Beerud Sheth - Co-Founder and CEO of Gupshup

The Millennial generation is still retail's most coveted demographic, but Generation Z isn't far behind.  Both cohorts grew up as "digital natives" with computers, game consoles, and mobile phones.  It's no surprise then that being online is second nature to them, and increasingly, chatbots is where Millennials & Generation Z can be found interacting online with retailers & other businesses.  Conventional marketing wisdom has long dictated that you have to meet your customers where they are.  Our guest on this episode argues that means chatbots are where marketers should go.   As Co-Founder and CEO of Gupshup, Beerud Sheth knows quite a bit about chatbots.  His bot-building platform is already being used by over 30,000 businesses worldwide, and was selected by Amazon as one of two preferred bot builders for their .bot registry services. With bots increasingly automating many tasks & activities currently done manually, Beerud also has interesting insights on how they may disrupt the labor market, another topic he's well-versed in having previously co-founded eLance which kick-started the gig economy. Beerud shares his vision with us about the opportunities that lie ahead, and the steps businesses must take to maximize their return from automating this growing customer touchpoint.