Vol.013 — Voice from Customer: 13 AI Features on Stage. 0 Help on the Street.
Date: 2026-04-25 | Newsletter
Key Summary
Two weeks before Grab hosted GrabX 2026 in Jakarta — announcing 13 AI-powered features, an “Intelligence Layer,” and an autonomous delivery robot named Carri under the banner of “responsible AI” — Zenta had a Grab Bike Plus rider charge his credit card for someone else’s ride. Opening the Help Centre, his message wouldn’t deliver. The chatbot auto-closed the conversation and flagged it as resolved. The submit button for a 1-star review was hidden. Zenta uses the contrast not to attack Grab but to name the pattern he sees across the industry: “AI+” is the new investor badge — a branding layer applied to repackaged automation that, if it fails, lets companies blame the technology rather than their own intention. A Qualtrics report confirms it: AI-powered customer service fails at four times the rate of other AI tasks, and 75% of consumers are frustrated by it. But Unity improved response times 83% and hit 93% satisfaction using AI to speed up human connection rather than avoid it. As a developer of AI customer service agents, Zenta’s diagnosis is blunt: AI amplifies whatever intention is already there. A company that genuinely wants to improve customer experience will see AI accelerate that. A company that wants to reduce human contact will see AI accelerate that too — and the customer will feel it immediately. Do it simple. AI amplifies intention. Make sure yours is worth amplifying.