Urban Company CEO Envisions Future of AI and Robotics in Home Services

• Abhiraj Singh Bhal, CEO of Urban Company, envisions a future where robots could be integrated into everyday home services.
• The company which recently filed for an IPO worth Rs 1,900 crore, sees automation playing a key role in ensuring consistency, safety, and precision.
• Bhal predicts significant disruption in the home services and decor industry in the coming decade.

With artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly changing industries, Urban Company is integrating new and interesting AI features into their home service platform. The company is actively considering introducing a host of automation and robots, the goal being to improve the consistency and efficiency of services. AI has the potential to even change home tasks such as cleaning, wellness treatments and even home maintenance tasks.

 Abhiraj Singh Bhal, the Co-founder and CEO of Urban Company, expressed his vision of a future where robots could integrate into routine home services. During his talk at the Prosus Luminate event, Bhal suggested that a new era may be on the horizon for the home services industry. “There could be a time when you have a humanoid masseuse”, he said.

When it comes to tasks like cleaning, painting, and wellness services, robotics may start as tools to boost productivity for workers, yet Bhal doesn’t dismiss the idea that robots could eventually handle some duties completely. For Urban Company, which has recently submitted its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for an IPO valued at Rs 1,900 crore, this concept indicates a major transformation.

The company now depends on a trained workforce exceeding 50,000 professionals. However, the upcoming stage might involve the adoption of automation to ensure consistency, safety, and precision. Out of the total IPO amount, Urbanic Company aims to secure Rs 429 crore through a new share issue, while current investors plan to sell shares worth Rs 1,471 crore in an offer-for-sale.

 “In India, affordability will be at the heart of everything, Right now, a lot of these on-demand services like home services, food, grocery, etc, are only available to about 5% of India. The question is: how do you expand that to 25%”, CEO said.  He thinks that the secret is found in efficiency driven by technology and the reach of the internet.