Zomato has recently invested heavily in generative artificial intelligence (AI) and has even created a role specifically for it - the Head of Generative AI, filled by Vaibhav Bhutani. Bhutani is currently researching several interesting use cases, including a multi-agent system to provide suggestive food options and enhance user engagement and experience.

Zomato's mission is to "drive a change in the Indian way of life." The company consists of three main divisions - Zomato, Blinkit, and Hyperpure - all dedicated to providing better food experiences for more people. From revolutionizing on-demand commerce to addressing malnutrition through its food support division, Zomato's mission is multifaceted and aims to meet the diverse needs of society.

In the first episode of the Azure Innovators Podcast, Bhutani discusses with Ross Kennedy, Vice President of Digital Natives, how Zomato uses generative AI to offer different experiences to its customers.

Convenience is key because people are lazy

"People are lazy, and it's difficult to have conversations nowadays," emphasizes Bhutani, highlighting that conversation is the only way to collect data and it should be made easier. This is one of the metrics that Zomato aims to improve with generative AI.

"Whether it's chasing chatbots every day or not, that's a routine use case. And one of the biggest learnings I've had while building all these bots is that the user interface of these bots is really important," Bhutani emphasizes, stating that the company pays great attention to user interface and user experience design.

Bhutani mentions that he has many options on how to use generative AI. He emphasizes that given Azure's strong commitment to data privacy and security, Microsoft and OpenAI's GPT through Azure became the preferred choice. The large language models provided by Azure OpenAI services form the foundation of Zomato's generative AI architecture.

Bhutani further explains the adoption of a multi-agent system, where AI agents communicate with each other to provide comprehensive responses to customers. The integration with the Zomato ecosystem involves creating seamless functionalities using generative AI, which helps enhance a consistent user experience.

"For me, adopting generative AI has been a more personalized journey," says Bhutani. He drew inspiration from his personal experience at Spyne, a SaaS AI photography tool, where he realized the potential of generative AI in enhancing Zomato's capabilities. This journey began with the creation of Recipe Rover at Blinkit, an AI-generated recipe tool that includes thousands of recipes, images, and text using generative adversarial networks and the company's proprietary data.

Bhutani believes that as Zomato has conducted extensive experiments with generative AI, it will undoubtedly become an assistant to the company. He says, "We are collaborating with different teams that need high-impact co-pilots so that we can make better and faster decisions with our large team."

Generative AI in the food industry

In September, Zomato launched its Zomato AI Buddy. Going beyond the limitations of traditional chatbots, Zomato AI becomes an intelligent and intuitive food companion, dedicated to understanding and satisfying users' ever-changing tastes, dietary requirements, and even their current moods.

One prominent feature of Zomato AI is its multi-agent framework, which empowers it with diverse capabilities to serve customers at any given moment. This framework provides Zomato AI with various prompts to perform different tasks and activities.

For example, if you crave a specific dish, the AI quickly presents a widget listing all the restaurants that offer the meal you desire. If you're unsure about what to order, Zomato AI can suggest a range of popular dishes or restaurants, simplifying your dining choices.

Zomato's competitor, Swiggy, another Indian food delivery platform, also started using generative AI in July. Amitkumar Banka told AIM that the company is using generative AI to create customized food images based on specific requirements on its platform, helping them serve millions of customers. "We are using generative AI not only on Swiggy but across the internet to show food names, descriptions, and images to individual users based on their browsing behavior," he said.

Similar to Zomato, Swiggy recently introduced a new feature called 'WhatTo Eat,' allowing users to explore options based on their mood and cravings.