2025 has been a record year for Oryx Dental, with the launch of native AI features on the platform, historic customer growth, and new additions to our growing team.
Today, we announced that a number of highly seasoned technology leaders have joined Oryx’s executive suite in various strategic capacities. Each of them brings key skills and industry experience to advance our mission of helping practices of all shapes and sizes create the dental office of the future. Check out the full press release for more on each leader.
Today, we’re sitting down with one of these leaders: Karen Gray, Oryx’s Chief Customer Officer. An accomplished tech executive with a track record of establishing and growing teams, Karen is responsible for Oryx’s entire customer experience, from onboarding to training to customer success and beyond. Karen has spent her career building the operational architecture at software-as-a-service (SaaS) organizations, utilizing data and insights to engineer an exceptional experience throughout the customer journey.
We spoke with Karen to learn more about:
- The role of the chief customer officer
- What a “customer obsessed” culture at Oryx means to the company and for customers
- Oryx’s close relationship with dental practices and how that connection influences decisions, product development, and our feature roadmap
- What Karen is doing to bring Oryx’s customers the best possible experience from day one and beyond
Come take a look to get to know Karen, her new role at Oryx, and what’s coming for customers in 2026.
A Q&A With Karen Gray, Chief Customer Officer at Oryx
Oryx Dental: Welcome to Oryx, Karen! We’re so excited to have you onboard. Before we dive into your new role at Oryx and what customer excellence means to you, can you first explain what a “chief customer officer” does?
Karen Gray: I’m thrilled to be here. The chief customer officer role developed in technology to ensure that customer experience, retention, and growth had the same leadership focus as sales and product — turning customer success into a competitive advantage.
As software has become more complex, industry-specific, and deeply integrated into daily operations, technology companies have recognized that operational efficiency alone is no longer enough. True success now depends on placing the customer at the center of every decision, not just at the point of sale. It’s no longer about simply retaining customers; it’s about designing an intentional, end-to-end customer journey that delivers value across every touchpoint and function of the business.
In short, the chief customer officer exists to ensure customers achieve real, measurable success. This role carries a deep understanding of each customer’s goals, defines how the platform delivers against those objectives, and ensures customer feedback directly influences product strategy, experience design, and company priorities.
Oryx Dental: Your background spans law, real estate, and other verticals. What inspired you to join Oryx and, more broadly, what got you interested in the field of dentistry?
Karen Gray: While my background spans legal and real estate, I see dentistry undergoing the same kind of transformation those industries have already experienced. For decades, dentistry has been underserved by technology and has been understandably cautious about moving to the cloud. But, as in other verticals, when practitioners are equipped with the right platform, the impact goes beyond efficiency—it transforms the entire customer experience. Teams gain better visibility, smoother workflows, and more time to focus on patients. That’s what excites me about Oryx: the opportunity to bring modern, cloud-based innovation and an elevated customer experience to a space that’s long overdue for both.
Oryx Dental: As the first Chief Customer Officer at Oryx, what’s your biggest priority for shaping the customer experience?
Karen Gray: At Oryx, I lead the entire post-sale customer experience, from the moment a practice chooses Oryx through long-term partnership and growth. My team oversees onboarding, training, customer success, professional services, and technical support to ensure our customers are supported at every stage of their journey.
Our responsibility is to stay deeply connected to what matters most to dentists and keep those priorities at the center of every decision we make. My mission is to build a streamlined, scalable, and high-touch customer organization that ensures Oryx consistently delivers on its promise: giving dentists more time chairside and fewer distractions from running their practice.
This work is carried out in close partnership with Bryce Swihart, our VP of Product, and Tahlor DiCicco, our Chief Commercial Officer. Together, our teams align the customer experience, product strategy, and commercial execution, creating a unified engine for customer success and company growth.
Oryx Dental: At Oryx, we have a devoted and vocal customer base. Dr. Rania and Kay Saleh, Oryx’s CTO, have grown the company around those relationships, and we often talk about our customer-centric culture. What does a “customer-centric” or “customer-obsessed” approach mean to you?
