’ve been leveraging WalkMe since 2019 to address core challenges around employee onboarding, software adoption, and process efficiency across our digital ecosystem. As a fast-growing organization with a complex tech stack, we recognized early on that simply deploying digital tools wasn’t enough—true value comes from ensuring our employees can use those tools effectively and confidently. That realization sparked our long-term digital adoption journey.

As we matured in our digital adoption strategy, the focus shifted. While onboarding and adoption remain critical, we now prioritize improving employee productivity, optimizing onboarding experiences, and expanding automation to support business outcomes at scale.

We manage digital adoption initiatives across more than 18 systems, spanning CRM, ERP, HCM, ITSM, communication, LMS, and productivity platforms—including tools like Salesforce, Workday, Okta, Gmail, ServiceNow, Jira, Tableau, Outreach, Quip, CPQ, and Clari. With such a diverse application landscape, consistency in user experience and efficiency became our key business drivers.

Business Challenges:

1. Post-Acquisition Complexity: Following Splunk’s acquisition by Cisco, we underwent significant transformation. The integration marked an exciting milestone but brought uncertainty and created confusion among sellers who needed to stay focused on driving revenue while adapting to new ways of working.With multiple updates and shifting expectations, sellers struggled to understand what had changed, how to proceed with key tasks, and where to find up-to-date information.This confusion led to inefficiencies, increased support requests, and the risk of stalled deals during a critical time.To address this, we turned to WalkMe—a platform we’ve trusted since 2019 for digital adoption and user enablement.We rapidly deployed WalkMe in multiple iterations in Salesforce to guide our sales teams through the evolving processes in real time.
2. Inconsistent Onboarding: Despite past improvements, there remained variability in Teachme onboarding. We figured out the gaps and re-introduced the content ensuring higher usage and better onboarding.
3. Demand for Automation: As our business scaled, there was increasing pressure to automate routine processes and reduce reliance on manual intervention to maintain accuracy and speed. We spotted these issues and carefully introduced subtle Walkme automations that have proven to be very effective.”

At the core of our digital adoption strategy is a flexible, iterative delivery model that enables us to respond quickly to business needs while maintaining a high level of quality and impact. We work in agile cycles—from intake and prioritization through to rollout and performance analysis—ensuring every initiative is well-planned, user-focused, and aligned with enterprise goals.

To stay aligned with evolving functionality across systems, we maintain regular collaboration with subject matter experts (SMEs) in each business unit. Their insights inform the development of tailored content that supports system updates and new processes.

Building Intuitive Experiences Through Design:
We’ve also placed strong emphasis on user experience and design quality. By applying UX principles, we’ve enhanced the visual appeal, relevance, and usability of our content, making it more intuitive and engaging for users. We don’t settle on the first version—our designs go through multiple iterations and demo cycles with stakeholders to ensure clarity, effectiveness, and alignment with user expectations.

Spotlighting Success: Our Quarterly Update:
To keep momentum high and visibility strong, we launched a quarterly digital adoption newsletter. This initiative showcases our achievements, new deployments, and user impact stories—keeping leadership engaged, stakeholders informed, and our program consistently top-of-mind across the organization.

Strategic Enhancements Backed by WalkMe Insights:
WalkMe Insights plays a key role in our optimization efforts. We regularly analyze behavioral data and usage patterns to identify friction points, adoption gaps, and opportunities for automation. These insights drive continuous improvement, with enhancements prioritized and introduced on a recurring basis to ensure the platform evolves with user needs.

Seamless Experiences Backed by Smart Feedback:
Our feedback loop includes top performers as well as disengaged users, helping us understand both success factors and pain points. We’ve also strengthened cross-application continuity using WalkMe Bots and API integrations, offering a connected experience across our tech stack.

To align with organizational change initiatives, we partnered with our change management and communication teams to ensure every rollout is well-supported, visible, and tied into the broader enterprise roadmap. Leadership endorsement has also been key—we involved senior VPs in launch communications, including recorded messages that helped reinforce the strategic value of WalkMe and drive a culture of digital adoption.

We consistently close the loop by sharing wins, adoption metrics, and ROI stories with leadership and SMEs, while using feedback to shape future content and initiatives. These efforts have helped us build trust, improve user confidence, and position WalkMe as a vital enabler of employee productivity and digital success at Splunk.

