GreyLabs AI Founder Aman Goel shared his exclusive insights with CXO Lanes, discussing his entrepreneurial journey, vision for leveraging AI in financial sectors, and lessons learned from past ventures. With a focus on customer-centric innovation and strategic use of technology, Aman elaborated on GreyLabs AI’s mission to revolutionize call center efficiency and enhance customer interactions through advanced speech analytics.
Congratulations on your new role at GreyLabs AI! What inspired you to start this venture, and what are your primary objectives for the company?
Aman Goel: I am driven by a simple goal in life – “I need to achieve my full potential”. I feel that with my first venture Cogno AI, I have achieved some amount of success. But I have the potential to do something 100x bigger and impactful. Working first-hand with major BFSI brands in my first venture, I saw that there are a lot of problems in large enterprises which can be solved using Generative AI. And given the scale of the largest Financial Institutions in India, the impact can be huge. This motivated me to start my second venture GreyLabs AI. The primary objective to begin with, is to help Banks and Financial Institutions improve the efficiency of their call centers by leveraging Generative AI technologies.
GreyLabs AI is known for its speech analytics platform. Can you elaborate on how this technology is revolutionizing customer interactions and improving business processes?
Aman Goel: Our Speech Analytics Platform analyzes every single conversation between a call center agent and the customer and extract insights out of it. For instance, in a telesales call where the agent is pitching an Insurance product to a customer, we can identify a bunch of parameters like: Did the agent clearly explain the suite of products to the customer? Did the agent understand the needs of the customer? Did the agent listen to the customer patiently? Did the agent help the customer choose the right product for them? Did the agent establish trust with the customer? These are some examples. From each call, we can identify 50+ parameters including soft skills, product explanation, objection handling, compliance, correctness, etc., and score the call. This way, agents can be given objective and data-driven feedback and trained on specific areas.
Having successfully co-founded Cogno AI and experienced its acquisition by Exotel, what key lessons did you learn that you are applying to GreyLabs AI?
Aman Goel: A lot of lessons, sharing some of them: Obsession with the customers and approaching with the intent of helping them rather than making money. Building a relatively young and hungry team who wants to achieve big in life. Focusing on core business metrics like cash-flows and profits rather than vanity metrics. Carrying a frugal mindset and being mindful of and respectful towards capital.
As an IIT Bombay alum and a TEDx speaker, how do you think your academic background and public speaking experiences have influenced your entrepreneurial journey?
Aman Goel: The IIT Bombay tag definitely helps in a lot of ways: We acquired a lot of customers through our alumni network. For instance, CXOs of many large enterprises are IIT Bombay alums. Approaching them via the network becomes easier because there is someone who can help with a warm introduction. Hiring becomes easier because there is a large network from where we could tap the top talent pool.
Because of my TEDx talks and being active on Social Media Platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, it happens a lot of times that in customer meetings, they mention that they have heard my TEDx talk or have seen my recent LinkedIn post. It helps establish trust and credibility in the mind of the customer. Moreover, being able to convey yourself in a clear manner definitely helps attract the right talent. People love to work with people who are genuine and helpful.
You’ve spoken about the importance of choosing the right co-founder. Can you share more about your criteria for selecting a co-founder and how it has impacted your business ventures?
Aman Goel: A cofounder should bring in skills that you don’t have. For instance, if you are a builder, find someone who can sell. If you know how to sell, find someone who can help you build the product. Cofounders should be able to lead different aspects of the business so that all the major areas are covered. Further, you should work with people who you can trust. You are less likely to succeed if you work with Cofounders who you don’t know and cannot trust. For instance, if your Cofounder is handling the Bank account of the company, you should have that trust that they won’t misuse the company funds. If you don’t trust your Cofounder, every morning, you will be worried about what your Cofounder would have done wrong, rather than focusing on solving the customer problems and building the Business. My cofounder Harshita has played quite an important role. She handles Technology and Product. When I am out in the field for customer meetings, I know that she will be able to work with our Engineering Team to develop the right product. I have the peace of mind that our Product development will happen at the right pace without my intervention