Co-founded by Andre Vanier, PerceptivePanda built an AI-native platform that replaced human-led customer research interviews with AI-driven interviews, thereby automating tasks teams traditionally performed manually. Building PerceptivePanda revealed both the potential and limits of AI when applied to a well-defined customer task. That work provided practical insight into what it takes for AI to operate reliably in real-world conditions, lessons Andre now brings to Zapier.
At Zapier, Andre will take on leadership of Orchestration Strategy, focusing on helping customers better understand how AI is reshaping the workplace and accelerating their own automation efforts.
When asked "why Zapier," Andre shared, "PerceptivePanda used Zapier to automate key parts of real-world customer workflows. I saw first-hand the power of the platform and came to appreciate the founders' vision. That made Zapier a natural place to help shape what comes next."
Andre brings prior experience as a senior product leader at Yahoo, where he held GM-level responsibility for large-scale platforms across mobile search distribution and SMB products. A repeat founder and CEO, he has spent his career working at the intersection of complex systems, customer understanding, and market strategy.
Zapier revenue leader Navid Zolfaghari said Andre brings a strong blend of product judgment, market perspective, and experience building a production AI system that reliably executes a constrained, multi-step task, to the company's orchestration efforts.
As part of the transition, PerceptivePanda has wound down its platform. It is no longer publicly available.
We're excited to have Andre on board, and we plan to share more as we continue to expand what AI-powered automation can do for companies.
