Raghavan’s comments came while defending Optifye.ai, a controversial AI startup that monitors factory workers’ activities
Indian-American entrepreneur Hari Raghavan has sparked widespread outrage online after his remarks criticizing Indian workers’ ethics went viral. His statements came while defending Optifye.ai, a controversial AI startup designed to monitor factory workers’ activities, reported dnaindia.com.
Raghavan claimed Indian employees lack diligence and require constant supervision
Hari Raghavan, the co-founder and CEO of Autograph, shared his views on X (formerly Twitter), arguing that Indian workers are unreliable and often take shortcuts.
“I grew up in India, and I don’t think y’all understand how unreliable the work ethic of the average Indian employee is,” he wrote, justifying the need for AI-powered worker monitoring in the country.
Citing personal anecdotes, Raghavan compared Indian and US work cultures. He mentioned how construction work on his parents’ house in Chennai faced delays due to worker absenteeism. He also claimed that consulting firms in the US finished tasks in three days, while similar work in India took two months.
Defending AI surveillance despite backlash
Amid growing criticism of Optifye.ai in the US for promoting “dystopian surveillance,” Raghavan defended its use in India, arguing that constant supervision is necessary to improve productivity.
Raghavan outlined three main arguments:
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Work Ethics and Economic Growth – India’s economic progress is slow due to weak work discipline, which monitoring tools can address
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Monitoring vs. Exploitation – In India, supervising factory workers is a necessity, not exploitation
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Performance-Oriented Culture – India needs to embrace accountability and high-performance standards for faster development
Social media backlash
Raghavan’s comments triggered outrage across social media, with many users accusing him of insensitivity and defending worker exploitation.
One user commented, “Indian workers spend crazy hours on factory floors for low wages and no protection. Just shut up.” Another said, “Try working in their shoes. You wouldn’t last a day.”
Who is Hari Raghavan?
Hari Raghavan is a Stanford University graduate and the co-founder of Autograph, a people intelligence platform. He holds a degree from Northwestern University in Psychology, Political Science, and Mathematical Methods in Social Sciences.
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