E-commerce startup Dukaan lays off 90 per cent customer support team with AI chatbot, draws netizens ire
New Delhi, July 11
E-commerce startup Dukaan has replaced 90 per cent of its customer support team with an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, founder and CEO Suumit Shah informed on Tuesday.
Attributing the decision to prioritising profitability, he said customer support costs reduced by 85 per cent while resolution time went down from over two hours to three minutes.
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 Rs 85%Here’s how’s we did it 🧵
Suumit Shah (@suumitshah) July 10, 2023
“We had to lay off 90 per cent of our support team because of this AI chatbot. Tough? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely,” Shah tweeted.
“Given the state of economy, startups are prioritising “profitability” over striving to become “unicorns”, and so are we,” Shah added.
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!
Customer Support had been a struggle for us since long & fixing it felt like an opportunity to me. pic.twitter.com/iLeSKuA6iQ
Suumit Shah (@suumitshah) July 10, 2023
He explained in detail about Lina, the AI assistant which he claimed, replaces generic and delayed responses, as well as limited availability of resources and poor communication. After 12 tweets, Shah said that the company is hiring for multiple roles.
Several Twitter users criticised the tweet, deeming it insensitive.
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
Laying off is never a pleasant experience, why is the need to proclaim and be proud about it
VivekDhonde (@vivekdhonde) July 11, 2023
“Laying off is never a pleasant experience, why is the need to proclaim and be proud about it,” a Twitter user wrote.
When asked by a Twitter user about the assistance provided to the laid off staff, he asked them to look out for his LinkedIn post, reiterating that it was a tough decision.
“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”, Shah tweeted.
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
The announcement comes after Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar deemed any concerns about AI threatening jobs as “nonsense”.
