Originally developed at MIT, NIMA is a portable gluten detection system that analyzes small food samples for gluten, giving users clarity, confidence, and control.

After being acquired and rebuilt from the ground up, NIMA relaunched in November 2025 with new capabilities and a redesigned app. Within weeks, thousands of users were testing their food again.

And with growth came a new layer of operational risk: high-stakes customer questions that require fast, accurate answers every time.

Supporting Launch with Live CX

From the beginning, NIMA activated Crescendo’s Chat, Email, and Voice Assistants, as well as trained specialists, embedding support into every part of the product experience.

AI now handles the vast majority of customer questions the moment they come in. When a NIMA user needs to know detailed information about their device, update firmware, navigate the app, or track shipping in real time, AI is there. Only a small number of complex or sensitive cases escalate to human experts every day.

For customers, strong support means fast, accurate answers when their health is on the line. For the NIMA team, it means fewer internal escalations, less Slack noise, and a consistent, brand-aligned experience at scale.

Results at a Glance

• Within weeks of partnering with Crescendo, AI took over the majority of customer questions independently, with five to six complex cases per day requiring human escalation.
• Customer satisfaction reached 97%, supported by a 71 Net Promoter Score (NPS).
• Support scaled without needing a large team of human agents.
• Each ticket was completed to 100%.
• Custom dashboards directly informed app iterations and shipping model changes.
• 24/7 responsiveness became standard.

“It’s the combination of humans when an issue needs to get escalated and powerful AI that answers most of our customer questions.”
_{— Mike Glick, CEO}

Building support from scratch

Under prior owners, support was handled directly by a resource-constrained internal team. There was no structured system, no integrated platform, no clear baseline for customer service.

Incoming leadership knew NIMA couldn’t become the trusted standard for gluten testing unless customers felt confident in every interaction. Support had to be a top internal priority, embedded right alongside the most mission-critical product and infrastructure decisions.

Most companies spend years building CX infrastructure. NIMA did it in months.

And the relaunch wasn’t a simple product drop. It required reactivating an existing user base, introducing rebuilt sensors, rolling out capsules, and guiding customers through a new app experience.

Plus, customers fell into three distinct segments:

• Newly diagnosed users who needed lots of product info
• Celiac veterans who knew what they were doing
• Primary food providers (typically moms), who didn’t have celiac but were very involved with care and decision-making
  

NIMA began exploring options. They first discussed hiring agents and standing up an in-house process, but that meant committing to fixed headcount before they knew what volume would look like. The risk was too high.

Still, the team knew they needed:

• Humans
• Coverage across chat, email, and voice assistants
• Clear escalation paths for complex questions
• Integration with Shopify and Zendesk
• Visibility into customer conversation trends that could be used to inform business decisions
• Flexibility in contract terms
• Maintaining a customer experience aligned with NIMA’s values and mission
  

Why Crescendo?

Michael Elliott, Chief Manufacturing Officer, started his search the way many leaders now do. He reached out to his trusted network for introductions along with opening ChatGPT to provide alternative options with market feedback. He looked for top providers experienced in supporting high-touch consumer healthcare products and quickly built a short list.

He evaluated platforms ranging from global name-brand ERP companies to boutique service firms, with systems designed to span multiple business functions. With some, the technology was powerful, but it was missing the personal element needed for such a high-touch experience.

Then Michael spoke with Crescendo.

From the first call, Crescendo understood NIMA’s business. And within five days, Crescendo built a working AI demo trained on NIMA’s public information. This gave NIMA’s leadership an opportunity to see AI handle common questions in real time.

Given his background training deep learning and AI models, Michael considered Crescendo’s AI “ahead of the curve”.

Crescendo also offered a model that blended AI and trained specialists, integrated with Zendesk and Shopify, and could flex as the business grew. This eliminated the need for large upfront investments or rigid staffing commitments.

Pricing was transparent and matched NIMA’s needs, providing an unmatched quality guarantee.

Just as important, the partnership fit NIMA’s long-term strategy for expansion in the allergen market and building trust in the community.

“We set up some discussions, and your front-end business development associate was very energetic, great at representing our vision, and really understood what we needed. And then by the second discussion, I didn't feel like I was still trying to explain the business.”
_{Michael Elliott, Chief Manufacturing Officer}

CX that adapts to the business

Before full rollout, the team ran multiple pilot cycles. They validated AI Assistant responses line by line, pressure-tested escalation paths, and separated internal documentation from customer-facing knowledge to protect sensitive conversations.

Becky, Crescendo’s AI Deployment Engineer, played a critical role in the process. As Michael put it, “She knew where to poke holes and gaps in our system that we didn’t know. She went in and proactively found stuff.”

They then structured escalation with intention. Cases requiring human escalation were routed directly to trained team members, who processed them through a dedicated Slack channel and fed answers back into the system.

Crescendo further aligned with NIMA, supplying support people called NIMA Service Providers (NSPs) to act as an extension of NIMA’s team. NSPs were fully trained on the product to help customers with onboarding and setup. They stayed current on the knowledge needed to solve customer issues.

To keep implementation sharp, the team established a weekly knowledge base review. Every Friday, they reviewed product updates, shipping changes, new programs, and entry of new data generation to keep AI assistant responses current.

The first two channels, chat and email, rolled out simultaneously. And because of the success, voice assistants followed shortly after.

Support moved from informal and reactive to deliberate and data-driven. By launch, the team had the infrastructure they could rely on.

Faster answers, stronger decisions

Within weeks of implementing Crescendo, AI handled the majority of customer questions across Chat, Email, and Voice Assistants while maintaining the personal feel that NIMA requires aligned with their values. On average, five to six complex cases per day require humans to step in. Internal Slack chatter dropped as fewer issues required manual escalation.

Leadership also took advantage of Crescendo’s AI-powered insights dashboard to spot complaint trends early and identify where customers were “getting stuck”. Early data confirmed product performance was strong, and that most friction came from the digital experience and customer education.

When patterns showed confusion in the app, the team went back into Figma, their product design software, and adjusted the experience, releasing rapid version updates (1.5, 2.0, 2.5) based on real user feedback.

And when shipping issues surfaced, they reworked carrier routes to eliminate handoffs that were creating tracking delays and unnecessary support tickets.

As it stands today, customer satisfaction is 97% top-two-box, supported by a 71 Net Promoter Score — strong performance for a high-trust healthcare category.

“We have confidence that our customers will get a NIMA-like experience with each interaction and each resource, ensuring they know they are our number one priority.”
_{Michael Elliott, Chief Manufacturing Officer}

NIMA had months to build the CX most companies take years to get right.

By embedding AI + human coverage from day one, the team avoided the typical scramble that comes from fast growth and high customer demand. Instead of reacting to issues, they launched with a system designed to scale.

With a structure in place, leadership could shift focus to continually refining AI support, improving their customer experience and managing edge cases with human agents. The result: strong satisfaction and fewer fire drills.

Now, NIMA can focus on expanding the platform to other allergens and deepening community trust, without worrying that support, or brand image, will break under growth.

Do you need a CX partner that’s “ahead of the curve? Schedule a call with us today!