An exclusive interview with Co-Founders Varun Kashyap and SriDevi Reddy, Zithara.AI

An exclusive interview with Co-Founders  Varun Kashyap and SriDevi Reddy, Zithara.AI 

What inspired you to start Zithara.AI and focus on transforming offline retail with AI?

Offline retail is a massive, underserved market. In India alone, millions of retailers still operate with outdated tools while competing against AI-powered e-commerce giants. Globally, offline retail represents trillions of dollars in transactions, yet it’s the least digitized sector.

We saw this as both a challenge and an opportunity. Zithara.AI was born out of the conviction that offline retailers deserve the same intelligence, automation, and customer engagement capabilities as Amazon or Flipkart. Our mission is bold but simple: democratize AI for every retailer, from a single-store to a multinational chain.

How did your previous professional experiences prepare you to launch an AI- driven retail solution?

Varun Kashyap brings a rare mix of deep retail domain expertise and a strong grasp of how cutting-edge AI products can be built to solve real-world problems. Having spent years working closely with retailers, he understands the complexities of offline retail—the fragmented systems, the challenges in tracking customer journeys, and the missed opportunities in loyalty and retention. This on-the-ground knowledge gave him clarity on where the gaps truly exist.

Sridevi Reddy, on the other hand, brings strategic leadership and executional excellence—ensuring Zithara doesn’t just innovate but also scales sustainably. Together, they’ve built a company that understands both the pain points of retailers and the immense $164B AI-in-retail opportunity by 2030.

Coupled with a passion for technology and a vision for how AI can simplify and scale retail operations, We are a team approaches product building not just from a tech- first perspective, but from a retailer’s lens—ensuring solutions are practical, outcome-driven, and easy to adopt. His ability to bridge retail challenges with AI innovation has been central to making Zithara.AI the fastest-growing and most innovative retail AI platform today.

What challenges in offline retail are you most passionate about solving with Zithara.AI?

Offline retail is a $27 billion+ industry in India alone and yet, the majority of retailers are still struggling with the basics: understanding who their customers are, tracking leads across channels, converting walk-ins into loyal buyers, and measuring ROI on their marketing spends. Unlike e-commerce, where every click and action is trackable, offline retail operates in a blind spot — retailers often have no visibility into the end-to-end customer journey.

This creates massive inefficiencies:

Millions of leads are lost every year because there’s no structured follow-up or multi-

channel engagement. Retailers depend on fragmented tools — one for loyalty, another for CRM, another for WhatsApp — none of which talk to each other. Sales teams miss opportunities simply because there is no system ensuring accountability and customer continuity.

That’s the big problem Zithara.AI is solving at scale. We bring everything into one unified platform — multichannel lead management, follow-ups, loyalty, CRM, and analytics — so retailers no longer need a patchwork of disconnected tools. We give

them a single lens on their customers, from the first touchpoint to repeat purchases, making sure no lead is lost, no customer forgotten, and no opportunity missed. This isn’t just about convenience — it’s about future-proofing offline retail globally. If retailers don’t adopt this transformation, they risk losing relevance in a world where customer expectations are defined by data-driven, AI-first digital platforms. Zithara.AI is making sure that doesn’t happen

How have you approached funding for Zithara.AI — did you rely on investors, grants, or bootstrapping?

We started with bootstrapping, which gave us discipline and clarity in building a lean, impact-driven product. Later, we secured strategic equity investments and government grants, which helped us scale faster and validate our vision. Now, as the retail AI market heads toward a $164B opportunity by 2030, we are gearing up for institutional funding to expand into potential markets and cement our leadership in retail AI.

How do you validate that your platform genuinely meets retailers’ business needs and customer expectations?

We validate through real-world impact. Every feature is co-created with retailers, tested in live environments, and measured against clear KPIs like increased repeat sales, higher footfalls, and improved sales conversion. We don’t just build software—we ensure it creates tangible revenue outcomes for our customers.

What makes Zithara.AI’s plug-and-play retail solution different from other loyalty or CRM platforms in the market?

Most so-called “CRM” or “loyalty” platforms today are point solutions — they solve a narrow piece of the puzzle. A loyalty app may track repeat customers, a CRM may store leads, a WhatsApp tool may send campaigns. But offline retailers are left juggling 5–6 disjointed tools, none of which give them a true 360° view of their customer journey. That’s the core issue — and that’s where Zithara.AI is rewriting the playbook.

We are not just a loyalty program or another CRM. Zithara.AI is the only end-to-end platform that unifies lead management, multichannel communication, customer retention, analytics, and AI-powered decision-making in one place. From the moment a customer walks into the store, makes an inquiry, receives a WhatsApp follow-up, joins a loyalty program, and eventually becomes a repeat buyer — every single interaction is captured, analyzed, and acted upon within Zithara. No silos, no blind spots.

