The World CX Summit, a prestigious gathering organized by Trescon in Bengaluru, transformed into a powerhouse of innovation and collaboration, uniting over 200 C-level executives. This dynamic event fostered groundbreaking discussions and unveiled the latest trends in customer experience, celebrating excellence across the industry. As a proud media partner, Business Review Live had the honour of participating in this influential summit, where we engaged with Mr Aniket Bajpai, Co-Founder of LimeChat.
LimeChat, co-founded by Nikhil Gupta and Aniket Bajpai, IIT Delhi and MIT graduates, emerged from a passion for leveraging AI to solve real-world challenges. With a strong background in AI and computer science, the founders previously launched a successful news and social media analytics company, exiting in 2019.
The onset of the pandemic in 2020 opened the door to new opportunities. Observing the difficulties brands faced in managing customer contact centres remotely, the founders recognized the potential for AI to enhance support experiences. Their insights aligned with the rapid advancements in AI technology, including innovations that eventually led to the development of ChatGPT. This convergence inspired the creation of an AI agent capable of delivering exceptional support around the clock.
LimeChat focuses exclusively on the Indian market, concentrating on a few industries. Committed to sustainable growth, the company has raised nearly $6 million in funding and is nearing break-even with a vision to grow profitably. The goal is to empower large enterprises across India to provide outstanding customer experiences without incurring excessive backend costs. As the future of AI continues to evolve, LimeChat envisions technology that can understand customer issues more effectively, integrating seamlessly with various systems to resolve problems efficiently. This commitment to innovation positions LimeChat at the forefront of the AI landscape, ready to transform customer support in India.
Join us as we delve into his compelling insights and perspectives from this remarkable event.
What motivated you to start LimeChat AI, and how has your vision for the company evolved since its early days?
My previous experience in building AI solutions, including running an AI company before LimeChat, was a key motivation. We launched during the pandemic when businesses were scaling rapidly. I had terrible customer support experiences during that time, from transferring my phone number to ordering products online. After talking to various brands, I realized their biggest challenge was scaling customer support as they grew. At the same time, innovations in AI, such as the rise of GPT technologies, were gaining momentum. So, we decided to leverage this technology to create AI-powered support agents that could help brands scale their customer service.
How do you ensure that LimeChat’s AI provides personalized customer interactions without sacrificing automation or efficiency?
I strongly believe that personalization is crucial. Without it, interactions can become very limited. For instance, a click-based interaction may automate processes, but it can significantly lower the customer experience. We aim to deliver a human-like output from our AI, similar to what ChatGPT offers. It should feel like a real conversation. The AI can understand your free text and respond in kind. This approach ensures that customers engage in a dialogue rather than simply clicking buttons and following a rigid process.
How do you continuously identify and adapt to real-world customer needs through your AI solutions?
Our solution acts like an agent on WhatsApp. During conversations, the AI often asks questions like, “Are you satisfied with this chat?” or “Did you like this response?” This approach makes it easy for customers to provide feedback instantly. We use it to enhance and train the model as we gather more feedback. Over time, this process allows the AI to improve continuously, ensuring it better meets customer needs.
How does LimeChat stand out in providing unique value to its audience?
Many companies are trying to create AI chatbots, but most are still in the demo phase. Unlike them, we focus on delivering live examples of our technology in action. Our chatbots don’t just exist for show; they actively impact business metrics and enhance customer experience. As pioneers in this field, we have successfully deployed Gen AI technology in over 10 live projects. Our partnership with Microsoft also enables us to advance quickly in this area. This real-world experience in developing and deploying Gen AI solutions in production truly sets us apart.
How do you envision integrating emotional intelligence into transactions?
There is ongoing innovation in AI every month. For AI to truly understand customers, it needs to recognize their tone and sentiment. This understanding allows the AI to use the customer’s emotions to tailor its responses. For instance, detecting whether a customer is happy, sad, or angry helps the AI respond appropriately. Currently, AI has already made significant progress in this area. Our focus is on incorporating these advancements into our customer experience. Ultimately, we aim to create an emotionally intelligent system, enhancing interactions and making them more relatable.
How does LimeChat tackle the challenges of maintaining transparency and trust in AI interactions, ensuring users feel confident in managing their interactions?
From the very beginning of the conversation, we prioritize transparency. When customers start interacting with our system, the brand discloses that they are speaking with an AI agent and provides the agent’s name. We never set the expectation that customers are chatting with a human, which maintains clarity throughout the interaction. Additionally, if the AI encounters something it cannot understand, it promptly hands the conversation to a human agent. This seamless transition ensures that customers receive the assistance they need, reinforcing their trust in the system.
What are the biggest challenges you have encountered while implementing LimeChat’s AI solutions in various industries, and how have you addressed these challenges?
One major challenge is adapting AI to work effectively across multiple industries. To tackle this, we have chosen to focus our efforts strategically. Until now, we have primarily concentrated on e-commerce and retail use cases. Recently, we have begun expanding into consumer tech applications. We focus on a few specific sectors rather than spreading ourselves too thin by trying to serve many industries at once. This focused approach allows us to develop solutions tailored to each industry’s unique needs.
Can you share a case study demonstrating how LimeChat’s technology significantly improved a client’s operations?
Certainly! We have partnered with a large Ayurvedic brand based in Bangalore called Kapiva, which offers a wide range of Ayurvedic products nationwide. They have achieved an impressive annual revenue of 500 crores and have been scaling at a rate of 2-3 times each year. We’ve been working with them for nearly four years, and during this period, they have successfully scaled their operations by 20 times.
One significant benefit of our collaboration is that Kapiva does not need to hire 20 times more customer support staff as it grows. Instead, they utilized our AI agent capabilities to automate many support tasks. This automation ensures that responses are sent quickly, significantly improving their first response and resolution times.
For example, during a major sales event like Diwali, when they might receive double the usual number of queries, they do not need to double their staff. Our AI allows them to maintain consistent response and resolution times with the same number of agents. The AI assists if a customer reaches out at night and no agents are available. This capability enables Kapiva to provide exceptional customer service across all channels, regardless of the time or sales period, while effectively managing its support team as it scales.
How can we ensure AI is used safely while taking advantage of its benefits?
The past year has witnessed a rapid evolution in AI technology, and this trend is set to continue. AI may surpass human capabilities in various areas in time, which is an exciting prospect for many. This evolution parallels the history of innovation; just as writing, steam engines, and airplanes transformed human activities, AI represents a powerful tool with vast potential.
Like any tool, the impact of AI depends on how it is used. For example, airplanes can transport people or be weaponized. The responsibility lies with users to determine their application of the technology. As AI advances, establishing laws and guidelines will be essential to define appropriate and inappropriate uses. Ultimately, the benefits unlocked by AI have the potential to bring about significant advancements across multiple sectors.
