From fragmented tools to precision at scale: Insider’s journey with Zendesk

Where intelligence meets scale

Insider began in 2012 with a bold idea: that customer engagement could be smarter, more personalised, and deeply human—if powered by the right data and AI. What started in Istanbul has evolved into one of the world’s fastest-growing SaaS platforms. Today, Insider empowers over 1,200 global brands to create connected, individualised experiences across 28 countries, with a team of more than 1,100 employees driving innovation from offices around the world.

At the core of Insider’s platform is its AI-native engine—built to unify data from 100+ sources, generate 360-degree customer profiles, and orchestrate meaningful journeys across more than 12 digital channels, including web, app, email, WhatsApp, SMS, and push. Predictive and generative AI work in tandem to anticipate behaviours and deliver relevant, real-time engagement at scale. This foundation of unification, intelligence, and speed powers measurable outcomes for brands like Samsung, Toyota, GAP, and L’Oréal.

Supporting this global platform is Insider’s Operational Excellence Team—more than 100 experts across 10 international offices—who work in lockstep with Insider’s go-to-market strategy, in 7 languages. Designed not just to resolve issues, but to elevate the partner experience, this team is core to Insider’s success. “Support is not just about solving problems—it’s about letting people know they’re not alone. Every interaction is a chance to turn a difficult moment into trust, and a customer into a lifelong connection,” says Ahmet Tuylu, Director of Global Support. In a world of growing complexity, Insider treats operational excellence not as an afterthought—but as a competitive edge.

The missing link beneath the momentum

As Insider’s presence scaled across 28 countries, so did the complexity of supporting a diverse and growing partner base. But while the business evolved rapidly, the systems underpinning support operations lagged behind. Without a centralised platform, teams responsible for managing partner relationships had limited visibility, fragmented workflows, and no reliable way to identify recurring issues. “Our support system lacked clear organisation, making it challenging to track and maintain comprehensive conversation histories,” explains Tuylu. “It was impacting our ability to deliver the level of service our partners expected.”

Disconnected tools meant that partner insights were scattered across channels, making it difficult to preserve context or understand root causes. Escalations were harder to resolve consistently, and aligning on priorities across teams required manual coordination. The friction added up—slowing down response times and making it harder to provide the high-quality experience Insider is known for.

Performance measurement was equally constrained. With no reliable way to extract meaningful metrics, the team couldn’t fully assess how well support was functioning or where improvements were needed. What Insider required wasn’t just a better ticketing tool—it was an operational backbone. A solution that could unify history, bring structure to every conversation, and transform service data into a driver of long-term partner success.

Connecting the dots across teams

To close the operational gaps and scale with confidence, Insider turned to Zendesk after having also evaluated other vendors such as Freshdesk and Zoho Desk. With its intuitive interface and structured workflows, Zendesk Support gave Insider the foundation it needed to manage partner relationships with greater transparency and efficiency. Every conversation, whether a technical escalation or a routine service touchpoint, was now centralised in one place—bringing clarity to the team and consistency to the partner experience. Historical context that once lived in scattered systems became instantly accessible, enabling faster responses and better-informed decisions across global teams.

Equally transformative was Zendesk’s ability to connect seamlessly with Insider’s broader tech stack. By integrating with Jira, Insider streamlined issue tracking and resolution between support and engineering. The Gainsight integration is helping the team surface insights that directly influence customer success outcomes, ensuring alignment around partner health and priorities. And with Slack, urgent requests can now be escalated and resolved in real time—no more waiting on fragmented threads or follow-ups. These integrations replaced friction with flow, enabling Insider to respond faster, collaborate smarter, and stay agile at scale.

“Zendesk has effectively resolved our issues by centralising support conversations, preserving history, and enabling better monitoring and management of partner interactions,” says Tuylu. “Today, we’re not just solving problems—we’re learning from them. That visibility allows us to be more strategic, more responsive, and ultimately more valuable to our partners.”

Operational gains, strategic lift

With Zendesk fully embedded into its support workflows, Insider has unlocked measurable gains across both partner experience and operational performance. Average first response time has dropped to 35 minutes—ensuring timely attention across global time zones—while lead time on complex inquiries has fallen to 6.7 days. Customer satisfaction remains strong at 95 percent, reflecting Insider’s ability to grow without compromising the quality of its support.

What makes these results especially powerful is the consistency behind them. With structured, accessible data at their fingertips, Insider’s teams can now track performance trends, fine-tune internal processes, and drive continuous improvement. “Having the data has completely changed the way we work,” says Tuylu. “We’re able to spot patterns we couldn’t see before—and use that visibility to improve both speed and quality.”

These aren’t just tactical improvements—they’re strategic foundations.The team is no longer simply managing issues—they’re learning from every interaction and turning insight into action, one metric at a time. It’s a shift that’s redefining how Insider scales: not by adding more, but by understanding better—and moving forward with precision.

Partnering for the long game

“Zendesk has become part of how we operate. It’s helped us stay aligned, responsive, and ready for whatever comes next.”Ahmet Tuylu, Director of Global Support at InsiderWith a structured, data-driven foundation in place, Insider is now focused on scaling with greater agility, sharper insight, and long-term operational resilience. As partner expectations rise, the team is actively refining how they prioritise, respond, and learn—exploring smarter ways to reduce manual overhead, accelerate triage, and proactively address recurring issues before they escalate.

AI is set to play an increasingly important role in that evolution. By automating routine tasks and identifying patterns earlier, Insider aims to free up its teams to focus on what matters most: high-impact, relationship-driven interactions. “Our next phase is about elevating how we operate—surfacing insights faster, simplifying processes, and creating a support experience that’s both scalable and deeply human,” says Tuylu.

As Insider’s growth continues, so does the need for trusted partners who can adapt in step. Zendesk delivers not only the infrastructure to scale—but the flexibility to evolve alongside Insider’s strategy. “Zendesk has become part of how we operate,” Tuylu reflects. “It’s helped us stay aligned, responsive, and ready for whatever comes next.” Together, they’re building a support model that balances intelligence with empathy—and delivers on the needs of every partner they serve.