Cindy He
Six years turning reactive support into AI-augmented, scalable customer experience operations for global technology brands. Currently leading North America customer support at Aputure.
Read the case study ↓
75% → 93%
45 → 4 hrs
YoY Growth
Same Headcount
I run North America customer operations at Aputure, a global lighting brand. Before that, four years at Insta360.
My work sits at the intersection of customer experience, operational design, and cross-functional leadership — owning the end-to-end customer journey, translating voice-of-customer signal into product and process change, and turning reactive support into scalable systems that move satisfaction, retention, and team performance together.
Find the friction point in the customer journey and the root cause behind it. Partner across functions to fix the system, not just the ticket. Build infrastructure — SOPs, self-service, AI-assisted workflows — where process alone will not solve it.
Turning around North America support at Aputure
The starting point
North America customer support was not owned by a CX professional. The function lived under our repair manager as a secondary responsibility. There was no dedicated CSAT measurement, no formal SLA tracking, and no structured escalation path between U.S. customers, engineering teams, and 3PL partners. Tickets accumulated; resolution time stretched; customer trust thinned.
I joined in June 2024 as the first CX-native owner of North America support. The mandate was simple to state and difficult to execute: professionalize the function from the ground up.
The 13-month arc
The numbers
| Metric | Pre (May ’23 – Apr ’24) | Post (May ’24 – May ’26) | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSAT | 75% | 93% | +18 pp |
| First Response Time | 45.5 hrs | 4 hrs | −91% |
| Requester Wait Time | 137.6 hrs | 24 hrs | −83% |
| Solved Tickets (Total) | 3,071 | 10,080 | 3.3× |
| Monthly Ticket Volume | ~256 / mo | ~420 / mo | +64% |
| Reopen Rate | 26.0% | 25.3% | flat |
What I built
Parts & Accessory Supply Network Rebuild
Identified that the #1 customer pain — long replacement waits — was a supply chain problem, not a service problem. Inventoried all common SKUs and accessories, then redistributed across the network: ~90% positioned at 3PL, ~10% at the local office-adjacent warehouse, and low-volume items air-shipped from China with prepaid customs duty. Parts became directly purchasable on the Shopify storefront or same-day fulfillable from local warehouse, removing the root cause of replacement-driven tickets.
Replacement ticket inflow · reduced at sourceIn-House Repair Center + Routing Logic
Diagnosed that the third-party repair cycle (issue PO → wait for parts → start repair) was creating backlog because partners refused to pre-stock. Partnered with engineering leadership to stand up an in-house repair center alongside our existing third-party partners, then designed a multi-path routing logic segmenting each case by warranty status (in-warranty vs out-of-warranty) and product type to direct repairs to the fastest path. In-house inventory managed directly on Shopify; self-issued shipping labels for tighter workflow control.
Repair turnaround · 30d → 14dEscalation Routing Redesign
End-to-end redesign of how complex cases flow between U.S. support, engineering teams, 3PL providers, and repair partners. Tighter status communication closed the gap customers felt during long repair cycles.
Cross-border processDual-Platform CX Architecture · B2C + B2B
Architected a segment-based CX platform setup: Zendesk for B2C consumer support and HubSpot Help Desk for B2B partner relationships (dealers, authorized resellers, distributors). Designed ticket architecture, SLA logic, routing rules, and cross-team ownership separately on each platform to reflect each segment's distinct support needs. Monitor and manage both platforms in parallel day-to-day.
Dual-platform · B2C + B2BAI Knowledge Base & Self-Service
Consolidated scattered repair notes, escalation history, and product information into a keyword-searchable knowledge system — the backbone for both agent training and customer-facing self-service content. Combined with AI-assisted triage and note summarization, cut documentation time per ticket by ~40% and brought new hires to live ticket handling within two weeks.
New-hire ramp · 2 weeksVoice of the Customer → Product
Built the voice-of-customer loop: ticket data analyzed for recurring root causes, translated into accessory SKU proposals with product and e-commerce teams. Shifted CX from reactive resolution to proactive product input.
CX → Product inputAI-Assisted SLA Monitoring & Reporting
Built a scheduled AI workflow that pulls Zendesk data, analyzes CSAT trends, monitors agent performance, and flags tickets breaching 48-hour SLA thresholds — generating weekly reports with root-cause recommendations automatically. Paired with proactive Zendesk triggers that escalate at-risk tickets before they breach. Shifted quality management from manual spot-checks to continuous, data-driven oversight.
Manual QA → continuous monitoringWhat I'd build with another quarter
- Reopen rate hovers at ~25% — flat year-over-year. Still investigating whether the root cause is incomplete first-touch resolution or product-side recurring defects.
- AI documentation savings are estimated from a representative sample, not measured continuously. A feedback loop from agent corrections back into the knowledge base is the next priority.
- Shopify storefront listings, e-commerce inventory thresholds, and SKU launches sit with our e-commerce team. I operate Shopify directly for warranty processing, in-house repair inventory, and self-printed shipping labels. My contribution to product strategy is ticket-data-driven input, not storefront ownership.
- Quarterly business reviews with our largest dealer accounts have not yet been formalized. Next on the roadmap.
Before Aputure: four years at Insta360
Team Lead, Customer Experience Operations · July 2020 – June 2024. Los Angeles, supporting U.S. customers for a global action camera brand.
Team Leadership
Led a U.S. customer support team of five-plus agents. Improved customer satisfaction and retention by 15% through coaching, performance standards, and structured QA review.
CSAT & retention · +15%Revenue Impact
Generated $350K in personal sales in a single year alongside support responsibilities by combining consultative product recommendations with proactive customer engagement.
Personal sales · $350KHigh-Volume Resolution
Owned 12,000+ customer interactions across phone, email, and chat. Resolved high-stakes escalations and protected brand reputation under pressure.
Touchpoints · 12,000+Cross-Functional Alignment
Partnered with global Customer Satisfaction and e-commerce teams to align U.S. customer feedback with product and marketing strategy across Insta360.com and Amazon. Designed new-hire onboarding programs improving ramp speed and consistency.
Strategic partnershipHow I work
I am most useful at the seam where customer experience, operational design, and cross-functional leadership meet. Six years of running customer operations for global technology brands has taught me that the hard part is rarely the customer-facing message. It is the operational discipline and cross-team alignment behind it.
I lead with structured discovery: map the customer journey, name the root cause behind each friction point, design the system that addresses it, and build the infrastructure that lets a small team handle outsized scale. I serve as the final escalation point for the hardest cases, build the voice-of-customer loops that feed product decisions, and coach agents into confident, autonomous operators. CSAT, first response time, resolution rates, and throughput follow.
I hold a B.A. in Communication from California State University, Long Beach, and an A.A. in Communication from Santa Monica College.