How Hugo Rebuilt a 107-Person Support Org Around AI — Then Kept Optimizing

At a Glance

A global technology company faced rising costs, poor operational visibility, and a CEO mandate to adopt AI, but no internal capability. Hugo, an Intercom Preferred Partner, deployed a 107-person team, then reduced it to 31 over two years as AI scaled,  cutting costs by 42%, increasing CSAT by 12 points, and resolving up to 60% of tickets without human intervention.

The Client

One of Hugo’s longest-standing partners is a global technology company running its full CX function inside Intercom. The company had grown quickly and built a fully remote internal support team, but as ticket volume increased and AI tools became more capable, leadership began to question whether the model was sustainable.

The Challenge

• Lack of visibility: leadership had limited insight into daily performance. Workforce management was inconsistent and SLA adherence varied significantly.
• An underutilized platform: They had been operating inside Intercom for seven years but without internal platform experts, much of its capability sat unused.
• An AI mandate with no execution path: The CEO pushed the organization to aggressively adopt Intercom Fin and other AI-driven workflows to reduce ticket volume and improve response time.
• An unsustainable cost model: A shift to Total Cost of Ownership—combining labor, management, and technology—made it clear the existing model wouldn’t scale.

Leadership decided to evaluate whether a managed CX partner could reduce cost while improving operational visibility and automation.

Why Hugo

Three things separated Hugo from other vendors.

1. Enterprise-grade compliance: Hugo met the organization’s security and compliance requirements across multiple regions.
2. Operational agility: The client worked directly with Hugo operators and executives. Decisions moved fast, with no unnecessary layers.
3. AI and systems expertise: As an Intercom Preferred Partner, Hugo’s agents could unlock the platform’s full potential from day one. Combined with Hugo’s background building and operating AI systems at scale, the team partnered directly on Fin deployment and agentic workflow design.

Hugo’s Solution

For the last two years, Hugo has transformed the customer support model, redesigning it around automation and operational discipline.

Phase 1: Audit and Immediate Stabilization 

• Conducted a full audit of historical ticket data, workflows, and team performance
• Identified the highest-volume ticket types and quick automation opportunities
• Introduced workforce management (WFM), QA frameworks, and real-time reporting

Phase 2: AI Deployment and Early Wins

• Deployed Intercom Fin with a dedicated team for training and tuning
• Trained AI on historical tickets, macros, and recurring issue patterns
• Prioritized automation of high-frequency, low-complexity tickets
• Began deflecting a meaningful share of inbound volume without impacting CSAT

Phase 3: Ongoing Optimization and Scaling

• Expanded automation workflows quarter by quarter
• Introduced continuous QA loops to improve both agent and AI performance
• Aligned headcount planning with AI performance benchmarks
• Embedded Hugo leadership directly into the account for faster decision-making

The Outcome

2 years in and a 71% headcount reduction later, Hugo continues to operate and evolve the model.

“We came to Hugo thinking we were outsourcing a headcount problem. Two years later, we’re running a fundamentally different operation, and it’s still getting better.” – David T. Head of Customer Experience

Conclusion

This was a two-year transformation that required the right partner with AI expertise, platform depth, and accountability to real outcomes. The result is a support org that does more with less and keeps getting better.

Similar Work Hugo Does

• CX transition from internal team to fully managed outsourced model
• Intercom Fin deployment, tuning, and AI optimization
• Agentic workflow design and ticket deflection
• Workforce management and QA implementation
• Total Cost of Ownership modeling for support operations
• Multi-region CX with enterprise compliance
• AI-human hybrid support for high-volume digital environments

Facing a similar challenge? Book a demo with Hugo.