Summit Shah, the CEO of the Indian e-commerce platform Dukaan, led a bold experiment in customer support by replacing roughly nine out of ten live representatives with an automated chatbot. The move, reported by CNN, highlights a growing trend where AI-driven agents handle high-volume inquiries with remarkable speed and consistency. The chatbot’s deployment at Dukaan was executed rapidly, described as a two-day development sprint completed by a single Dukaan employee who focused on translating human support expertise into a scalable digital assistant. Shah has been quoted as saying the bot performs far more efficiently than human operators across a wide range of common customer issues, a claim that resonates with many U.S. and Canadian businesses looking to improve response times while managing costs in an uncertain economic climate.
In Dukaan’s setup, human agents typically craft replies that take about one minute and forty-four seconds on average. The chatbot, by contrast, can respond instantly, effectively slashing the time it takes to resolve routine questions. Shah has asserted that the average time to resolution drops by about 98 percent when the bot handles the initial contact and triage, freeing human agents to tackle more complex cases where human judgment remains essential. This dramatic improvement in speed is especially valuable for large-scale operations that process thousands of inquiries each day, a scenario familiar to many consumer-facing platforms in North America that strive to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction without sacrificing efficiency.
Back in September 2022, Dukaan also faced a significant workforce adjustment tied to the rollout of automation. The company reduced its on-site help-desk staff by 23 positions, a move Shah described as difficult but necessary in the context of accelerating digital-first support. The changes contributed to a substantial reduction in support costs, with Dukaan reporting an approximate 85 percent decrease in help desk expenditures. For executives and teams in Canada and the United States, this example underscores how automation can reallocate human resources toward more strategic tasks while keeping the door open for AI-assisted service models that still respect the value of human empathy in customer interactions.
Shah maintains a forward-looking belief that automation and human labor will coexist rather than compete in a zero-sum dynamic. He argues that the economy is increasingly adapting to a world where machines perform repetitive or data-intensive tasks, leaving humans to apply creativity, complex reasoning, and nuanced emotional intelligence to areas where those traits matter most. In this view, chatbots and agents become tools that augment human capability rather than replace it, enabling businesses to scale while preserving meaningful job roles that hinge on trust, relationship-building, and tailored problem-solving.
Industry observers note that the momentum toward AI-assisted customer support is unlikely to abate. Firms exploring multi-language support, 24/7 availability, and real-time analytics are considering how to blend bot efficiency with human oversight to maintain service quality. As AI models evolve to understand context better and handle a broader spectrum of inquiries, organizations in North America are testing governance structures, data privacy safeguards, and ethical guidelines that ensure automated agents behave transparently and with accountability. In practice, this means clear escalation paths, user-friendly handoffs to human agents when needed, and continuous monitoring to prevent misinterpretations or service gaps. These considerations are especially relevant for sectors like retail, fintech, and telecommunications where response accuracy and trust are critical.
Looking ahead, Dukaan’s experience offers a case study in rapid AI deployment, cost containment, and the tension between automation and workforce stability. The company’s narrative—one that emphasizes speed, efficiency, and a pragmatic acknowledgment of necessary workforce changes—provides a lens through which executives in North America can evaluate the potential benefits and risks of similar implementations. The broader takeaway is that smart automation, when paired with clear governance and a human-centric support model, can elevate service levels, reduce response times, and free teams to tackle more strategic challenges while staying aligned with ethical and regulatory expectations. [CNN report on Dukaan, 2023; industry analysts following automation trends in North America]