- Thursday, February 27, 2025
Suumit Shah, founder of Dukaan, an e-commerce company, said the decision was tough but necessary.
By: Shubham Ghosh
A BUSINESS executive in India has faced a backlash after revealing that his company has replaced 90 per cent of its support staff with an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot and that the move has paid off in terms of improving response and resolution time of queries placed by customers. He said the decision was “tough” but “necessary”.
Suumit Shah, founder of Dukaan, an e-commerce company, said in one of the series of tweets he posted on Monday (10) that were viewed several thousand times, “We had to layoff 90% of our support team because of this AI chatbot. Tough? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely. The results? Time to first response went from 1m 44s to INSTANT! Resolution time went from 2h 13m to 3m 12s Customer support costs reduced by ~85%”
In another, he said, “Given the state of economy, startups are prioritizing “profitability” over striving to become “unicorns,” and so are we. It’s less magical, sure, but at least it pays the bills!”
In a third, he said, “In the age of instant gratification, launching a business is not a distant dream anymore. With the right idea, the right team, anyone can turn their entrepreneurial dreams into reality. Overnight! To all the dreamers, doers, and disruptors out there – your time is now!”
It did not take time for netizens to hit back at Shah, with many accusing him of being unfair with the staff members he removed from work.
One user by the name of Arnob, said, “As expected, didn’t find any mention about the 90% staff that were laid off. What assistance were they provided?”
As expected, didn’t find any mention about the 90% staff that were laid off. What assistance were they provided?
— Arnob (@arnob1) July 10, 2023
Another named Mohit Mamoria said, “Seriously dude. Focussing on profitability is one thing, and being heartless is another. Good hook to the story, but the bad resolution. Bait and switch.”
Seriously dude. Focussing on profitability is one thing, and being heartless is another.
Good hook to the story, but the bad resolution. Bait and switch.
— Mohit Mamoria (@mohitmamoria) July 11, 2023
One user Lakshmi Narayanan G said, “Dude, You disrupted the lives of 90% of your support team & you’re celebrating it in public. You also likely destroyed your customer support (disprove with good CSAT for the bot) – all for a basic ChatGPT wrapper. This is a new low even for you.”
Dude,
You disrupted the lives of 90% of your support team & you're celebrating it in public. You also likely destroyed your customer support (disprove with good CSAT for the bot) – all for a basic ChatGPT wrapper. ??♂️??♂️
This is a new low even for you.
— Lakshmi Narayanan G (@_glnarayanan) July 11, 2023
Shah’s tweets come at a time when apprehension about AI snatching jobs, specially in the services sector, is high.
The Bengaluru-based entrepreneur said customer support had been a challenge for the company for a long time and he was looking for a way to fix it.
He explained how they built the bot and the AI platform in a short time so that all his company’s customers could have their own AI assistant. He said the bot was answering all queries fast and accurately.
Shah also added that the firm was hiring for multiple roles.
He responded to one critical tweet saying, “As expected, someone will get offended on behalf of someone else”. According to Shah, when he would post about assistance for his staff on LinkedIn, people on Twitter would look for “profitability” and not “sympathy”.
He, however, added that taking the decision to lay off staff was a tough one and posted a ‘heart-break’ emoji.
As expected, 'someone' will get offended on behalf of 'someone else', so I had this reply ready:
Assistance ke bare mein jab Linkedin pe post karunga tab dekh lena mere dost, yahaan Twitter pe log "profitability" dekhte hai "sympathy" nahi.
Also – "it was tough decision" ?
— Suumit Shah (@suumitshah) July 10, 2023
In March, Goldman Sachs unveiled a report that showed that AI could replace the equivalent of as many as 300 million full-time jobs, the BBC reported.
In India, which is already facing a challenge of high unemployment, several companies are investing into AI to develop products, sparking concerns over the future of jobs.
