How Daria Leshchenko Built a Global CX Company — Interview

In this customer support podcast, Daria Leshchenko, the CEO and Managing Partner at SupportYourApp, shares how she built a scalable, AI-empowered Support-as-a-Service company, offering insight into international growth, leadership, and the future of customer service outsourcing.

What You’ll Learn

• How Daria transformed a student side job into a global CX company
• What makes the company stand out from traditional BPO providers
• How SupportYourApp combines AI automation with a human-first support model
• Daria’s take on the future of CX outsourcing

How It All Started With SupportYourApp

After returning from the US where she went through a Work and Travel program, Daria Leshchenko was looking for a flexible job while studying. She joined a small customer support department and worked night shifts to accommodate her classes.

Soon, the founder of a startup located in the same building approached their department. They were about to launch a Mac application in the US, but had no one to handle inbound customer inquiries. Daria and her team agreed to help. Afterward, they thought that there was a demand and decided to dive into the support field. Daria mentions:

“Over time, we began working with more clients and eventually became an independent company. Today, we provide support services to over 250 active clients, with MacPaw, our very first client, still with us after 15 years.”

SupportYourApp quickly grew beyond Mac software and added SaaS customer support and support for FinTech to its portfolio. And it was that one-off request that sparked what would become a global customer service company offering 24/7 omnichannel, multilingual support.

The Importance of Mentorship

Daria credits much of her business growth to her co-founder and business partner, whom she considers her primary mentor. He believed in her and always gave her the freedom to experiment, test new ideas, make mistakes, and take responsibility. 

As the company scaled beyond 1,000 staff members, Daria began looking for a second mentor — someone who had navigated the challenges of rapid growth. 

“I’m still in the process of searching for a right mentor, because it’s great to talk to someone who already saw the same challenges, even though the market is shifting, with AI being the biggest impact, and probably even those potential mentors haven’t faced any situations like we have today. But anyway, life experience is very important.”

Where SupportYourApp Fits in the BPO Industry

SupportYourApp was never meant to be a classic customer service outsourcing company — either focused solely on technology or on providing support staff. Daria explains:

“From the start, we wanted to be a human-powered company fueled by technology.” 

Today, SupportYourApp positions itself as an international Support-as-a-Service partner, helping clients strike the right balance between AI automation and human connection. With a truly international support team, they provide support in 60+ languages to meet the needs of global customers.

Traditional BPOs may struggle to adapt. Their large-scale models often rely on high headcounts, and shifting to AI-enhanced services requires a completely new approach. In contrast, SupportYourApp’s hybrid model offers agility and long-term sustainability for CX operations.

Nurturing Client Relationships

The company’s growth has been driven, to a large extent, by their existing clients. Happy with the partnership, a client recommends a friend who works at another company to outsource customer service to SupportYourApp. Daria gives details on what a client relationship looks like: 

“We have a Chief Customer Officer, whose Service Delivery team is responsible for regular client communication and feedback collection. When a client faces new customer challenges, we make sure to proactively offer solutions and adjust our support approach accordingly.”

SupportYourApp has regular project reviews woven into their process. They provide clients with performance data, QA insights, and feedback on where they can improve. This approach helps them align with client goals, address emerging challenges early, and continuously refine the support experience for better outcomes.

SupportYourApp’s Human-AI Strategy

The company was exploring AI long before it became a buzzword. Their R&D team started testing AI solutions about six years ago, building internal tools to improve service quality, speed, and cost-efficiency.

Today, SupportYourApp offers standalone AI solutions and human-AI hybrid support models. Their AI-powered support agent, Quidget, can automate up to 80% of routine support inquiries. 

When asked whether she’s not afraid of their AI product competing with their core business, Daria explains:  

“At the moment, our AI solution can handle L1 inquiries. However, complex requests requiring empathy and nuanced approach should be handed off to L2 and L3 human consultants. This human-AI collaboration ensures accurate and high-quality customer experience.”

She mentions that AI still has gaps, because sometimes it fails to provide accurate responses to simple questions. And the key to a good AI solution is foundational content, like FAQ and knowledge bases. Clients often don’t have the capacity to prepare clean and detailed knowledge bases.

“And that’s where we step in. We can go through previous customer conversations with our client, prepare a structured knowledge base and train an LLM to give detailed and correct responses.”

When implementing an AI solution, Daria mentions, SupportYourApp takes a personalized approach. For example, an eCommerce client might need their AI tool to handle refund requests only. So, that should be taken into consideration when customizing their solution. The company makes sure that the entire AI tool is the best fit for the client.

SupportYourApp is also experimenting with voice AI, such as ElevenLabs technology. Though still emerging, the results are promising. Daria comments:

“The future is here. Voice AI isn’t yet plug-and-play, but we’re seeing real results, especially when the setup is solid.”

How Daria’s Role Evolved 15 Years Into Leading SupportYourApp

Daria’s current role spans across several companies under the SupportYourApp umbrella. Besides SupportYourApp, she’s involved in:

• Label Your Data – a data annotation company for AI and computer vision models.
• Outstaff Your Team – a company that helps tech businesses outstaff technical specialists.

Her schedule revolves around 1:1 meetings, strategic sessions, and board discussions with leaders across these companies. 

“I see my role now as being a mentor. It’s interesting how we started from my search for one, but now I am also a mentor for others — guiding, supporting, and pushing my teams to think differently.”

She also carves out time for exploration. Daria blocks at least an hour daily to test new tools and AI solutions herself. She then brings these ideas back to her teams, where they discuss cases and tips — from testing new LLMs to sharing automations they use in daily work. It’s a routine designed to keep innovation alive across the company.

From Operator to Strategist

The shift from day-to-day operations to strategy wasn’t easy, and it didn’t happen overnight. It was motherhood that forced the change. 

“When I had my child, I had to step back. Before that, I was involved in both operations and strategy, but after seeing the business run smoothly without me in the day-to-day, I decided to focus more on the strategic side moving forward.”

She credits her team, many of whom have been with her for over a decade, for making that possible. Even after 10–12 years together, we’re still learning, still growing.

Daria encourages experimentation and lateral moves across roles. 

“If someone wants to try a new direction, I let them. That’s how we grow. Every year feels different — that’s how we avoid burnout and keep evolving.”

Advice and Lessons Learned

Daria’s advice for young professionals or aspiring entrepreneurs is simple but powerful:

• “Fail fast.” Don’t be afraid to experiment. Just learn quickly and move forward.
• “Keep your word.” Integrity builds long-term relationships, especially in a people-first business.
• “Stay steady.” Don’t get too excited when everything’s great, and don’t fall apart when things go wrong. It’s a mindset that’s kept her grounded through the highs and lows of business.

One of Daria’s core takeaways is the importance of human relationships. Whether it’s a current staff member, a former colleague, or a client — treat everyone with respect. 

She lives by a quote often attributed to King Solomon: “This too shall pass.” It reminds her not to overreact, whether to problems or to success. In an industry as dynamic as customer support and AI, staying level-headed may be the most underrated skill of all.

The Future of the Industry

What excites Daria most is the flexibility of the customer support space. It’s an industry where visionaries can shape real change. 

“We’re in a position to transform customer experiences, and now, with AI, we can do it at scale.”

The goal today is to redefine customer experience as a collaborative effort between humans and machines, powered by empathy and smart automation. It’s what makes SupportYourApp a standout customer support company.

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