A co-founder took to LinkedIn to share that he laid off one of his employees who sits at the front desk, only to replace her with an “AI receptionist”. Prathamesh Mali clarified that while the employee wasn’t “bad” at her job, but was a “human”. He went on to list four key problems that, according to him, were resolved after the switch to AI.
‘I fired a receptionist because…’
“Two weeks ago, I fired a receptionist. Not because she was bad. Because she was human,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Mali claimed that when a human handled reception duties, there were problems which needed a quick fix. “She missed 3 calls in one week, put a lead on hold for 4 minutes, forgot to follow up with a hot prospect who was ready to buy,” he claimed.
The co-founder said that since every missed call in a business is equivalent to “money left on the table”, he therefore replaced her with an AI receptionist.
The crazy part?
He then shared the changes which he saw, “Every call is answered instantly, 24/7. Leads are booked directly into my calendar. Common questions get answered in seconds. Every conversation is logged, searchable, and trackable,” before writing down the “crazy part”.
“Prospects actually prefer it, because they get instant responses, no small talk, no waiting,” he believed.
Mali further said that “AI didn’t just replace a role”, but also helped him create a system that “never sleeps, never gets tired, and never forgets a follow-up”.
The co-founder further expressed that this way he was able to cut costs and eliminate “bottlenecks”. “Your next best hire might not need coffee breaks,” he ended his long LinkedIn post on this note.
‘Awesome but scary’: LinkedIn users
In response to Mali’s post, one angry LinkedIn user said, “I pray that same AI should screw your entire business and bring you and your family on the roads.”
“I think my take on this is a bit different from what you wanted to convey. You fired a human for being human and replaced her with a bot. Hope you don’t expect loyalty, empathy, or creativity when you need it. Also, you saved her!” added another.
A third commented, “As awesome as it sounds… This is scary.”
“I personally wouldn’t be proud of this fact,” yet another person expressed.
One, who couldn’t believe his eyes, said, “Of all the things on the internet that never happened, this never happened the most.”