Bengaluru-based startup Dukan has laid off 90% of its customer support team. It replaced them with an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. The decision was announced by Dukan founder and CEO Sumit Shah on Twitter.
Attributing the decision to prioritize profitability, he said customer support costs have dropped by 85 percent, while resolution times have dropped from two hours to three minutes. Shah criticized this decision. However, Shah announced that the company is hiring for multiple roles.
But now, after sacking 90% of its support staff team, he is facing criticism on social media. "We had to lay off 90 percent of our support team because of this AI chatbot. Hard? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely," Shah tweeted.
He elaborated on Lena, an AI assistant he claimed would replace mundane and delayed responses, as well as limited availability of resources and poor communication. 12 tweets later, Shaw said the company was hiring for multiple roles. When a Twitter user was asked about the help extended to the fired staff, he asked them to look for his LinkedIn post, reiterating that it was a tough decision.
Who is Sumit Shah?
He is the co-founder and CEO of Dukan, a DIY platform that enables merchants and retailers with zero programming skills to set up their e-commerce store.
Shah launched Dukan in June 2020 along with company co-founder and CTO Subhash Chaudhary.
Prior to Dukan, Shaw founded Rankz.io and Risemetric in 2018 and 2014 respectively. Shah is an entrepreneur and product designer. He is from Mumbai. He graduated in engineering. After pursuing major courses online, Sumit reportedly worked with various big companies including McDonald's and Cred.
He also worked as Digital Marketing Manager with Housing.com and TinyOwl. Sumit started his own business called RiceMetric with his friend Subhash. Four years later, he founded Rankz.io in 2018.
