Vikas Kaul, Ritesh Sharma, Sundeep Aggarwal, and Rohit Khandelwal, co-founders of Zeapl.ai, provide insightful perspectives on the inner workings of Zeapl.ai and its core functionalities. With a wealth of experience in navigating the entrepreneurial landscape, they provide valuable insights into the intricacies of Zeapl.ai’s operations and its pivotal role in revolutionizing enterprise communication. Join us as we delve into Vikas’s expertise to uncover the essence of Zeapl.ai’s innovative solutions.
What does your startup do and why did you start it?
In the digital world, good communication is really important for businesses. But, many companies have problems: their systems don’t work well together, conversations only go one way, and they don’t use older systems enough. Because of this, businesses don’t engage much with their customers, partners, employees, and influencers.
We’ve worked in big companies for a long time and we noticed two big reasons why it’s hard to use digital technology:
1. Business systems are inflexible and take a long time to change. By the time they’re ready, they might not be useful anymore.
2. There aren’t many platforms that businesses can easily use and connect to other tools to do their work better.
This problem is the same for all kinds of businesses. We realized a need for a platform that can be set up quickly, in just days or weeks, instead of months or quarters. Businesses need to be fast now more than ever.
We wanted to help business and IT teams give all their stakeholders the tools they need quickly and make their work easier, all while keeping focused on business goals.
That’s why we created Zeapl.ai.
At Zeapl.ai, we’re changing how big businesses talk to their users: customers, partners, influencers, and employees. Big companies like TATA, TVS, JK Groups, Marico, Nerolac Paints, Tecno, Itel Mobiles, Berger Paints, Century Ply, and many others use our platform. We’re turning conversations into money-making opportunities.
Our platform connects different business tools together to make digital experiences smooth. This helps brands use better communication to get real results in their business.
Could you tell us about how the co-founders first connected? What led to everyone agreeing on the startup idea, and what were some initial challenges faced while assembling the team and securing funding?
We’ve known each other for the past 15 years since our time at Airtel. We held various roles and saw how the mobile internet changed lives, especially in recent years. Startups worldwide fixed many old consumer practices, making us think businesses needed something similar.
We’ve known Rohit for almost a decade, starting from his days at IIT Delhi. His entrepreneurial background and technical mindset fit well with ours. Our different experiences complemented each other.
The pandemic pushed brands to digitize faster, considering everyone involved.
Lockdowns were tough. We were in different cities, unable to meet clients in person. Despite this, seeing customers quickly adopt our solutions and users appreciating the simplicity kept us motivated.
How has your platform been adopted so far?
The adoption of our platform has been remarkable, with leading brands from diverse sectors such as Automobile, FMCG, Telecom, Retail, ISP, E-commerce, consumer durable, and Building Material showing significant interest and uptake.
What are the unique selling points (USPs) of your startup?
Our platform offers several unique features that benefit enterprises:
Enterprise Integration:
Our platform seamlessly integrates with existing enterprise systems, CRM platforms, and databases, allowing businesses to utilize their data and workflows efficiently.
Hyper-Personalization:
Our AI platform understands individual preferences, purchase history, and behavior patterns to provide personalized responses, recommendations, and offers, ensuring a delightful customer experience.
Contextual Continuity:
With context-aware capabilities, our AI system remembers past interactions, enabling smooth conversations and eliminating the need for users to repeat information, thus increasing engagement.
Omnichannel Excellence:
Our product functions seamlessly across various communication channels such as websites, mobile apps, social media, and messaging platforms, providing a consistent experience for end-users.
Proactive Support:
By offering proactive insights and intelligent suggestions, our platform anticipates user needs, addresses potential issues, and provides relevant solutions, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Business Insights:
Our AI product provides valuable data and analytics on each interaction, enabling enterprises to gain actionable insights, refine strategies, and optimize business processes for better outcomes.
Human-Agent Collaboration:
Our solution facilitates a seamless transition between AI and human agents, ensuring a harmonious blend of automation and human touch, particularly for complex queries or emotional interactions.
By delivering intelligent, empathetic, and contextually-aware interactions, our conversational AI platform empowers enterprises to enhance end-user engagement, cultivate brand loyalty, and achieve sustainable growth in today’s competitive market.
Can you share some insights into your revenue model?
We operate on a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. This model provides enterprises with scalable solutions, cost-effective pricing, and seamless updates. It allows flexibility in work practices and grants access to advanced technologies without hefty upfront investments. Moreover, SaaS ensures high levels of security and compliance.
Could you provide a brief background about yourself before launching your startup?
Before venturing into entrepreneurship, here’s a snapshot of our backgrounds:
Vikas Kaul: Previously served as the National Sales & Distribution Head at Airtel, accumulating over 20 years of experience.
Ritesh Sharma: Held positions at renowned brands like Samsung, Reliance, Airtel, and Essar, serving as the Trade Engagement Head for Samsung India, with over 15 years of engagement experience.
Sundeep Aggarwal: Boasts 24 years of work experience, including roles as the Device Head for MTS, with previous stints at Tata, Reliance, Canon, and Airtel.
Rohit Khandelwal: Holds a B.Tech and M.Tech from IIT Delhi, specializing in speech recognition technologies. In his previous enterprise role, he spearheaded the development of a loyalty engagement platform utilized by leading brands.
What challenges have you faced so far?
We’ve encountered several significant challenges, including lengthy sales cycles and complex decision-making processes involving multiple stakeholders. Initially, establishing trust with potential clients and differentiating from established competitors were critical hurdles that required strategic planning and execution.
We are grateful to our customers, partners, and team members who have placed their trust in us throughout this journey.
What awards has your startup won?
We’re proud to have received the following prestigious awards:
– Winner of the Graham Bell Award for Innovation in 2022.
– Winner of the India 500 Start-up Award in 2021.
