Lovelace OS
A personal desktop OS in the browser — draggable windows, a dock, a job queue, and a shared message bus where AIDA and Claude Code hand work back and forth alongside you.
PythonSQLiteSSEMCPHermesVanilla JS
Available for fractional & consulting work via Pivotal Path
I build AI systems that turn hours of work into minutes — and disjointed data into executive strategy.
I'm James Hayward-Zhu — a Customer Success Operations Manager and fractional AI/data consultant. A decade revitalising customer relationships through data and AI-driven strategies.
90%
faster Success Plan creation
$3B
post-acquisition data unified
£1.2M
ARR managed
1,000+
accounts
Selected work
Things I've Built
Side-projects, client tools and internal systems — usually where AI agents, local-first software, and slightly-too-ambitious UX meet.
TextTone
Paste text, pick from 13 tone presets (Professional, Excited, Pirate!), set an intensity dial, get a side-by-side rewrite. All local via Ollama, no cloud.
PythonOllamaVanilla JS
Hermes Trickster
Visual editor for Hermes AI agent skills: interactive graph with loop detection, no-YAML editor with live @-autocomplete, health checks that explain silent failures.
ElectronTypeScriptOllama
MCPBuddy
Always-on dashboard for Docker MCP servers — running tools, endpoint status, and ready-to-paste connection configs for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and Cursor.
PythonFastAPIDockerMCP
Voice Notes
One-press voice recorder in the Lovelace dock: live waveform, local Whisper transcription streaming line-by-line, keyword-searchable note archive. No cloud.
PythonWeb Audio APIFaster-WhisperSQLite
BulkBlogger
Converts a folder of Markdown posts into a WordPress WXR file for Squarespace import. Drag-and-drop web tool, CLI with cadence scheduling, or MCP server.
TypeScriptViteMCPNode
Hotel Nox Combat Tracker
Offline-first single-file TTRPG combat tracker for an ongoing campaign: hex map, JRPG-style action menus, status effects, VFX/SFX, monster template generator.
Vanilla JSPythonlocalStorage
Salt Voice (client)
Marketing site for a private speech and language therapy practice — multi-page React app with custom design tokens and a live in-browser theme tweaker for the client.
ReactViteCSS Tokens
Lovelace Arcade
20+ canvas games inside Lovelace OS: bullet-hell survival, tower defence, AI dungeon master RPG, match-3, endless runner, top-down drifting racer, hex strategy.
Vanilla JSCanvas APIOllama
Pivotal Path
Fractional & consulting.
Through Pivotal Path I help SaaS teams bridge data silos, optimise customer success and turn manual processes into AI-driven workflows. Seven service strands, one operator.
pivotalpath.co.ukStrand 01
AI & automation
Multi-agent AI ecosystems, copilot bots, LLM integration and automated workflow design that turns hours of grunt work into minutes.
Strand 02
Customer Success strategy & ops
Scalable success strategies, CSP rollouts and tech-touch models. Tackle churn and low engagement with data-driven operations that lift retention and revenue.
Strand 03
Data management & CRM integration
Data cleansing, standardisation and CRM integration. Link disparate systems into cohesive analytics — Fabric, Power BI, SQL, Pendo, Salesforce.
Strand 04
Digital Transformation 2.0
Connect the digital ecosystem, streamline workflows and eliminate silos so the business operates efficiently and intelligently end-to-end.
Strand 05
Customer Journey Mapping workshops
Intensive 'Burn the Churn' workshops that tackle real CS challenges without costly overhauls. Align priorities, ship practical changes fast.
Strand 06
Support desk optimisation
Tune help-desk operations for quicker resolution, happier agents and improved ROI — a service desk that minimises downtime instead of creating it.
Strand 07
Bespoke digital projects & design
Custom builds from app development to branding and UX, delivered through a vetted network of specialists when scope goes beyond ops.
Toolbox
Skills & tools
The stack behind the work — from multi-agent AI and BI pipelines to the customer-success platforms and CRMs I run day to day.
AI & automation
- Multi-agent AI systems
- LLM integration (Claude)
- Copilot & utility bots
- Workflow automation
- MCP
Data & analytics
- Microsoft Fabric
- Power BI
- Power Query / Data Flows
- SQL
- Pendo
Customer Success & CRM
- Totango (CSP)
- Salesforce (admin & migration)
- Tech-touch models
- Retention & onboarding
Build & ship
- Python
- TypeScript
- React
- Node
- Electron
Career
A decade in the trenches.
- Sept 2022 — Present
Verint Systems
Customer Success Operations ManagerBuilt a multi-agent Success Plan AI agent cutting creation time from 3 hours to 10–15 minutes (90% gain). Integrated Claude LLM for market-news 'elevator pitch' summaries into Totango. Led the CSP V2 rollout, unifying legacy data via Microsoft Fabric and Power BI after Verint's $3B Thoma Bravo acquisition.
- Harvard Business School Online — Negotiation Mastery
- Ongoing volunteer with Special Effect, adapting game controllers for children with disabilities.
- 2021 — 2022
Conversocial (acquired by Verint)
Customer Success ManagerDesigned the tech-touch model for sub-£100k ACV accounts. Drove retention through the Verint acquisition transition.
- 2016 — 2021
Orlo / SocialSignIn
Senior CSM → CS & Account Management Director (shareholder)Led the account management team, lifted renewals from 70% to 85%+ (one-year peak: 120%). Managed a £1.2M ARR portfolio across charity, housing and finance. Single-handedly migrated the Salesforce CRM.
- Earlier
HandsHQ · Streaming Tank · Time Etc
Account Management & B2B SaaSAccount management and B2B SaaS roles across gaming, events and tech. Ran the Sony PlayStation client relationship at their GamesCom keynote and pitched creative campaigns to Paddy Power, Metal Hammer and Rimmel London.
Education & certifications
2020
Certificate in Negotiation Mastery
Harvard Business School Online
8-week, 40-hour certificate in value creation, deal-making, and resolving differences before they escalate.
2010
BA, Social Policy
University of Birmingham
Social-sector and behavioural marketing, policy modelling, and qualitative & quantitative research methods.
Contact