An Exclusive Interview with Dikshant Dave, Founder & CEO of Zigment AI, a next-generation AI platform
In this exclusive interview, Dikshant Dave, Founder & CEO of Zigment AI, discusses how his next-generation AI platform is transforming the way businesses harness intelligence. He shares insights on innovation, leadership, and the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.
What inspired you to launch Zigment, and what gap did you see in the customer engagement landscape?
Dikshant Dave: In my earlier venture, (1Balance), I experienced firsthand how difficult it was to engage customers at scale. We tried chatbots, call centers, and every other tool available at the time, but none of them felt empathetic or scalable.
When GPT-3.5 came out, I immediately saw the opportunity to solve this long-standing challenge of building scalable, intelligent, and empathetic customer engagement. That’s the gap Zigment was created to fill.
What was the initial problem statement that Zigment set out to solve?
Dikshant Dave: At 1Balance, even though we had optimized our funnels, we noticed conversions were still dropping. When I personally reached out to leads, I could convert over 80% of them.
The problem was that this wasn’t scalable. Zigment was born to replicate that human-like empathy and effectiveness, but at scale.
What industries are seeing the fastest adoption of Agentic AI through Zigment, and why?
Dikshant Dave: I’ve seen the fastest adoption in industries where sales cycles are long, of high AOV, and need a more consultative approach to sales like automotive, real-estate, healthcare, and ed-tech.
These sectors face multi-market complexity, omnichannel engagement, and an abundance of untapped conversational data, which makes them perfect for agentic AI.
What steps are taken to make sure your AI models remain transparent, ethical, and bias-free?
Dikshant Dave: We take a multi-LLM approach, using models like OpenAI, Claude, and LLaMA—and route interactions to whichever model is best suited for the task.
In addition to this, we also include strict guardrails and oversight workflows that keep humans in the loop so that agent hallucinations are minimized.
These are also available as reports in our platform for constant monitoring ensuring transparency on this front as well.
How do AI-driven agents improve efficiency while maintaining human-like empathy in interactions?
Dikshant Dave: The key is context. My agents don’t just respond; they adapt. If someone is curious but not ready, the system nurtures. If someone shows urgency, it accelerates.
If frustration is sensed, it de-escalates. These micro-adjustments, made in real time, allow efficiency without losing the human-like empathy that builds trust.
With so many players in the AI space, how does Zigment maintain its competitive edge?
Dikshant Dave: Most incumbents bolt AI on top of legacy systems, while many startups build point solutions.
Zigment was built ground-up with agentic AI, where engagement, workflow automation, and unified data are core pillars—not add-ons. This holistic architecture is what sets us apart.
What have been the biggest challenges in building and scaling an AI-native startup?
Dikshant Dave: Scaling globally has meant addressing cultural nuances and localization, tone, urgency, and what counts as polite can vary widely across markets.
At the same time, we’ve had to ensure consistency across multi-market deployments while competing with both legacy giants and fast-moving startups.
How do you see the AI-driven customer engagement market evolving over the next five years?
Dikshant Dave: I believe the next big shift will be toward proactive journeys. Instead of waiting for customers to ask, AI will anticipate needs and start the right conversations at the right time.
What advice would you give to founders building in the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem?
My advice is to start with a clear, real-world pain point rather than chasing the technology. Build holistic and scalable solutions, not bolt-ons. And never lose sight of ethics, cultural nuances, and transparency—they’ll be critical for long-term trust and success.
Dikshant’s vision for Zigment AI reflects a future where human creativity and machine intelligence thrive together, driving smarter solutions worldwide.
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