What was said
What this says
Current to 13 Oct 26Onboarding call on 18 Mar 2025. Siân Pritchard and Nikhil Rao agree connector fixes, access, SSO and a three-wave rollout. £115k contracted value matches invoices. The complaints recorder is not yet connected.
What happened: Callie Brennan reviewed connector status, billing field mapping, access roles and rollout. One billing mapping was amber after a schema change, and complaints calls were only partly indexed.
Customer view: Siân wants value measured before it is claimed. She called it the smoothest implementation she has done.
Commercial: Order form shows one hundred and eighty licensed users, inside the Enterprise allowance, at £115k a year matching invoices. The on-site training day add-on was offered but deferred.
Watch: The complaints wave depends on a recorder token, and Nikhil is the only admin. A second admin is to be named.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Nikhil Rao sends the new billing column names in writing so Callie Brennan can re-map the connector.
- Siân Pritchard introduces Callie to the owner of the complaints recorder workspace and chases the token.
- Callie Brennan sends the written summary that afternoon and holds a check-in the following Tuesday.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- The complaints recorder token could slip, which delays the complaints wave the business has been promised.
- Nikhil is the only admin, so the platform depends on one person until a second is named.
- The billing mapping is amber, and stale data can go unnoticed if nobody watches the refresh log.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- The on-site training day add-on is available and may be revisited after the second wave.
- Questions asked by team give Siân the adoption evidence she wants for the business case.
- Connecting the complaints recorder workspace deepens use of the brain for regulated complaint handling.
Transcript
- Callie Brennan NoneHello, can you both hear me alright? I've got the little green bar moving on my side, so I think we're live.
- Siân Pritchard NoneLoud and clear, Callie. Good afternoon. I think Nikhil is just joining, he was finishing something in the warehouse.
- Nikhil Rao NoneHere. Sorry. A load ran long and I wanted to see it finish. Can you hear me?
- Callie Brennan NonePerfectly. Don't apologise, that's exactly the sort of thing I want to hear about later. How's the week been, Siân? Still raining in Gloucester?
- Siân Pritchard NoneGrey, but dry, which is a win for March. Busy though. The key account team asked the brain about site contracts on Monday, and the collections team asked it which customers had open complaints before they rang them. First time they've done that without sending me a spreadsheet.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's lovely to hear. Right, so here's the plan for the next forty minutes or so. First, where each connector stands. Second, the field mapping for sites, contracts and customers, because that's where your one view lives. Third, access and roles, and what I need from your side before we switch on the next refresh. Then handover and who owns what. Does that suit?
- Siân Pritchard NoneThat suits. I'd add one thing at the end, if there's time: how we bring the complaints team on, in waves, so we don't flood the helpdesk.
- Callie Brennan NoneDone, I'll put it under rollout. Nikhil, anything you want on the list?
- Nikhil Rao NoneWhich role has access. That's my list. Everything else follows from it.
- Callie Brennan NoneHa, fair. Then we'll start there, actually. I'll share my screen. Can you see the connector status page?
- Siân Pritchard NoneYes, I can see it. Lots of green.
- Callie Brennan NoneLots of green, one amber, and the rest are waiting on me or on you. So, the CRM connector, the helpdesk, the call recorder and Microsoft 365 are all loaded and indexed. The accounting system is connected but I've only pulled the customer and invoice objects so far. The amber one is the billing system, and that's the one I want to talk about.
- Nikhil Rao NoneI checked the load history this morning. The billing extract landed, but the contract table had a schema change last week. Two columns renamed. That's why your mapping is amber.
- Callie Brennan NoneRight, that explains it. Thank you, that saves me an hour. Which columns?
- Nikhil Rao NoneThe supply start and the supply end. They were separate by meter point, now they're by site contract. I'll put the new names in the channel after the call. In writing.
- Callie Brennan NoneIn writing is exactly what I need. I never touch a mapping from a verbal, and I'd rather not guess at a column. Once I have those names I'll re-map and tell you what changed.