This comprehensiveness is what sets us apart. And we’re going a step further: Zithara.AI is poised to become the foundational platform for retail, one on which other solutions, applications, and integrations can be built. We’re building the “retail operating system” — a layer of intelligence and connectivity that not only solves today’s problems but also enables an ecosystem where developers, partners, and brands can innovate on top of us.

In short, while others are selling tools, we are building the platform that will define how offline retail globally runs in the AI-first era.

How do you leverage technology — AI, data analytics, and integrations — to enhance the offline retail experience?

Offline retail has historically been data-dark — transactions happen, but insights are lost. Zithara.AI flips that by turning every lead, visit, and interaction into actionable intelligence. Our AI models don’t just track data — they interpret it, predict it, and turn it into next-best actions for retailers. From identifying which customer is most likely to buy next week, to telling sales teams exactly when to follow up and on which channel, Zithara makes retail data work for retailers.

We integrate seamlessly with POS systems, telephony, WhatsApp Business API, SMS, email, and more — so retailers never miss a touchpoint. But the real differentiator is our closed-loop journey: we don’t just capture data, we connect it across the funnel, measure outcomes, and continuously optimize. This is what transforms Zithara.AI from a software into a growth engine for retail businesses.

How do you build trust and credibility among retail businesses who may be hesitant to adopt new tech?

Retailers are cautious for a reason — they’ve seen tools come and go that overpromise and underdeliver. We win trust by proving value fast and tangibly. With Zithara.AI’s plug-and-play model, a retailer can be up and running in 10 days, not months. Within the first few weeks, they start seeing real outcomes: more leads converted, higher repeat footfall, better ROI on campaigns. Second, we don’t just hand over software — we handhold. Our model is not pure SaaS; we onboard, train, and customize so retailers feel the difference from day one. Over time, our platform becomes indispensable because it doesn’t just sit in the background — it drives revenue growth. That’s how Zithara.AI has become one of the fastest-trusted names in retail AI, and why we’re scaling across India and preparing to expand globally.

What strategies do you use to ensure Zithara.AI is scalable while maintaining a high-quality user experience?

Scalability is not about adding more features — it’s about ensuring consistency at scale. Our strategy is threefold: Unified platform — By consolidating lead management, communication, loyalty, and analytics, we avoid the integration chaos that plagues other tools. One platform means simplicity at scale.

AI-driven automation — Tasks like follow-ups, reminders, and campaign optimization are automated, which ensures retailers of any size — from a single-store jeweller to a nationwide electronics chain — get the same high-quality outcomes without ballooning costs.

Ecosystem-first design — We’re building Zithara.AI not just as a solution, but as an extensible platform. APIs, integrations, and modular features ensure that as we scale, partners and developers can build on top of us, making the ecosystem stronger.

In essence, Zithara isn’t just scalable — it’s designed to become the retail standard.

Which marketing and sales channels have been the most effective for

 acquiring retail clients?

Our strongest growth channel has been proof through performance. Retail is a tight- knit community — when one jeweller or electronics retailer sees their peer grow 30–40% in conversions with Zithara.AI, word spreads fast. Referrals and case studies have been powerful drivers.

At the same time, we’ve invested in strategic partnerships with associations, channel partners, and retail networks, allowing us to reach clusters of retailers efficiently.

Digital-first outreach also plays a role, but in retail, credibility comes from demonstrating success in the field. That’s why our marketing isn’t just campaigns — it’s showcasing that Zithara.AI is not another CRM, but the end-to-end retail operating system. This positioning resonates deeply with retailers who are tired of fragmented tools and finally see a platform that can unify their customer journey.

What were the biggest hurdles you faced while setting up Zithara.AI, and how did you overcome them?

The biggest hurdle wasn’t technology — it was mindset. Offline retailers have been used to traditional methods for decades. Convincing them that AI can be applied to their everyday business — from lead capture to loyalty — required education and proof. The challenge was breaking through scepticism.

We overcame it by designing Zithara.AI to deliver quick, measurable wins. Instead of selling futuristic jargon, we showed retailers how, in just weeks, they could recover lost leads, increase repeat visits, and improve conversions without hiring more staff or using multiple tools. Once they saw revenue impact, adoption followed naturally.

This approach not only solved the adoption barrier but also built Zithara’s reputation as a revenue-driven partner — not just another software vendor.

Can you share a success story where Zithara.AI helped a retail business see measurable results?

One of our jewellery retail client struggled with lead leakage and inconsistent follow- ups. Despite heavy footfall, sales conversions plateaued because there was no structured customer journey management. After adopting Zithara.AI, they moved from manual follow-ups to AI-driven lead management across WhatsApp, SMS, and calls. Every inquiry was tracked, assigned, and nurtured automatically. Within three months, their conversion rates improved by over 35%, repeat visits increased, and customer lifetime value went up significantly.

