How does it feel to have instant answers to all your queries, anytime, anywhere, in real time? It’s a level of customer engagement that’s becoming the new standard in the worldwide market for conversational artificial intelligence standing at $ 10.5 billion with an expectation to surpass $86 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of 23.97%, according to Precendece Research. As businesses pivot toward digital-first strategies, the need for seamless, personalised communication has skyrocketed. Gupshup’s revenue from operations rose 42.9% to Rs 1,618.59 crore in FY23 from Rs 1,132.18 crore in FY22. The company’s profit increased by 23.3% to Rs 49.23 crore in FY23 from Rs 39.93 crore in FY22.
In conversation with BrandWagon Online, Salim Ali, CMO, Gupshup, discusses the company’s vision for conversational marketing, its use of AI to enhance customer experience, and how Gupshup is uniquely positioned to drive innovation across industries and markets. (Edited Excerpts)
What is Gupshup’s approach to marketing and how does it differ from traditional methods?
At Gupshup, we’re pioneering a new category called ‘conversation marketing.’ To give you some context, when email first became popular, an entire stack was developed around email marketing with platforms like SendGrid, Marketo, Eloqua, and databases to handle everything as email scaled from sending to one person to millions. The same happened with digital ads and social media, where new stacks were built for those channels. We’re in the era of conversations, and Gupshup is building the full stack for that. We’re creating tools that help brands identify the right prospects, target them, acquire their information, engage them, and convert them. Plus, we’re also focusing on post-service engagement. What’s exciting is that, unlike static campaigns in the past, conversations are real-time. You ask a question and get a direct response. It’s not anonymous anymore – the brand and the consumer are known to each other, creating a more personalised, direct, and immediate connection. That’s what we’re building at Gupshup with our Conversation Cloud, enabling brands to engage with their prospects, users, and customers in a whole new way.
How does Gupshup stand out from other conversational AI and messaging platforms?
We’ve built a platform that supports customer engagement across the entire life cycle, from acquisition to post-purchase engagement. Brands want to guide you from interest to buying a product or service, and then keep you engaged afterward. Our platform enables this across multiple channels—SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, Instagram, and more—essentially wherever customers are active. We’re particularly strong in markets like India and Brazil, where WhatsApp is key, but we also support RCS in developed markets like the US and EU.
Our approach is mobile- and conversation-first, which is crucial in emerging markets. The core of our platform, the Conversation Cloud, is designed to enable both automated and live customer interactions. It includes a CPaaS-based communication layer, two-way messaging and journey management through Converse, and Personalise for tailored engagement. With AI integrated throughout, we believe it’s a best-in-class solution for conversational engagement.
Could you elaborate on the personalised engagement features you mentioned? Given that AI powers these customisations, how do you ensure that the consumer data used remains private and secure for the company?
Sending a message to millions is easy, but we go beyond that by creating a personalised experience for each user. We combine consumer data—such as browsing history, email responses, event attendance, and cart activity—into a comprehensive profile. This allows our personalisation engine to deliver tailored messages, whether that means converting text into visuals for better response, timing messages to reach you when you’re most likely to engage, or targeting specific preferences, like a higher interest in healthy foods or reading in a preferred language. This deep level of customisation, which we call Personalisation 360, leverages both historical and real-time signals to make interactions more relevant and impactful.
On data privacy, we support over 45,000 customers globally, including major brands like Flipkart, Meesho, and leading Indian banks. Given the sensitivity of this data, we meet the strictest compliance standards required by sectors like finance and fintech to ensure all data is secure and private. For AI, our model, ACE LLM, is trained exclusively on a brand’s data. For instance, a Nestlé bot can answer specific questions about Maggi but is programmed to avoid competitor information, ensuring relevance and accuracy without ‘hallucinations’. This approach, which we call ‘enterprise guardrails’, enables us to deliver scalable, contextually accurate AI interactions for brands, enhancing customer engagement in a secure, controlled environment.
According to media reports, Gupshup plans to expand its workforce by 20% following 40% year-over-year growth. Which key international markets are you targeting with this expansion, and how will these new hires support scaling operations and enhancing customer engagement?
We’ve established ourselves as a leading brand in India, but over the past year, we’ve significantly expanded our international footprint. After India, Brazil is our largest market for WhatsApp engagement, with strong growth and a highly active social audience. Latin America, in general, is a major growth area for us, including Mexico, where we’ll soon host flagship events in São Paulo and Mexico City, replicating the success of our event in Delhi. In the Middle East, especially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, we’re seeing rapid growth. We’ve launched conversation-focused events and are actively hiring in the region. APAC is also key for us, with a new market leader recently appointed in Indonesia and a growing presence in Malaysia. While our primary investments are focused on these regions, we also have teams targeting Europe, Africa, and a smaller presence in North America, which we plan to grow gradually in a structured way.
How have advancements in AI and increased client budgets for experimental digital initiatives influenced Gupshup’s business and its work with India’s unicorns?
It’s fascinating—many of India’s unicorns are powered by Gupshup, and AI is transforming our work with them. Conversations are where AI can have an immediate impact, and we’re right at the centre of that. Imagine asking a question and having an AI-powered bot respond instantly, trained on brand-specific data and with safeguards in place. It can handle simple inquiries and, when needed, seamlessly escalate to a human. But it goes beyond answering questions; it’s about turning conversations into a full platform. Think of it like this: instead of opening a banking app, you could message a brand’s WhatsApp and ask for your latest balance, view your last payment, or even make a transaction—all through conversation. This AI-powered approach turns messaging into a way to engage, transact, and get support all in one place.
What upcoming product developments at Gupshup are you most excited about, and how do these align with your and the company’s strategic goals?
