Indian-American entrepreneur Hari Raghavan has defended a controversial AI startup named Optifye. This startup is designed to keep an eye on factory workers. Raghavan believes it is necessary because, in his view, Indian workers can be unreliable and often need to be monitored closely.
Optifye, co-founded by Indian entrepreneurs Vivaan Baid and Kushal Mohta, uses technology to watch workers on assembly lines and gives factory managers information about their productivity. Recently, the startup faced a lot of criticism when its product demonstration went viral for the wrong reasons. Many people online called it a “dystopian” tool that promotes bad working conditions.
Raghavan, who is also the CEO of another company called Autograph, expressed his strong opinions on social media. He suggested that many Indian workers don’t work as hard as they should and often take shortcuts. He mentioned that, from his experience, tasks that would take a short time in the U.S. can take much longer in India.
He shared that after visiting India recently, he was upset by many small, unprofessional experiences he had. He even joked that he might not return to India again because of these frustrations.
Raghavan concluded by listing three main points:
1. The work ethic in India is weak, and tools like Optifye can help improve this.
2. Keeping track of factory workers is not exploiting them, as it’s needed in such an environment.
3. People who want India to grow should support a more performance-oriented culture.
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