- Siân Pritchard NoneCan I ask, because this is the bit the business cares about, when that's fixed, what does a key account manager see when they open a business customer? I want to be able to say it plainly to them.
- Callie Brennan NoneGood question, and I'll show you rather than describe it. Give me a second. This is the sandbox view of one test customer, so not real data. At the top is the organisation, then every site underneath it, each site's contract and its end date, then the calls and emails tied to the account, then open tickets, then the latest bills from the accounting system. All on one page.
- Siân Pritchard NoneOne customer, one view. That's it. That's what I've been saying to people for a year and they've been nodding politely.
- Callie Brennan NoneWell, now they get to click on it. What I'd flag is that the page is only as good as the mapping underneath. If a site belongs to two parent companies in your billing system, the brain will show it twice, and I'd want to know which parent is right before we go live to the teams.
- Nikhil Rao NoneThat happens. Not often. Sites that changed hands mid-contract. I can pull a list of the ones with two parents.
- Siân Pritchard NoneDo that and send it to me as well, Nikhil. The complaints team will know which ones are real. Some of them will be live disputes.
- Nikhil Rao NoneOkay. Tomorrow, once I've tested the query. I'm not sending a list I haven't run twice.
- Callie Brennan NonePerfect. That maps cleanly onto my next step, which is access. So, before we switch on the refresh for the billing connector, what I need from your side is a service role in your Snowflake account, scoped to the schemas we've listed, read only on the source side, and write only to the brain's own schema. Nikhil, you've seen the role request?
- Nikhil Rao NoneI've seen it. I trimmed it. You asked for read on the whole finance schema. I'm giving you the four tables you need and nothing else.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's better than what I asked for, honestly. I'd rather have less access and be told what's missing than more access I don't use. Can you confirm the role name in writing, and I'll note it in the setup document?
- Nikhil Rao NoneI'll write it in the ticket, not email. Auditor can follow a ticket.
- Siân Pritchard NoneHe does love an auditor. Mind you, so does the regulator, so I'm glad.
- Callie Brennan NoneSame here. Okay, the second thing on access is single sign-on. You're on Enterprise, so you've got SSO and SCIM included. Nikhil, who owns the identity side?
- Nikhil Rao NoneA colleague in IT. I'll introduce you. They'll want the metadata file and a test group first. We don't turn on provisioning for everyone on day one.
- Callie Brennan NoneSensible. We'll do a test group, confirm the sign-in works, confirm a leaver is removed when they're removed in your directory, and then widen it. I'll write that as three steps with a date against each once your colleague has picked it up.
- Siân Pritchard NoneHow many people are we actually licensing here? I keep saying a hundred and something and I'd rather quote the real number.
- Callie Brennan NoneIt's one hundred and eighty licensed users on the order form, which is inside the Enterprise allowance. And the contracted value is £115,000 a year, matching what's been invoiced, so no surprises there.
- Siân Pritchard NoneGood. Because the business will ask what the £115,000 a year is buying, and I'd like to answer with evidence, not enthusiasm. Let's measure it before we claim it.
- Callie Brennan NoneI'd say that's the right instinct. What would you measure first?
- Siân Pritchard NoneTwo things. How long it takes a complaints handler to pull together the history of a business customer before they reply, and how often the key account team goes into the brain before a renewal conversation. I've got a rough baseline for the first from an audit last year. The second I'll have to count from now.
- Callie Brennan NoneThen the questions asked will be your friend. The brain keeps a count of questions by team and by person, so we can show you adoption by team without anyone filling in a form. I'll make sure that page is switched on for you as admin.
- Nikhil Rao NoneWho sees it by person? I'm not sharing individual names with managers by default.
- Callie Brennan NoneAdmins only by default, and you decide what to open up. I'd suggest team totals for managers and keep names with you and Siân. We can change it any time.
- Nikhil Rao NoneGood.
- Callie Brennan NoneRight, let me move to the refresh, because I know it's the thing you care about, Nikhil. Once the billing mapping is sorted and the role is confirmed, I'll run the first full refresh for that connector in the evening, and I want it complete before the nightly window closes. The commitment is that the nightly refresh is done by 07:00 your time on business days.
