Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal steps in as human customer support executive after viral post slams its automated system

Time of India

a day ago

In a digital world where artificial intelligence is fast replacing human touch, an unexpected tweet brought back a moment of raw, real connection — and surprisingly, from the top floor of a corporate tower. It began as a typical frustration shared on social media, but what followed was anything but ordinary.
Ravi Sutanjani, a seasoned professional from the Indian startup ecosystem and a former
Zomato
associate, took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his disappointment with the food delivery giant's customer service. 'Zomato's customer service has gone significantly down in the last 2–3 years,' he wrote, adding that it had become nearly impossible to connect with a human agent. His post, a plea for real human interaction in a system increasingly run by bots, resonated with thousands — but it struck a chord at the very top.
When the CEO Became the Customer Support Agent
What no one expected was that Deepinder Goyal himself, Zomato's founder and CEO, would personally respond. 'Hi Ravi, can we connect on this? This is not by design, and I would love to get to the bottom of this. I would really appreciate your help,' he replied publicly.
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In an era when corporate heads are often cloaked in layers of bureaucracy and PR, Goyal's gesture stood out — humble, direct, and deeply human. It was a CEO stepping off the podium and back into the trenches to listen to a former colleague and concerned customer.
Ravi acknowledged the outreach, replying: 'Appreciate the acknowledgment, Sir. I had a very detailed discussion with someone senior from the escalation desk this morning. Just dropped you an e-mail. Happy to connect and share my PoV. Thank you.'
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— deepigoyal (@deepigoyal)
When Automation Becomes Alienation
This incident reopened the debate on the efficacy of AI-led customer service in India. Sutanjani's original concern wasn't about a single bad experience; it was about a broader trend — the dilution of personal support and the frustrating wait of 72 hours for email responses to serious issues.
With rapid scale-ups, many tech-based companies are turning to AI chatbots to handle the load. But users, especially in India, still crave the assurance of a human voice — someone who listens, understands nuance, and doesn't offer template replies.
Internet Weighs In
The response from the online community was swift and telling. 'Simple thing — in India, to make AI support a success, I believe it still has time. We need human intervention,' one user wrote. Another questioned Goyal's claim that this wasn't by design: 'If this is not by design, then how is every user asked to mail after all scripted answers are over?'
While many praised Goyal's direct intervention, others pointed to the systemic issue. One comment summed it up: 'Good to see the response comes straight from the CEO, but in most cases, customer service is taken care of by AI chatbots nowadays.'
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The story of Goyal stepping in isn't just about Zomato's customer care hiccup — it's about leadership in the digital age. This one tweet didn't just resolve a complaint — it reopened a conversation that tech companies often try to automate away: What's the cost of losing the human voice? For Zomato, the answer came not from a chatbot, but from its very founder.