We’re working on several exciting initiatives. One key development is our new marketing journey builder. It allows brands to design campaigns with a drag-and-drop interface, mapping out the flow of the journey—deciding the role of bots, agents, and conversational actions—before launching the campaign. Beyond that, we’re automating campaigns even further. With the help of AI, we’re personalising campaigns by automatically translating content, delivering messages at optimal times, and even converting text into visuals for better engagement. We’re also integrating dynamic elements, like auto-generated forms, to enhance the user experience. This automation not only simplifies campaign design and execution but also uses AI to optimise for the best possible conversions.
With carbon footprints being a major concern globally, how do you view the issue, and how is your company addressing its environmental impact?
In the past, marketing was primarily driven by email and social media, often with low conversion rates. For example, display ads typically had a form-fill rate of just five to seven per cent, meaning you had to reach 100 users to convert five. However, with a Click-to-WhatsApp ad through Gupshup, conversions are much higher, reducing the need to reach as many people. This significantly lowers the cost per lead and increases the return on ad spend. Essentially, it’s about achieving better outcomes with less effort, streamlining the entire value chain for more efficient brand performance.
How does Gupshup integrate with existing MarTech stacks, and how scalable are its solutions for businesses of all sizes, including smaller businesses and MSMEs?
We’ve built a robust Conversation Cloud that supports the most demanding customers, including large brands, banks, and payment companies. To achieve this, we’ve integrated various systems—e-commerce platforms, CRM tools, customer support systems, and ad networks—allowing us to deliver better campaigns, ads, and agent experiences. While we cater to large enterprises, mid-market businesses are a key growth area for us, and we also serve SMBs through a more lightweight, accessible model. Our technology is flexible enough to scale down for smaller businesses, making it easier for us to serve a wide range of customers. So, whether it’s a large enterprise or an SMB, our solutions are adaptable, and scaling down to meet the needs of smaller businesses is a choice we can make quickly.
Given India’s price sensitivity, how are consumers reacting to Gupshup’s pricing models, especially when catering to larger businesses like Flipkart versus smaller industries or SMEs?
The key factor here is ROI. Whether it’s a large enterprise or a smaller business, the focus is on the return for every dollar spent. If they can see a 5x to 10x return, they’ll invest without hesitation. So, the conversation isn’t really about price but about value. For example, with Nestle Maggi, we powered 44,000 conversations for a Ramadan recipe contest, helping them acquire 1,700 new users in just 10 days. Even smaller businesses, like a health and beauty brand in Dubai, are investing hundreds of dollars because they see significant returns. The value they get far outweighs the cost, making the pricing model attractive at all levels.
What upcoming trends in the B2B market does Gupshup anticipate, and how is the company positioning itself to stay ahead of the curve?
Gupshup is focused on providing brands with an AI-powered, automated platform that engages customers across their entire lifecycle. The goal is to offer a flexible mix of automation, from bots to human intervention, depending on the brand’s needs. We’re also building specific industry use cases to cater to the unique requirements of sectors like BFSI, FMCG, and retail.
Our strength lies in leveraging our 45,000 customers to develop deep industry expertise and best practices. We’ll continue to add more AI capabilities to make the experience faster, more personalised, and context-aware. Real-time triggers, like engaging customers who abandon shopping carts or recommending complementary products, are key to enhancing engagement.
For example, in Brazil, a retail e-commerce brand launched a ‘Mother’s Day Bot’ that helped users find gifts based on personalised preferences, offering a concierge-like experience. This is the kind of innovation we’re driving, empowering brands to engage customers more effectively while delivering better, faster service.
What were the primary drivers behind the comparative growth from fiscal years 22 to 23, and how does the company plan to sustain this momentum?
The ongoing wave of digitisation has revolutionised communication, with conversational messaging now essential across marketing, commerce, and support. This shift extends beyond large enterprises, reaching small businesses that have increasingly adopted digital solutions. As sectors like banking, e-commerce, and fintech move to digital-first models, the demand for seamless communication grows, and Gupshup’s conversational AI platform is well-positioned to meet this need. Gupshup powers top brands across industries—9 of the top 10 e-commerce, travel, fintech, and payment companies, along with four of the top five banks in India. What sets us apart is our innovation with the Gupshup Conversation Cloud, which supports all major channels like WhatsApp, SMS, and Instagram, allowing brands to create seamless, automated customer journeys across their lifecycle. Additionally, the integration of Generative AI in our solutions has made basic functions like real-time translation and smart scheduling more efficient. This aligns with the growing trend of enterprises adopting Generative AI for cost savings, operational efficiency, and improved customer experience. We are committed to expanding our AI capabilities, deepening enterprise relationships, and pursuing strategic geographical expansion while continuing to innovate our platform. Our goal is to enhance customer engagement and drive measurable business growth.
What are the marketing strategies that have been planned to keep a price-sensitive market like India in mind?
Conversational engagement offers significant value, even for price-sensitive customers. A great example is the recent price cuts on utility messages on WhatsApp. These messages often involve interactive journeys like transaction notifications, delivery updates, and customer support, which enhance the customer experience with timely information. The price reduction makes these messages more cost-effective for brands while leveraging WhatsApp’s high read rates and engagement. From a marketing perspective, educating customers on these changes and the full potential of our platform is key. We invest in webinars and workshops to raise awareness about these innovations and features. Our focus is on communicating the value of these advancements on a global scale, sharing impactful stories from our diverse customer base that highlight our ability to drive marketing, sales, and customer service excellence with measurable ROI. The success of these brands, recognisable across industries, is a testament to the transformative power of conversational engagement. Globally, we are strengthening our marketing approach by focusing on people, processes, and platforms to support growth. This includes hiring top industry talent, developing scalable marketing programs, and utilising automation to maximise efficiency.