- Nikhil Rao NoneMy loads finish well before that. Normally. If yours collides with mine, which one yields?
- Callie Brennan NoneYours go first. I'll schedule after your loads, not alongside them, and I'll read your load history before I trigger anything. If your job is late, mine waits and I tell you it waited. I'd rather arrive late than make you reconcile two things at six in the morning.
- Nikhil Rao NoneThat's acceptable.
- Siân Pritchard NoneHe means thank you.
- Nikhil Rao NoneI mean acceptable.
- Callie Brennan NoneI'll take it. Okay, so let me do the other thing I wanted to cover, which is the call recorder. The calls are indexed, but I noticed the complaints team's calls are only partly there. Siân, do you know why?
- Siân Pritchard NoneI do, actually. Their recordings sit on a separate recorder licence, the older one, and nobody's connected it. I should have said. I assumed the call recorder was one thing.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's a really useful catch, and it matters, because complaints calls are exactly the ones you said you can't miss a deadline on. Is it a different system, or the same one with a different workspace?
- Nikhil Rao NoneSame vendor. Different workspace. Different admin. I'd need to ask for a token and I'm not asking for one until I know it's wanted.
- Siân Pritchard NoneIt's wanted. Please. I'll tell the owner of that workspace this afternoon that you'll be in touch, so it doesn't come out of nowhere.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's the fourth thing on my list for you then, and I'll put the owner's name in the setup note once I have it. What I'll do is not start that connector until written access arrives, same as the others. And I'll check how it sits against your connector allowance so there's no surprise.
- Nikhil Rao NoneWe have room. Twenty connectors in Enterprise, I count fewer than that in use.
- Callie Brennan NoneRight, you're well inside it. Good. Now, handover. This is the bit I care about most, honestly, because the point of onboarding is that you can run the thing without me. By the end I want Nikhil able to re-run a connector, read the refresh log and add a user without opening a ticket.
- Nikhil Rao NoneI can already read the log. I'd want to see what a failed mapping looks like before it happens, not after.
- Callie Brennan NoneThen let's break one, on purpose, in the sandbox. I'll do it now if you've got ten minutes. I'll rename a column in a test table, run the connector, and you'll see what it says.
- Nikhil Rao NoneGo on.
- Callie Brennan NoneOkay. Renaming the column now. Running the connector. Give it a moment, it takes a little while on the test data.
- Callie Brennan NoneThere. See the status? It doesn't say failed, it says mapping needs review, and it lists the field it can't find and the one it thinks is the nearest match. It won't guess for you. It stops, and records stay as they were last time, so nobody queries half a table.
- Nikhil Rao NoneThat's the behaviour I wanted. It holds the last good load.
- Siân Pritchard NoneSo if the billing system changes again, the teams see yesterday's data, not a gap.
- Callie Brennan NoneYesterday's data, flagged as such, and you'd see it on the admin page. What I'd say, though, and I want to be straight about this, is that yesterday's data can go stale quietly if nobody's looking. So I'd ask Nikhil to glance at that page each morning for the first few weeks.
- Nikhil Rao NoneI'll set an alert on the refresh log rather than rely on glancing.
- Callie Brennan NoneEven better. Now, rollout. Siân, you wanted to talk about waves.
- Siân Pritchard NoneYes. My thinking is key account first, because they've been asking longest and they're the most forgiving. Then collections. Then complaints last, because the stakes are highest and I want the mapping proven before they rely on it for a deadline.
- Callie Brennan NoneI'd go the same way. And a gap of a couple of weeks between each wave, so you can see what questions people actually ask and fix the mapping behind them. One thing I'd add is a short training session per team, not a big launch. Thirty minutes of showing them their own customers, not a demo of mine.
- Siân Pritchard NoneOn their own customers. Yes. That's what will land. They won't care about a test customer.
- Callie Brennan NoneAgreed. So for each wave I'd want a nominated person in the team who gets a bit more time with me, a go-to for the others. Can you name them, Siân, or is that too early?
