Shopify is getting a new head of customer support amid an AI-centric shift for the division

• Clovis Cuqui is departing Shopify after years of leading its customer-support organization.
• Cuqui will be replaced by Glen Worthington, another longtime Shopify leader.
• Shopify’s support organization has been undergoing many changes this year.

Clovis Cuqui, Shopify’s head of customer support, is leaving the company after more than eight years.

Cuqui, who was most recently a vice president of merchant acceleration, will be replaced by Glen Worthington, who was previously a vice president and chief of staff, reporting to Kaz Nejatian, the company’s chief operating officer. Worthington has spent five years at Shopify.

According to an internal post seen by Insider, the organization Cuqui led was temporarily known as “merchant acceleration,” but it will now be known as “support.” Cuqui’s departure comes at a time of transition for the division, which resolves issues for the millions of merchants who use the e-commerce platform.

“I am extremely proud of the merchant-obsessed team that has developed under my leadership.” But every story requires new chapters, and now it’s time for someone else to pick up the pen,” Cuqui said in a LinkedIn post about his departure. “When I think about the future of this team, I have the utmost confidence and full peace of mind knowing that Glen Worthington and the entire leadership group are at the helm, writing the next chapters of this story.”

Cuqui stated in his post that he would be taking time off to travel, read, do more angel investing, and spend time with family.

“Clovis and I have been working closely together to transform Support for Shopify and our Merchants… all aimed at ensuring our Merchants have what they need today and into the future,” Worthington wrote in a LinkedIn post of his own. “I look forward to continuing this work in lock step with our incredible crew of 1000s of Support Advisors and team members.”

A Shopify representative declined to elaborate on the leadership transition.

During a town hall meeting in July, Shopify executives unveiled a road map for the division that placed artificial intelligence squarely at the center of the company’s plans. Some employees were concerned about this plan.

“It’s rare in one’s career that you get to work through an industry sea change,” Worthington said during the town hall, which Insider reviewed a recording of. “Isn’t it cool that we get to be in the forefront and take whatever skills we develop from this and reapply them elsewhere, or here, or in other jobs?”

As more large merchants join Shopify, the division is also working on a new, enterprise level of support. It recently changed the guidelines for merchants who get direct access to merchant-success managers, affecting approximately 16,000 Shopify Plus merchants, who would then be routed to support representatives as their primary point of contact.

All of this is part of Code Yellow, a project Worthington co-led with Nejatian and Shopify’s chief revenue officer, Bobby Morrison. The project was announced internally by company executives in March, with the goal of improving customer service levels “that have deteriorated beyond acceptable ranges.” Shopify has also been hiring outsourced customer-service representatives through the company TaskUs, many of whom are based in the Philippines, as previously reported.