Understanding Support in the Age of AI with Daria Leshchenko of SupportYourApp
In this week’s episode of the Outsource Accelerator Podcast, Derek sits down with Daria Leshchenko, CEO and Managing Partner of SupportYourApp.
With 15 years in the industry and a team of 1,500 people spread across the globe, Daria shares her perspective on the fast-moving shifts in customer support — from the rise of AI to the enduring value of human connection.
SupportYourApp
Daria introduces the company she co-founded 15 years ago with a clear belief: that customer experience should never feel outsourced.
“SupportYourApp is an intelligent support-as-a-service company, and we provide customer, technical, and back-end support services for other IT companies all over the world.
We don’t sell headcount. We build performance-driven customer experience ecosystems.”
Originally built to serve Mac developers, the company has since expanded to support fast-growing global technology companies across FinTech, SaaS, gaming, AI, and marketplaces. Today, SupportYourApp operates teams in Argentina, Colombia, South Africa, Europe, and Morocco.
AI and the future of human support
One of the episode’s central themes is the pressure that AI is placing on the customer support sector — and how Daria is thinking about it.
“AI will replace low-value, repetitive tasks, but I don’t think it will replace accountability, ownership, or judgment.”
She draws a line between what AI does well — handling first-line screening, password resets, basic troubleshooting — and where humans remain essential.
Premium products, high-stakes financial interactions, and emotionally complex situations still require a real person. Daria also warns against the risks of removing humans entirely.
“Even the companies that remove humans completely usually reintroduce them later.”
A new set of KPIs for hybrid teams
As AI handles more of the transactional layer, Daria argues that the metrics used to evaluate customer support need to evolve as well.
“We used to have metrics like churn rate, first reaction time, reply time. But right now there are other KPIs that are very important — like deflection rate, empathy rate, or retention rate.”
She sees AI not just as a tool for efficiency, but as an enabler of deeper customer insights.
With AI analyzing full conversation data, support teams can now surface behavioral patterns, product feedback, and client sentiment in ways that weren’t previously possible. This capability turns the support function into a vital source of business intelligence.
The state of voice AI
Derek and Daria also dig into where voice AI actually stands today. Daria’s assessment is candid: the technology has progressed faster than most people realize.
“Our voice AI agents — you’re talking to a human, even without an accent. You can adjust the voice, adjust the empathy. And there are no lags at all.”
However, she’s quick to add that cost per minute for voice AI currently runs slightly higher than human agents. Governance and security remain critical — especially for clients in regulated industries like FinTech.
SupportYourApp holds PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance, which she describes as both essential and demanding to maintain.
Building a global, remote culture
SupportYourApp’s 1,500-person team is 80% remote, spanning multiple continents and dozens of languages. Daria reflects on what it takes to build real culture across that kind of distance.
“On a weekly basis, we have team building meetings where we can talk about different topics. It’s so cool when we see people all over the world — with their backgrounds, with their experience.”
She also highlights the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, noting a 50/50 male-to-female ratio across the company, including in management and technical roles. This distinction earned SupportYourApp a Silver Award in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the 2025 Outsourcing Impact Report.
“It’s all about giving the same rights to everyone to step into any position they would like to, especially if they have the skill set.”
To learn more about SupportYourApp, visit their website at supportyourapp.com. You may also connect with Daria Leshchenko on LinkedIn for more on the future of customer support and AI.
If you’d like to learn more about what we do in the outsourcing space, send us an email at ask@outsourceaccelerator.com.
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