In 2024, we’ve seen WalkMe evolve into a true digital partner across the organization. Splunkers no longer just know what WalkMe is—they expect it, trust it, and actively engage with it to navigate complexity, reduce effort, and stay productive.

Empowered Users, Elevated Experiences:
This year, usage has hit an all-time high, with employees proactively seeking out WalkMe content to streamline their workflows. The mindset shift is clear: WalkMe is no longer seen as optional help, but as a core part of how people get work done. This cultural shift has led to:

• Higher completion rates for key tasks within critical platforms.
• Fewer user errors and support escalations, thanks to precise, context-aware guidance.
• Increased productivity, especially among users handling complex, cross-functional tasks.

Action Bots in Action
WalkMe Action Bots have truly come into their own this year. We’ve expanded automation use cases and refined them based on user feedback and behavioral data. The result:

• Bots are now actively reducing manual steps, saving time and minimizing context switching across tools.
• Automation adoption increased by over 60% compared to last year, with users now routinely turning to bots to complete approvals, update records, and trigger workflows.
• Feedback is overwhelmingly positive, with users citing speed, simplicity, and reduced cognitive load as key benefits.

Keeping Leadership Aligned
WalkMe’s analytics provide leadership with deep insights into user behavior and process effectiveness, enabling informed decision-making and continuous optimization. To ensure leadership stays fully aligned, we also highlight these insights in our quarterly newsletter, which features recent deployments, key wins, and a preview of upcoming initiatives—offering a comprehensive update on our progress and future plans.

Success Metrics

1CX URM- Built multiple tooltips on Risk CTA and Activities section to provide just in time guidance to sellers. Also introduced a feature on the Account page to help users access the “Call to Action” using a single click.

• Metrics – Within 3 months tool tips were viewed ~1000 times. The Call to Action launcher was clicked more than 370 times and the guided tour was used.

RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed)- Provided just in time RACI guidance in the Value Plan through tool tips to give the users information about their roles as Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each field.

• Metrics – Within 3 months tool tips were viewed ~1000 times which helped the users to make a decision as to what should be entered in the fields.

SAP Ariba (1 year) – There are > 80,000 WalkMe engagements, mainly 50% on SWT/automation, 26% tooltips and 11% launchers.

Gmail – (1 year) – 2400 completed tasks, ~37,664 times Smart Walk-Thrus played.

Workday (15 days annual enrollments) – 99% user interactions, SWT 8772, Smart tips ~22000, shoutouts 8749, launchers 5000, resources 132.

Since 2019, our WalkMe journey has been a steady progression marked by growing user trust and strategic focus. Each year, we’ve built on the last, aligning WalkMe’s capabilities with evolving business needs and user expectations.

Here’s a look at how our priorities have shaped the journey:

• 2019 – Laying the Foundation:
We introduced WalkMe to the organization, rolling it out across key platforms such as Salesforce, Ariba, Gmail, and Okta to establish a consistent support layer across the digital workspace.
• 2020 – Boosting Productivity Through Automation:
Focus shifted to driving efficiency by implementing mini-automations that simplified repetitive tasks and reduced friction in everyday workflows.
• 2021 – Leading Change and Rebranding WalkMe:
WalkMe played a critical role in change management during our transition from Salesforce Classic to Lightning, while also reinforcing internal branding efforts to increase recognition and trust.
• 2022 – Elevating UX and Automation:
We enhanced the user experience by launching monthly “shoutout” updates and integrated a Slack bot, Winroom, to run at each quarter’s end—helping sales teams close deals faster with better support and timely insights.
• 2023 – Strengthening Onboarding and Self-Guided Learning:
We expanded WalkMe’s role in new hire onboarding, particularly in Salesforce, and introduced TeachMe, enabling scalable, self-paced learning that accelerated ramp-up time for new team members.
• 2024 – Scaling Automation and Navigating Post-Acquisition Transitions:
Action Bots and enhanced automation reduced manual effort significantly. We also leveraged WalkMe to support seller teams in navigating post-acquisition changes, helping reduce confusion and improve process clarity.
• 2025 – Advancing Productivity:
Our current focus is on deepening productivity gains, continuing to streamline workflows and scale support in ways that free up our teams to do higher-impact work.

