Sierra Spotlight: Cindy Liang with Sierra Interactive’s Product Team

With Sierra Spotlight, we aim to highlight what makes Sierra Interactive more than just a powerful real estate software company—our people. Each month, we will feature an in-depth profile of a different team member who contributes to making Sierra the trusted partner it is today. By showcasing the stories, expertise and passions of our team, we want to give you an inside look at the heart behind the technology.

At Sierra Interactive, we understand that exceptional software is only part of the equation. It’s our dedicated team of developers, customer success specialists, trainers and innovators that breathe life into our solutions. Through Sierra Spotlight, we hope to forge deeper connections, offering you a glimpse into the diverse talents and personal stories of the individuals who work to support your real estate journey.

Join us each month as we go beyond the code and into the community that powers Sierra Interactive. Get ready to meet the people who make the difference.

Cindy Liang

• Title: Senior Product Manager
• Team: Product
• Time with Sierra: 1 year
• Experience: I have never worked in the real estate industry before Sierra Interactive!

Tell us about your role at Sierra Interactive and what a typical day looks like?

My role is to define what to build for the Sierra IDX Platform to support our customers’ businesses. I’m focused on developing features and improvements that help our real estate clients succeed in a competitive market. A typical day involves collaborating with engineering teams to prioritize development tasks, gathering feedback from customers/CX, analyzing market trends, and mapping out product roadmaps that align with both user needs and business goals.

Can you share a recent project or achievement you’re particularly proud of?

The recent IntelliSearch launch is something I’m incredibly proud of. It’s super exciting to see a brand new search experience come to life after months of planning and development. This feature not only supports our customers’ SEO efforts but really changes how property searches work. Agents can now process keywords against MLS listing descriptions and criteria, enabling lifestyle-based searches that weren’t previously possible. Home seekers can now search for concepts like ‘multi-generational homes,’ or properties that are ‘in downtown, near restaurants, walkable’ – creating matches based on the essence of what people are looking for rather than just MLS structured data. This approach will help our clients connect buyers with their dream homes in a much more human way.

What trends in real estate technology do you find most exciting or impactful, and how is Sierra Interactive adapting to them?

The evolution of search is one of the most exciting trends I’m seeing in the industry. IntelliSearch is our first of many in supporting our clients with winning in this evolution. Our platform now enables much more intuitive searching that goes beyond traditional property filters. We’re supporting agents with the power of keyword search which will help them build hyper targeted, niche content that is lifestyle focused – think multi-generational, downtown/near restaurants/walkable, exposed brick walls… allowing real estate professionals to better serve clients looking for specific lifestyle features.

But what’s really game-changing about this is the SEO opportunity. Agents can now create content pages that capture organic traffic that would have been lost with traditional MLS searches. Since typical MLS systems don’t have structured data that supports these lifestyle searches, we’re stepping into that gap with IntelliSearch. This is where there is huge potential – our clients can now capture those high-intent searches that previously weren’t being served by standard MLS structured data.

If you could live anywhere in the world for a year, where would it be and why?

This is a difficult question to answer! But I’d love to live in Ghent, Belgium actually for a year. I’ve never been, but from everything I’ve read and pictures I’ve seen, the city has this perfect blend of historic architecture and modern amenities, with canals winding through medieval streets and a vibrant cultural scene. It’d be cool to get a houseboat for a year there.

What’s the most memorable trip you’ve taken, and what made it special?

This is a difficult one to answer because so many come to mind. If I have to pick one then I’d probably say my climb to Mount Taishan, located in Shandong Province in China. There are 5 main mountains in China and Taishan is one of the 5. This was really special for me for 2 main reasons:

1. I almost couldn’t get down from the summit because my legs were shaking so badly from climbing up to the summit – it was very steep and we did it in the rain. There is a cable car that I could’ve taken but you know, at the time, only seniors were taking the cable car… so I couldn’t, out of saving face, do it. So I braved the climb…6,660 steps (it’s a lot).
2. I never understood why Chinese paintings were the way they were visually but that day, when the rain let up and the sun started to shine, I really understood it. It was so incredibly gorgeous and peaceful. In fact, there is a saying in Chinese: When one climbs Mount Taishan, the world appears small.

Sadly my camera broke at the time so it’s all just memories now. But here’s a picture from the internet that I hope can give folks an idea.

We hope you enjoyed learning more about Cindy and her work at Sierra! Learn more about the team behind the tech on our blog.