Karen Gray: Oryx is distinctive in how deeply the customer is embedded in everything we do. We don’t build our product in a vacuum or chase trends for the sake of innovation. Every decision we make—what we build, how we build it, and how we support it—is grounded in direct feedback from real practices across different sizes, specialties, and operating models. In short, we build for our customers, not around them.
We believe that our success is a direct result of our customers’ success—which means we must first understand how each practice defines it. For some, success means gaining efficiency. For others, it’s reclaiming time with family, creating flexibility through remote work, or growing their practice with confidence.
There is no single definition of success, and that’s why listening matters as much as technology. Understanding each customer’s “North Star” allows us to design an experience that delivers meaningful, lasting value.
That commitment starts on day one. Every customer is paired with a dedicated customer success manager at the very beginning of onboarding. From the first conversation, the CSM works to understand each practice’s goals and serves as their ongoing advocate—ensuring Oryx not only meets expectations but helps customers achieve what matters most to them.
Oryx Dental: How does the concept of a customer-centric approach to Oryx as a business play out in your role?
Karen Gray: We understand that time with patients is the most valuable resource a dentist has. Chairside time is where trust is built, care is delivered, and treatment decisions are made. If technology disrupts the natural flow of a dental practice rather than supporting it, trust erodes—and with it, the value the platform is meant to deliver. That’s why our approach begins with respecting the rhythm of a dentist’s day and designing technology that works seamlessly within it.
This philosophy shapes the entire customer journey. Every stage is streamlined and supported by experts who understand the realities of running a practice—from dentists and hygienists to front office and office managers. We don’t believe in generic support models; we believe customers deserve guidance from people who truly understand their world.
In practice management platforms, customer experience and product cannot operate in parallel—they must operate as one. We’ve built a tight feedback loop between customers, our customer teams, and product leadership so real-world insights directly inform development, functionality, and our roadmap.
Everything I do is focused on two outcomes: delivering on Oryx’s promise today and continuously improving how we deliver it tomorrow. This approach allows us to solve individual challenges, scale with our customers, and ensure we’re always building the functionality that matters most.
Oryx Dental: As you gear up for 2026 and beyond, how are you thinking about building your team?
Karen Gray: The strongest customer teams are built on a “yes” mindset. Not a default yes, but a determined one. It’s easy to say “that’s not how it works” or “that’s not our process.” It’s harder to take ownership, lean into the problem, and find a way forward. But the companies that grow are the ones that do the hard thing: they show up for their customers, even when the path isn’t obvious.
A true “yes” mindset is about problem-solving, not promise-making. It means listening closely, understanding context, and committing to action. It’s about moving from “that’s a limitation” to “let’s solve this together.” When customer teams act as partners—not vendors—they build trust, grow loyalty, and turn success into a shared experience.
Operationally, this mindset shows up in how we hire, train, and lead. We look for people who are naturally curious, who ask better questions, and who want to understand not just what a customer needs but why. The best customer leaders don’t wait for tickets; they anticipate challenges, remove friction, and help customers move forward with confidence.
When you build a team that’s empowered to say “yes” to solving problems, you build a company that customers choose to grow with.
Oryx Dental Software: Sounds like there’s lots on the horizon for the new year! Any final thoughts as we wrap up?
Karen Gray: I’m energized by the opportunity to partner with our customers and help them unlock everything Oryx can do for their practices. I encourage every customer to reach out—not just when there’s a problem, but when they’re planning what’s next.
Whether you’re onboarding new team members, expanding to additional locations, exploring new AI-powered workflows, or rethinking how your practice operates, our team is here to support you every step of the way. We are deeply committed to helping you turn your goals into outcomes—and ensuring Oryx continues to be a platform you can rely on as your practice grows.
Partnering with Customers for Excellence
Oryx exists because of our customers. Every milestone we’ve reached—from product innovation to being named one of the fastest-growing private software companies on the Inc. 5000—comes down to the trust dental practices place in us every day.
With Karen leading our customer journey, we’re doubling down on our commitment to deliver an exceptional experience for every practice we serve—from single-location offices to multi-site organizations, DSOs, and beyond. Our goal is simple: to be the most trusted, most impactful platform in dentistry—and the partner our customers choose to grow with.
Reach out today for a demo and learn how Oryx can help your business. Book a demo →
