AI will impact jobs, but it’s up to businesses to shape the future: Avaamo CEO

Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents are reshaping the way businesses operate. From basic chatbots to fully autonomous digital workers, AI has evolved rapidly, moving beyond simple automation to intelligent systems that can reason, make decisions, and integrate seamlessly into enterprise workflows. 

AI-driven enterprise solutions provider Avaamo, earlier this month, launched Avaamo Agents, AI-powered digital employees designed to take on specialised roles in industries like healthcare, IT, and customer support.  

In a conversation with TechCircle, Ram Menon, Founder & CEO, Avaamo, explained how unlike traditional automation tools, these agents don’t just process tasks, they actively assist, interpret, and engage in complex workflows. Edited Excerpts:

Your company recently announced AI agents, how are they different from your existing AI automation solutions?

AI has evolved at a breakneck pace. If you think about smartphones, it took over a decade to go from the first iPhone to the latest model. But AI has gone through three major generations in just a few years.

The first phase was all about chatbots, basic systems that responded to questions, often using rigid, menu-driven interactions like those in customer support. Then came automation, particularly in enterprises. AI moved from simple chatbots to virtual assistants that could handle tasks like creating support tickets based on natural language input.

Now, in the past 18 months, we've entered the third generation: AI with reasoning capabilities. This goes beyond automation to include AI that can make judgment calls, integrate with enterprise systems, and handle complex workflows while ensuring security and compliance.

That’s where Avaamo Agents come in. Instead of just offering AI tools, we’re delivering fully functional digital workers, AI-powered avatars that combine automation, reasoning, and human-like intelligence. These agents, like Ava, a patient coordinator, or Faith, a nurse practitioner, don’t just process tasks; they actively assist, interpret, and engage in ways that feel natural and seamless. 

Think of it like buying a car. You don’t just buy individual parts like the gearbox or ABS, you buy a complete vehicle that’s ready to drive. That’s what we’re offering: AI that’s immediately usable, not just a collection of technologies. 

Which industries or business functions will benefit the most from these AI agents?

A better way to frame it might be: Can an AI agent take on a specific role? Because ultimately, AI is creating a new kind of workforce.

Take healthcare as an example. If you call a hospital in the US with a bone ligament tear, you need to be directed to the right doctor, sports surgeon, orthopedic specialist, or general practitioner. Then, you have insurance questions: Does this doctor accept my plan? What’s my deductible? Next, logistics: Is the clinic nearby? Is parking available? Finally, scheduling: Can I get an appointment at a time that works for me?

A patient coordinator currently handles all of this, not just a chatbot. It’s a complex role requiring domain knowledge, judgment, and decision-making. Now, we’ve built an AI agent, Faith, to take on that role. After launch, you’ll see Faith on our website. 

Large hospital systems might have 500 patient coordinators handling these tasks. With AI, scaling is simple, just add more servers. This approach isn’t limited to patient coordination; we’re developing AI agents for roles like nurse practitioners, test result processing, and insurance claims. These agents are designed to match real-world job functions, ensuring they can truly augment the workforce. 

With AI advancing, there's growing concern about job losses. How does your company balance automation with workforce augmentation? 

It's not my job to determine the balance, that's up to our customers. My job is to build great software. Sure, based on what I see, there will be some impact on jobs, but it's ultimately the customer who decides how to handle that. To put it bluntly, we're like an arms dealer: we make powerful tools, and it's up to the buyer how they use them. 

Given the rise of autonomous AI agents, do you see new job roles or skill sets emerging that enterprises will need? 

AI’s impact is still widely underestimated by journalists, CEOs, and the public. People talk about it a lot, but they don’t fully grasp the scale of change coming. 

History offers a useful perspective. Take the invention of the automobile. At the time, discussions revolved around what would happen to industries tied to horses—bullwhip makers, coach builders, stable managers. Some thought they could be retrained as drivers. But that was looking backward. No one foresaw the rise of highways, gas stations, motels, and the millions of jobs created around them. 

AI will follow a similar pattern. Instead of focusing on how existing industries will adapt, we should consider the entirely new industries and roles AI will create. In India, for example, labor was once its biggest export. Now, labor is becoming software. We are in the process of transforming work itself, but it’s too early to predict exactly what that will look like. Over the next few years, we’ll start to see the real shape of AI-driven change. 

How does your company navigate compliance challenges in industries like healthcare and finance?  

We work efficiently. Anyone can build a chatbot to order pizza, that’s easy. But as you rightly pointed out, real AI innovation isn’t about flashy tech specs. It’s about scaling fast, deploying in the right places, and ensuring compliance, security, and regulatory oversight. 

The old approach, gathering tools, hiring developers, and slowly building pilots is being replaced by AI-driven software that turns labor into a platform, enabling faster deployment. 

So, to answer your question: yes, we excel in highly regulated industries. That’s why I mentioned healthcare. Five of the top ten US healthcare systems use Avaamo, including Massachusetts General (Harvard Medical School’s hospital), Duke, Yale, and Kaiser.

How do you see AI shaping enterprise, IT, and business operations beyond 2025, especially in India? 

India needs to take the lead in AI, not just participate. That means moving beyond hype and figuring out how to create real value through trial and error. Right now, we spend a lot of time talking about LLMs, but the real question is: can we integrate AI in a meaningful way? According to a PwC report, 60% of Indian CEOs may talk about AI, but they’re sceptical about how to fit it into their operations. That’s the real challenge. 

At Avaamo, our focus is on seamless integration. If a company has a specific way of handling purchase orders, AI shouldn’t force them to change their process it should fit right in. Too often, companies get distracted by marketing hype from big vendors pushing the latest LLMs. 

At its core, AI agents are about turning labor into software. One AI agent can replace multiple human roles, creating a virtually limitless labor pool for enterprise tasks. The real question is: how do we integrate this highly efficient virtual employee into today’s workforce? 

Right now, “hybrid workforce” means a mix of remote and in-office employees. In the future, it will mean humans working alongside AI. That’s the real hybrid workforce. 

What are your company’s top innovation priorities for the next 3–5 years? 

Avaamo Agents is our biggest focus right now bigger than anything else we’re doing. We’re building AI agents for healthcare, customer support, IT support, and employee support. Over the next few months, we’ll roll out multiple AI-driven support solutions. This is a global effort we support 114 languages, so our AI can communicate in everything from Gujarati to Bulgarian. 

Now, about expansion. The usual question is, "How many people are you hiring?" but that question is outdated. AI is about efficiency. In the future, a unicorn company might have just 50 or even 10 employees. For us, expansion means deploying worldwide with the same workforce while becoming smarter and more profitable. 

Our engineers don’t just build AI, they use AI to build software better, faster, and cheaper. That’s the real shift in the post-AI world. 

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