We started with a team of 2 and are currently a team of 11 WalkMe Developers with at least 5 SMEs and best design skills. Our team includes-

• CoE team – 11 DAPers
• Live in 18 enterprise platforms including SFDC,CPQ, ERP, HCM, Gmail, SNOW, JIRA, LMS, CMS, Tableau, Quip, Outreach, Clari and all.
• AGILE Delivery – We deliver avg. 8-10 projects monthly.

WalkMe — and the impact is clear. It’s not just boosting productivity, it’s transforming the user experience. Let’s take a quick look at some key insights!

Cisco cross sell and Appd (Post-Acquisition Complexity) – Prevented the user from creating a Quote or submitting a Quote for approval if it is a Cross Sell deal and guided the user to create an INH case which will then be sent to the deals ops team to assist.

• Metrics- More than 10k opportunities were scanned to scan quote creation. 97 cross sell opportunities were encountered and 97 INH cases were created.

AppD Toolkit- Built simplified and user friendly menu operated automation around AppD Deals to help AppD Sellers in Quote creation, Submit for Approval, New AppD Deals and Case Status check.

• Metrics- >11000 deals were reviewed in a qtr to validate quote creation and ~195 AppD opportunities  got validated within 2 months.

Winroom(SFDC + slack integration)- Automating quarter-end deal support to ensure timely resolution and smoother sales execution.

• Metrics- ~3350 deal escalations, saved ~6700 hrs and many potential deals from risk of failing out of qtr.

Global Initiative Tagging- Introduced new updates on the “Initiative” field using proactive and reactive validations to ensure consistency while promoting seamless learning for the sellers.

• Metrics- High user engagement observed across key touchpoints — with over 10,000 combined interactions including Shoutouts, Smart Tips, Launchers, and field guidance tools.

KCS articles Visibility and Applicability- Introduced concise and automated validations to ensure 0 errors while creating and editing Knowledge Articles.

• Metrics- Within 3 months ~3000 times error validation automation got triggered, and more than  ~200 users were able to save error free Knowledge Article.

Sales system updates – Monthly  announcements, gets ~91% attention from org and saves ~25 hours/month of manual effort.

Automation projects-We successfully delivered 10+ major automation projects from last year, each contributing to significant productivity gains and impressive results across teams and workflows.

• Metrics-  > 75% of users have adopted automation over traditional processes.


Accessing Sales Resource Center- Built an experience on OKTA which retained the user experience as well as provided a revamped SoS landing page. This solution saved costs that could have occurred with IT engagement as well as utilization of additional resources.
Metrics- Over 12,000 times user interactions recorded for quick access and seamless navigation

New Hire Onboarding- Improved new-hire onboarding on Systems, Tools and processes by enabling TeachMe on Okta as well as introduced self-paced AppD content to help the sellers on the go.

• Metrics- 56% of the onboarded users successfully completed it and rest users consumed only the content required by them.

1CX URM- Built multiple tooltips on Risk CTA and Activities section to provide just in time guidance to sellers. Also introduced a feature on the Account page to help users access the “Call to Action” using a single click.

• Metrics- Within 3 months tool tips were viewed ~1000 times. The Call to Action launcher was clicked more than 370 times and the guided tour was used.

RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed)- Provided just in time RACI guidance in the Value Plan through tool tips to give the users information about their roles as Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each field.

• Metrics- Within 3 months tool tips were viewed ~1000 times which helped the users to make a decision as to what should be entered in the fields.
• SAP Ariba (1 year) – There are > 80,000 WalkMe engagements, mainly 50% on SWT/automation, 26% tooltips and 11% launchers.
• Gmail – (1 year) – 2400 completed tasks, ~37,664 times Smart Walk-Thrus played.
• Workday (15 days annual enrollments) – 99% user interactions, SWT 8772, Smart tips ~22000, shoutouts 8749, launchers 5000, resources 132.

There are many factors that make me feel proud, be it winning stakeholders across the organization while demoing our work, showing design on how our work can help them achieve their objectives, bringing wins metrics to the leadership. Our journey from explaining who we are to now the key partners to major rollouts across IT, HR, Finance, GTM, Marketing, Global Support and all. I would like to share few feedback from stakeholders.

SVP, GTMO: “I just wanted to share a quick note of thanks for your support and partnership with GTMO. I’ve gotten feedback from the team that you stand out as a truly collaborative partner, who brings a high level of energy and dedication to helping us be successful in rolling out new programs to the field. You are an explorer searching for new features to find the right approach for Splunkers and a respected business partner for the team. I just wanted you to know how much the team appreciates you and that we’re thankful for your partnership.”