This is the power of Zithara: we don’t just plug in software — we transform the entire sales and customer engagement process. And once one store succeeds, the entire retail network starts asking, “How are they doing this?” That ripple effect has been key to our growth.

What’s the most rewarding part of building a solution that bridges AI with offline retail?

The most rewarding part is seeing offline retailers finally play on a level field with e- commerce giants. For too long, digital-first companies have had the unfair advantage of data, automation, and personalized engagement. Offline retail — despite being one of the world’s largest sectors — has been left behind.

With Zithara.AI, we’re enabling even a single-store jeweler or electronics dealer to operate with the sophistication of Amazon or Flipkart. Seeing retailers embrace AI, win back lost customers, and grow without losing their human touch is deeply fulfilling. It proves that AI isn’t just for tech giants — it’s for everyone.

What retail technology or consumer engagement trends excite you the most right now?

The trend that excites us most is the fusion of AI with omnichannel retail. Customers don’t think in channels — they may discover on Instagram, inquire on WhatsApp, walk into a store, and expect continuity across all touchpoints. Retailers who fail to connect these dots lose business.

What excites us is that AI can now solve this at scale. Predictive analytics, hyper- personalized campaigns, AI-powered call centres, and automated loyalty journeys are no longer “future” — they’re here today. Zithara.AI is at the centre of this shift, enabling retailers to create truly seamless customer journeys.

The other trend we’re passionate about is AI as a platform play. Retail will increasingly depend on ecosystems, not siloed tools. That’s why Zithara is being built as the retail operating system, where others can plug in, innovate, and extend value.

How do you see AI reshaping the future of offline retail, particularly in customer loyalty and retention?

AI is set to completely redefine loyalty and retention in offline retail. Traditionally, loyalty meant points or discounts. But today’s customers demand more — personalized engagement, timing, and relevance. Loyalty is no longer transactional; it’s experiential.

AI makes this possible. With Zithara.AI, retailers can know: Which customers are likely to churn and when. What offers or engagement will bring them back.

How to personalize follow-ups across WhatsApp, calls, SMS, and email at scale.

This shifts loyalty from being reactive to proactive and predictive. Instead of waiting for a customer to disengage, retailers can re-engage at the right moment with the right message.

We believe this will be the single biggest transformation in retail over the next decade. And with the AI in retail market projected to hit $164 billion by 2030, the future isn’t just about keeping customers — it’s about creating lifelong relationships, powered by AI.

Where do you envision Zithara.AI being in 5 years in terms of growth and market impact?

In five years, we see Zithara.AI as the default operating system for offline retail  not just in India but across emerging and developed markets. India is our launchpad, but the challenges we’re solving — lead leakage, fragmented tools, poor customer retention — are global problems.

By 2030, AI in retail will be a $164 billion industry. We’re positioning ourselves to capture a significant share of that by scaling into high-potential markets like the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and eventually the US and Europe.

But growth for us isn’t just about numbers — it’s about impact. In 5 years, we want millions of retailers to say, “We run on Zithara.” Just like Salesforce became synonymous with CRM for enterprises, Zithara will become synonymous with AI- powered retail.

What’s one mistake you made while building Zithara.AI that other entrepreneurs should avoid?

One mistake we made early on was underestimating the need for retailer education.

We initially assumed that if we built a powerful AI platform, retailers would immediately see the value. But in reality, many didn’t even know what to ask for — they knew they had problems but not how AI could solve them.

We quickly corrected course by shifting from a “product-first pitch” to a “problem-first approach.” Instead of talking about features, we started showing tangible outcomes— higher conversions, improved retention, reduced lead loss. That’s what resonates with retailers.

The lesson for other entrepreneurs: don’t just build great tech, build great storytelling around it. Adoption depends on how well you can bridge the gap between your innovation and your customer’s understanding.

What skills do you believe are most essential for succeeding as an entrepreneur in the AI-retail space?

Three skills are absolutely essential: Deep domain empathy — You must truly understand retail pain points from the ground up. Without that, your AI will be a shiny tool with no adoption.

Technology vision — The ability to see how AI, data, and integrations can create scalable solutions rather than isolated features.

Resilience and adaptability — Retail is one of the toughest, most fragmented industries. You’ll face resistance, scepticism, and long adoption cycles. The ability to adapt, iterate, and keep moving forward is critical.

At Zithara.AI, Varun brings the tech-retail bridge — translating AI into practical retail outcomes — while Sridevi brings the strategic and executional edge to scale it. Together, this combination has been key to our success.