- Siân Pritchard NoneFor key account I can, today. For the other two I'll need to ask. I'd rather not name someone and then find they're on leave for the month.
- Callie Brennan NoneCompletely fair. Send me key account's name and I'll fold it in. And for complaints, one more thing, because you mentioned the regulator's rules earlier. Is there a specific report or view they must be able to produce from the brain?
- Siân Pritchard NoneThere is. For each complaint they have to show when it was received, what was said, who handled it and when the response went. The deadline isn't negotiable. So what I want is for the brain to show that timeline from the helpdesk and the call recorder together, without anyone copying and pasting.
- Callie Brennan NoneThen that's a page we build with you, not for you, and we do it before complaints go live. I'll put it in the plan as its own step, with Nikhil checking the data underneath and you checking the page against a real complaint, an old closed one.
- Siân Pritchard NoneA closed one. Yes. I've got three in mind that were awkward. If it handles those, it handles anything.
- Nikhil Rao NoneAwkward ones need the call recording connector first.
- Callie Brennan NoneThey do, so that's the ordering. The complaints workspace token comes first, then I connect it, then we test the timeline. I'll write that so nobody has to remember it.
- Siân Pritchard NoneCan I ask about the helpdesk side, while we're here? We had one ticket with you in the last month, it was only a how-to question, but I wasn't sure it was answered properly.
- Callie Brennan NoneWhich one was it? Do you remember what you asked?
- Siân Pritchard NoneHow to save a search so the whole team can use it, rather than each person rebuilding it.
- Callie Brennan NoneRight. So there are saved searches and there are shared pages. A saved search stays with the person unless they share it to a team space. If you want the whole team to open the same thing, a shared page is the better route, and I'll show you in the next session. I'd rather show it than leave you with a paragraph.
- Siân Pritchard NoneShow me. Please. I'd like to be able to do it myself in front of the teams.
- Callie Brennan NoneLovely. Let me do it now, quickly. I'll create a page from a search, name it, and then set who can see it. There, share with team, and I pick key account. And now Nikhil, from your admin side, you can see who has it and take it back if you need to.
- Nikhil Rao NoneI see it. It's listed under the team space. Can I stop people creating shared pages in the regulated areas?
- Callie Brennan NoneYou can restrict it by space. So complaints could be locked to pages that you or Siân publish, and everyone else reads. I think that's wise for the complaints team, at least at the start.
- Siân Pritchard NoneI'd go with that. Publish centrally, read locally. At least until I trust it.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's the setup I'd put in the note, then. Okay, I want to make sure we've covered the data side properly before I go to next steps. Nikhil, anything from your Snowflake account that worries you? Cost, warehouse size, concurrency?
- Nikhil Rao NoneWarehouse size, yes. I want the brain on its own warehouse so I can see what it costs separately. Not sharing with the finance reporting jobs.
- Callie Brennan NoneAgreed, and it's the cleaner design anyway. Give it its own, name it so it's obvious, and put it on an auto-suspend. I'll tell you what size we've run on for similar volumes, and then you can adjust once you've seen the first week of load.
- Nikhil Rao NoneI'd rather start small and go up than the other way.
- Callie Brennan NoneSame. Start small, watch it, move up if the refresh runs past the window. Never the other way round.
- Siân Pritchard NoneCallie, can I check where we are on time? I'm conscious we've got a few minutes and I want to be clear on who's doing what.
- Callie Brennan NoneOf course, we're about two thirds through, so good timing. Let me read it back and you tell me if I've got it wrong. Nikhil: the new column names in writing, the list of sites with two parents, the role name in the ticket, a dedicated warehouse, and an introduction to your colleague in IT for SSO. Siân: the name for key account, an introduction to the owner of the complaints recorder workspace, and the three awkward closed complaints for the test. Me: re-map the billing connector once the names arrive, schedule the refresh after your loads, build the complaints timeline page with you, and write the setup note.
