Says Co-Founder Karthik Jagannathan
As digital instruments reshape how companies join with clients, corporations providing options should navigate a fast-evolving know-how panorama.
On this unique interview on the sidelines of CX & Loyalty Summit 2025 in Dubai, Karthik Jagannathan, Co-Founder and CEO of Gallabox – a no-code WhatsApp-led buyer engagement platform – shares his insights on the challenges of being a tech options supplier right now, the corporate’s R&D roadmap, democratising know-how, and the way Gallabox is positioning itself for progress.
Gallabox is headquartered in San Diego, United States, and was based in 2020 with $3.5 million seed capital from three buyers. The corporate specialises in enterprise options that embody conversational CRM, WhatsApp enterprise automation, WhatsApp chatbots, WhatsApp retailers, and WhatsApp commerce. Gallabox was a gold sponsor of the CX & Loyalty Summit 2025, the place Center East Information 247 was additionally a media companion.
Excerpts from the interview.
Why did you co-found Gallabox? What hole available in the market do you intention to deal with?
My co-founders and I—there are three of us—spent a big period of time at Sulekha, a neighborhood providers market serving hundreds of small to medium-sized companies (SMBs) in India and the US.
We seen that many of those companies struggled to transform leads into gross sales. The basis of the issue was outdated communication instruments—SMS, e mail, and name centres—whereas clients had already moved on to WhatsApp.
Understanding that individuals favor to work together on platforms they already use, we at Gallabox recognised the practicality of WhatsApp. It’s a platform that’s ubiquitous and acquainted, even all the way down to these each day “good morning” messages from household. So, we created Gallabox to bridge that hole, serving to companies transfer conversations to WhatsApp to enhance conversions. From there, now we have expanded to different channels, resembling Instagram and web sites, however it began with WhatsApp.
What makes WhatsApp such a singular platform for enterprise communication in comparison with others?
Firstly, WhatsApp is probably the most extensively used app on folks’s telephones—you possibly can affirm this by checking your battery or display screen time. Shoppers dwell inside WhatsApp. It’s not simply one other app; it’s a trusted digital atmosphere for folks. They chat with household, mates, colleagues—everybody.
Secondly, it [WhatsApp] provides highly effective automation capabilities. Companies can run AI workflows, chatbots, and even transaction flows instantly inside WhatsApp. Not like SMS, e mail, or name centres, WhatsApp permits real-time, two-way, interactive communication. It’s a platform the place manufacturers can actually have interaction and delight their clients. No different platform combines scale, automation, and familiarity like WhatsApp.
Gallabox has a worldwide clientele. What makes the GCC area significantly engaging to your organization?
One of the important elements is that the GCC area is WhatsApp-dominant. Take the US—regardless of Meta proudly owning WhatsApp, adoption there’s comparatively low. However within the GCC, WhatsApp is the first communication software, each personally and professionally.
Extra importantly, enterprise on this area [GCC] is constructed on relationships, belief, and rapport. Not like purely transactional markets, right here [GCC] folks favor to satisfy and discuss, usually in particular person. WhatsApp gives an ideal digital parallel to that. It’s a channel that already holds their belief. We see it as one of the best ways to translate conventional relationship-building into the digital world.
May you share a real-world instance of how a consumer—say, in actual property—is utilizing Gallabox?
Actual property is a good use case. Builders run campaigns to generate leads—resembling adverts, undertaking launches, and social media—however the disconnect usually lies between the advertising and gross sales groups. Gross sales don’t at all times observe up shortly or successfully.
We assist actual property corporations utilise WhatsApp to right away have interaction leads—asking questions on location, price range, dimension, and extra—and information customers by a tailor-made discovery journey.
We schedule digital excursions, arrange website visits by way of WhatsApp’s calendar integration, and even ship real-time updates about undertaking approvals or stock. Every little thing—from lead nurturing to documentation—occurs in WhatsApp, providing an end-to-end buyer expertise that’s way more seamless and fascinating than telephone calls or emails.
As a tech firm, how do you method R&D and innovation? Particularly given how briskly WhatsApp and associated applied sciences are evolving?
We observe a structured product roadmap based mostly on two pillars. First, we take heed to present clients—what they explicitly request and what their utilization knowledge implicitly reveals.
Second, we glance forward—what’s coming in AI, automation, or buyer expertise (CX)? We ask ourselves: Is that this scalable? Is it monetisable? Can it’s self-served?
Solely concepts that move all three filters transfer ahead. The objective is to construct options that not solely reply to right now’s wants but in addition anticipate what tomorrow might be. That’s how we keep forward, particularly in fast-changing ecosystems like WhatsApp.
WhatsApp is initially rolling out industrial content material in choose markets. As a daily person, how will that have an effect on somebody who primarily makes use of WhatsApp for private chats?