VP, GSM:“This is great! Thank you for improving the process and system experience for Splunkers!”

VP, GFE: “Well done Krishna and team. This looks like a great use case for the mini bot experience. I look forward to hearing more about the impact. I think the field will definitely appreciate it.”

AVP, Sales – “Thank you for all of your support! Your team didn’t stop at the ask, your delivered far beyond what we imagined. Thank you for thinking through how the seller will move through this field and workflows that will make auditing easier. What you have created will help sellers not only be successful but enjoy the experience as well. Thank you”

Director, Global Support – “Thank you, Krishna for taking the time to review the projects and metrics.

We have been thrilled with the work your team has been able to do for support. The help aids we’ve implemented have simplified & improved the support engineer’s processes to upload diags and handover cases between regions. In addition the reminders we put in place to stop null values has had a significant impact on our case data quality.
Thank you! We look forward to our continued partnership!”

Director, Global Support – “Thank you, Krishna, Lana, and the entire WM team! The changes look fantastic in production. I really appreciate you getting this done so quickly. This will significantly improve our data quality!”
“Thank you so much for all of your help with the design, operationalizing, rollout, training and enablement for the new Global Growth Initiatives fields in SFDC opportunity records. You are amazing and have been so helpful!
Great job living our Splunk value of innovative!”

Deal Ops Lead – “My experience working with the Walk Me team has been nothing short of amazing. Krishna always asks very detailed questions to understand the full scope of needs, and ensures the end product meets expectations. If there are any minor corrections, it is met with urgency and the desire to get it 100% right every time.”

Change Management Lead – Help Center is an invaluable part of our transformation projects. As transformation facilitators, we utilize informative conduits like reference guides, videos, and webinars. However, communication channels for these resources are limited in shelf life and audience reach. Help Center applications allow us to capture those in need of guidance via a “resource at your fingertips” option – right at the moment when a user might have a question, leading the user to the resources and instruction they need.

GTM Transformation lead – Thank you Krishna for all of your support on this. We are grateful for your partnership!

Global Support Transformation Lead – I saw we got feedback already, that was great on the new CCM Walkme feature. The feature cuts the number of steps from 20 to 10. That is a huge time saver for all the CCM Agents who create about 3000 service appointments a month. CCM agents will complete scheduling appointments in about half the time!

A couple of users shared good news about the change.
Jilu Dennis – “It’s impressive as it avoided the manual steps in the beginning and so reduced the time for schedule and potential human errors.”
Gerald Rose – “It works well for bypassing the several pages that are mostly click throughs, and saves a bit of time.”

Program Lead GTM – The week prior to the WalkMe release there were 587 support cases closed with a Null value in the ‘Relief Provided’. The week of the release that number dropped to 198 and is continuing to show decrease, which in turn is improving support case data quality!

I am Director, Digital Adoption at Splunk. I lead a CoE for all initiatives targeted by internal employees across organizations. We are strategic partners with organizations leading top objectives. I work with stakeholders understanding their initiatives and providing recommendations on WalkMe could assist them achieving the goals. This spans across change management, adoption ,automation, process transformation and all. Since there’s huge change in process post acquisition, we are critical partners with GTM to build end-user experience. Prior to this role, I had 2 decades of global consulting experience in CRM implementation and I worked as Salesforce solution architect. My architecture and implementation experience comes handy while listening to these stakeholders, going through their solutioning session to provide relevant recommendations. Over the period, I have established our CoE as a trusted partner to them. Our matured delivery process and value driven approach helped stakeholders use our metrics to their leadership as well. I also share our wins and key deliveries as quarterly newsletters shared to leadership.

Vision – With the current change in users behavior towards process and system engagement due to the introduction of AI, our role as DAP organization becomes critical for the organization’s success. I am heading towards making WalkMe as a key productivity tool across different organizations and deliver a platform native experience for the end users. Given the opportunity, I would like to extend this experience across Cisco and build a state of the art DAP delivery platform.

From its founding in 2003, Splunk’s purpose is to build a safer and more resilient digital world. Every day, we live this purpose by helping SecOps, ITOps, and engineering teams keep their organizations securely up and running. In 2024, Splunk was acquired by Cisco to help customers continue to build resilience across their entire digital footprint. Today, many of the world’s largest and most complex organizations rely on Splunk to protect their mission-critical systems.