- Nikhil Rao NoneThat's right. I'd add one thing to mine. I'll tell you if anything in production is going to change, so you're not surprised again. Not on a Friday.
- Callie Brennan NoneNever on a Friday, I've got that written already. Thank you.
- Siân Pritchard NoneAnd mine's right, though I'd say the key account name will be today, the owner introduction tomorrow, and the closed complaints by the end of the week. Is that quick enough for you?
- Callie Brennan NoneMore than quick enough. The only thing that's tight is the complaints connector, because it's the last piece, so if the token slips, the complaints wave slips with it. I'd rather tell you that now than in three weeks.
- Siân Pritchard NoneUnderstood. Then I'll chase the token myself. I'm not letting that deadline drift. The complaints wave is the one I've promised the business.
- Nikhil Rao NoneI'll chase it as well, but access goes through the right route. No tokens by email, no shared passwords. It goes in the ticket, with a named owner.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's exactly what I'd want. Okay, a couple of smaller things while I've got you. Training. You've got the onsite training day as an add-on available to you, if you'd like it, but for now I'd suggest we use the team sessions we talked about, and look again once the second wave is in.
- Siân Pritchard NoneTeam sessions first. I'll tell you if people want more.
- Callie Brennan NoneGood. And the other small thing is the admin count. Right now it's Nikhil as the only admin, and you, Siân, as champion with elevated rights. I'd like a second admin named, so you're not relying on one person for the platform if someone's on holiday.
- Nikhil Rao NoneFair. Someone in my team. I'll name them in the ticket. They'll need the same training as me.
- Callie Brennan NoneI'll make time for them. It's an hour, no more, since you'll have covered the main bits by then. And honestly, it's the single most useful thing for the long run, because it means the brain doesn't depend on one person.
- Siân Pritchard NoneI couldn't agree more. And it's less of a worry for me too.
- Callie Brennan NoneRight. Let me show you one last thing, then we'll wrap up. This is the setup note I'm keeping. It's a living document, you can see it's got the connectors, the roles, the mapping decisions and a date against each step. At handover I'll give you the final version and it's yours.
- Nikhil Rao NoneCan I add comments?
- Callie Brennan NoneYes. I'll share it with edit rights for both of you. If you spot something wrong, mark it, and I'll fix it before I mark the step done.
- Siân Pritchard NoneThat's very clear. Honestly, Callie, this has been the smoothest implementation I've done. I wasn't expecting that, and I've been burnt before.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's kind, thank you. I'd say it's because you've had Nikhil on the technical side from the start, and because you both give me answers in writing. It makes my job much easier.
- Nikhil Rao NoneIt's the only way I know how to do it.
- Siân Pritchard NoneDiolch, Callie. That's a lot to be getting on with, but it feels like the right list.
- Callie Brennan NoneLet me finish with the dates, because I like a date against every step. I'll send the written summary this afternoon. Billing re-map the day after Nikhil sends the column names. First full refresh for that connector the evening after. Complaints recorder connection as soon as the token is in the ticket. And I'd like us to speak again next week for a short check on how the first wave is going. Does Tuesday suit?
- Siân Pritchard NoneTuesday suits me, same time works.
- Nikhil Rao NoneSame time. I'll have the site list by then.
- Callie Brennan NoneBrilliant. Is there anything else either of you wanted to raise that we haven't touched? Worries, anything the business has said to you?
- Siân Pritchard NoneOnly that expectations are high. People have heard me talk about this at the events and now they want it yesterday. I'd rather go a bit slower and get it right.
- Callie Brennan NoneI'd rather that too. We'll keep the waves as they are, and I'll tell you honestly if any step is running late, rather than let you find out from the teams.
- Nikhil Rao NoneNothing else from me.
- Callie Brennan NoneThen thank you both. I know it's been a long call. I'll get that summary out within the hour. Speak Tuesday.
- Siân Pritchard NoneDiolch, Callie. Speak Tuesday. Cheers, Nikhil.
- Nikhil Rao NoneCheers. Bye.
- Callie Brennan NoneBye both. Thanks, everyone.