Celebrating new horizons: 300+ teammates, one week in Lisbon 

The drumline hit first—neon-lit percussionists cutting through a botanical greenhouse turned safari-themed dinner venue. Three hundred people from 30+ countries looked up from their tables, suddenly aware that this wasn't going to be a typical company offsite.

That was Tuesday night. By Thursday, some of our leaders were sweating through Hot Ones-level hot sauce on stage while the audience cheered. Somewhere between those moments, we painted a permanent tile mural in partnership with a Lisbon nonprofit, our employee band performed publicly for the first time after practicing together exactly once, and we got genuinely aligned on where Customer.io is headed in 2026.

Welcome to Summit: our company-wide gathering in Lisbon, Portugal.

We hit $100M ARR in 2025, and Summit was our celebration of that milestone, and of how far our company has come. But these financial milestones mean nothing if the people behind them aren't aligned, energized, and genuinely connected to each other and the work.

We're a fully remote company. That's not changing. But being remote means when we do gather, it needs to be intentional. When we're together in person, we're building the trust and clarity that powers collaboration for the entire year.

"My north star was simple but ambitious," says Alyssa Goold, our People and Culture Manager who orchestrated the entire week.

Alignment: Getting clear on where we're going in 2026, how we'll win together, and what we're building for the customers and markets we serve.

Connection: In-person time strengthens relationships and speeds up collaboration. The rapport you build over dinner translates to better async communication, faster decisions, and stronger cross-functional work all year.

Celebration: Acknowledging what we've built and the people who helped us get here—teammates, partners, customers, and the Lisbon community we were joining for the week.

During Summit, we dedicated focused time to 2026 strategy sessions and product alignment.

Cross-functional teams mapped out how we'll execute together, what we're prioritizing, and where we need to collaborate differently to win. These were substantive conversations about Customer.io's direction and how each team contributes to getting there.

But the most valuable strategic moments came from the people we build for. Partners and customers took the stage throughout the week: Karolina Mosiadz from Plugsurfing, Omar Alvarez from Kinnect Club, Niall Reilly from CoverWallet, Edward Preston from Cleo, and the team from Raidar.io. They shared real stories—what it's like to work with us, where we've helped them win, and what they need from us moving forward.

The impact showed up immediately. Slack lit up with teams following up on feature ideas, customer insights, and product improvements sparked by those on-stage conversations. That's the purpose of getting everyone in the same room—not just hearing the plan, but understanding who we're building for and why it matters to them.

So alongside the strategy sessions, we made space for the moments you can't get over Zoom.

Company leaders endured the Hot Ones challenge—answering questions while eating increasingly spicy hot sauces.

New Horizons—our employee band—took the stage after practicing exactly once. The band itself had been a running joke for years as we learned more about our team's incredible passions and hobbies outside of work. Someone plays guitar? Someone else drums? Wouldn't it be cool if we had a band one day? Summit turned that "one day" into reality. And they truly rocked (pun intended).

We explored Lisbon through bike tours, pastel de nata cooking classes, wine tastings, and walking tours. We ran a scavenger hunt through a historic castle that turned otherwise reasonable adults into competitive maniacs solving clues.

Thursday night's Celestial Gala brought everyone together under the stars, dressed in Customer.io’s signature evergreen color. We celebrated teammates across departments with awards recognizing people who shipped critical features, supported major customer wins, mentored others, or simply showed up with excellence day after day.

The best parts of Summit weren't explicitly planned or on the agenda. "There wasn't just one moment—it was a pattern that repeated itself throughout the week," Alyssa reflects. "Standing ovations as teams celebrated one another. Spontaneous dance parties. Walking through the hotel late at night and finding groups of teammates gathered organically—talking, laughing, playing card games. Our CEO joining an ARG breakout session and staying afterward to connect one-on-one with leaders.”

We partnered with the Salvation Army's social inclusion program, the Museu Nacional do Azulejo, and Portuguese artist Tomás Colaço to co-create a permanent ceramic tile mural. The mural will be installed on a public-facing wall near the Salvation Army's community restaurant, transforming the space and connecting the public to the mission behind it.

Our team spent the day painting tiles alongside residents in the program—people building new skills and opportunities as they transition forward. It was tactile, collaborative, and grounding in a way that's rare in our day-to-day remote work. Those tiles are now becoming a permanent installation to bring awareness to the work being done within this space.

We left Lisbon with real outcomes: aligned on 2026 strategy, launched new cross-functional initiatives, got direct customer feedback that's already informing product roadmaps, and built relationships that make remote collaboration faster all year.

But the less tangible stuff matters just as much. The energy from being in the same room, and the ease of working with people when you've actually spent time with them outside of Slack threads.

"The biggest challenge was honoring the complexity of our team: 300+ people across 30+ countries, with different travel realities, needs, and expectations, while still creating something that felt intentional, not transactional," Alyssa explains.

When you invest in getting people together, the return shows up everywhere—in how teams communicate, how quickly decisions get made, and how clearly everyone understands where we're headed. If that sounds like the kind of company you want to grow with, we're hiring.

Thanks to Alyssa Goold and the entire People team for bringing Summit to life, and to our partners at Tied Together Marketing for making it possible.

Here's to the next horizon.