That could be a legitimate concern. WhatsApp has at all times been a deeply private house, and there’s a danger that it may observe the trail of e mail, which has change into spam-heavy.
Nonetheless, WhatsApp stays one of the crucial personalised and user-controlled platforms. You’ll be able to block senders, mute conversations, and management your publicity. Not like SMS or e mail, you’ve gotten considerably extra management over filtering content material.
The system is anticipated to be clever, solely exhibiting you related content material based mostly in your behaviour and pursuits. There may be additionally a transparent separation between private chats and promotional messages. So long as this steadiness is maintained, WhatsApp can supply worth with out being intrusive.
Given the surge in AI instruments and generative tech, gained’t customers really feel overwhelmed? For instance, can they use ChatGPT instantly in WhatsApp?
Completely. What’s thrilling is how democratised AI has change into. Meta is embedding its personal AI into WhatsApp and Instagram. In the meantime, customers can combine ChatGPT into WhatsApp independently. This provides folks a alternative. AI isn’t right here to interchange us—it’s a toolkit.
Simply as folks feared when Google arrived, that we might cease studying books, AI has enhanced our potential to study and discover solutions. Equally, AI on WhatsApp helps customers with every little thing—from creating messages to discovering jokes to scheduling conferences. It’s about enhancing human functionality, not changing it.
What are the most important challenges you face as a options supplier within the fast-evolving digital panorama?
The tempo of change is the most important problem. Person preferences, platform APIs, and rules—they evolve quickly.
Our key problem is staying forward with out overwhelming customers or shoppers. We should innovate thoughtfully, guarantee each function provides worth, and keep person belief. One other key side is sustaining simplicity.
With so many choices, instruments, and applied sciences, our job is to simplify it for the end-user. Gallabox is not only a tech supplier—it’s a information by this digital shift. We assist shoppers navigate complexity whereas preserving their buyer expertise easy, private, and impactful.
We’re at a tectonic section of transformation. New instruments and applied sciences are rising at an unprecedented fee. Whereas that is thrilling, it is usually overwhelming, particularly for companies which might be attempting to maintain up. The abundance of choices can hinder decision-making.
As a tech chief, one in every of my largest challenges helps shoppers minimize by the noise and discover readability. Meaning educating, informing, and even evangelising — not simply promoting a product. Generally, now we have to step up and say, “That is what’s best for you,” even when there isn’t a speedy profit to us. The power to information companies in making the suitable tech selections is now crucial.
We frequently evaluate it to selecting a smartphone. As soon as you’re within the Apple or Android ecosystem, your path is fairly set. Within the tech options world, we’re not there but. Over the following few years, we hope platforms like ours will change into as intuitive and important as iOS or Android programs, permitting companies to decide on and decide to an answer with out distraction, confidently.
What are your R&D objectives for the following two to 5 years?
An enormous a part of our mission is democratising know-how. What was as soon as accessible solely to massive enterprises ought to now be accessible to each enterprise, no matter its dimension and scope. We’re dedicated to creating highly effective communication instruments accessible and user-friendly.
After all, there are headwinds. The paradox of alternative is prime. Nonetheless, there’s additionally a big tailwind: buyer expectations have undergone a dramatic shift. Companies now view buyer touchpoints as crucial progress levers. We need to assist them seize that chance.
From an R&D perspective, our objectives are threefold. First, buyer acquisition — not simply quantity, however the proper of consumers who can actually profit from our platform.
Second, we intention to construct an organisation folks love working for. I usually joke that I elevate the common age of our staff once I stroll right into a room — we work with a dynamic group of younger professionals who’re keen about our imaginative and prescient.
And third, we need to assist our clients develop their companies. It’s in our title — Galla in lots of Indian languages means ‘money register’. Even earlier than we determined what product to construct, we knew we needed to assist companies enhance their backside line. Considered one of our Key metrics is measuring the contribution now we have made to our shoppers’ progress, whether or not that’s in share factors or exponential jumps.
Are you concentrating on primarily non-public sector shoppers, or is there scope for public sector collaborations as nicely?
Whereas a lot of our work is with non-public companies, now we have already partnered with a number of authorities entities in India, together with ports, electrical energy boards, and housing authorities. These are high-volume engagements that display the widespread adoption of digital transformation.
Within the Center East, we’re additionally in talks with a number of public sector our bodies. What’s fascinating is that the road between private and non-private is more and more blurred. Residents count on the identical degree of service from a authorities entity as they do from an organization like Amazon. Whether or not they’re making use of for permits or accessing public providers, folks need intuitive, seamless digital experiences.
Governments are recognising that, and we’re stepping in to assist them meet these expectations. It’s now not concerning the sector — it’s concerning the buyer expertise. And that’s the place we deliver worth.
Hero picture: Karthik Jagannathan, Co-Founder and CEO of Gallabox. Credit score: Arnold Pinto