Ajey Gore
When he joined as its Head of Engineering in its Bengaluru office in 2015, gojek was a motorcycle-taxi company that was relatively unknown outside of Indonesia. Within a year, he was elevated to the post of its CTO and it turned out to be a great decision.
With him at the helm of the tech department, gojek saw a meteoric rise and became a super app that provided close a dozen products/services, including food ordering, commuting, digital payments, shopping, and hyper-local delivery.
He has just announced his departure from the company and he says he leaves the firm with great pride and satisfaction.
In this email interview, he talks to e27 about his gojek journey, the initiatives he started, learnings and future plans.
Edited excerpts:
You joined gojek in mid-2015 when the startup was still in the early stages. During your stint, the startup diversified to become a super app and a unicorn. How do you feel when you look back?
The past few years at gojek have been a fantastic journey, with experiences that I could never get elsewhere. I am very proud to have been a part of the work that gojek does to impact the lives of millions daily.
One of the highlights for me has been to witness our business gain global recognition and see US companies look at us as a pioneer in this model, which started out with the simple concept of motorcycle taxis in Indonesia.
Also Read: Roundup: gojek partners with fintech firm Pluang to launch an investment platform
I am also incredibly humbled to have worked with so many amazing colleagues. gojek’s “can-do” spirit has helped us to make a major positive impact in Indonesia and the region, in areas ranging from payments to transport services.
This shows that with a good team and strong mission, you can make things happen, and I am really proud of that.
Do you think you could have done more at gojek? What were several things that you think you could have done better? What are several others that you think you shouldn’t have done at all?
Looking back, there are always things that we could have done differently, because I now have the benefit of hindsight.
One thing I have learnt is the importance of making data-driven decisions from the beginning and using data to strengthen our initiatives, especially in terms of social impact and scalability.
That said, over the years, we have constantly been evaluating how we can do things better. While a lot of the early decisions were based on trial and learning, and our “go-getter” attitude, there has definitely been a shift to strengthen the thought process behind every decision, as we have learnt from our experiences over the years.
Over time, we have also learnt the power of diversity and inclusion in building out teams and growing talent. A platform like gojek thrives on having a variety of different perspectives and ideas to develop the best solutions — and this continues to be our focus. For example, we hope to empower more women in tech as the company grows.
May we know the reasons behind your departure? Does the current situation have something to do with this? Did gojek already find a replacement for you?
I am leaving to take a personal break and spend more time with my family as well as focus on my health. While I am leaving gojek physically, I will always be part of the Gojek family, cheering them on from the sidelines. I’m confident that gojek remains in the hands of very capable leaders who will continue growing the company.
We hope to find a replacement who shares gojek’s mission and ambitions, while also being able to take on multiple roles and add strategic value. The role of CTO has evolved significantly from when I first started five years ago, and we need the next person to carry the company through its next phase of growth.
Also Read: gojek’s GoPlay raises funding to support original content from Indonesian filmmakers
What are your future plans? Do you plan to go back to entrepreneurship? If you are to launch a product, which sector will it be in?
I don’t have any specific plans at the moment. However, there are two things that I want to focus on: giving back to the community and my family.
One area that I’m passionate about is the arts, such as drawing and painting, and I would love to spend more time on that with my children.
While I don’t think I will stop working, I hope to continue spending more time with my family and either pursue something through which I can give back to the community or help build organisations.
Diversifying into multiple verticals and becoming successful is never easy. How did gojek manage to get this right? What role did tech play here?
At gojek, it has never just been about one person, but rather it’s about the social impact we can make collectively. We are passionate about solving problems for people, and that is why gojek has become so adept at building a marketplace in sectors that were traditionally considered less organised.
This has helped us to build a business with a whole range of services, from food to entertainment and transport, and our aim is to continue being that one-stop app that helps solve daily problems for people.
Tech has played a huge role in our journey. For example, we developed an event-based architecture very early on. This means that we use events to establish communication within our ecosystem and respond to user needs, which allows us to accurately match demand to supply.
The Product Engineering team has also been instrumental in gojek’s journey. There is a real sense of ownership within the team, which has united us and helped us to work well towards a common goal.
This culture will continue to help us grow in the years to come as we develop more services and solutions that meet the needs of gojek users.
Also Read: gojek names Facebook, PayPal as new investors in latest funding round
What were the specific contributions/initiatives/products that you brought to the gojek table? And how transformative have they been? With you at the helm, did the company leverage technologies like AI, robotics, IoT, drones, blockchain, etc.?
AI plays a big role in helping us understand our partners and users, which in turn allows us to improve our services.
For example, when it comes to estimating how long a driver will take to reach a user, we have to take into account not just the distance but other factors like traffic jams and whether it’s a motorbike or a car.
AI allows us to understand and learn these things and that enables us to give far more accurate estimates to our users and improve the overall experience.
On the user front, AI also helps users utilise the gojek app more efficiently. AI can understand user intent and give them recommendations based on past purchases.
Ultimately, when users spend time on gojek, we want to ensure that their time is spent efficiently and that their needs are met.
While it has been a fairly smooth ride for gojek in the past 3-4 years, the outbreak of COVID-19 changed things for the worse. How did the startup manage to survive the crisis? What role did tech play here?
gojek responded very quickly to the COVID-19 outbreak, rolling out a whole series of initiatives very early on to ensure the safety of our driver and merchant partners as well as our users.
From the beginning of March 2020, we started introducing temperature screening points for drivers, contactless deliveries and online training on safety measures for merchants, among others.
The focus has always been on ensuring our driver and merchant partners are safe and know the right protocols, so that our users can also have peace of mind.
Also Read: gojek investor Northstar makes first close of its US$800M fifth fund
Another aspect that I’m proud of is the way the management and employees at gojek have responded.
In March, we launched the Gojek Partner Support Fund to support the welfare of our driver and merchant partners during this time. The management team donated part of our salaries and all planned salary increments were also redirected to the fund, while employees made additional contributions voluntarily.
You successfully built many tech companies and were part of several others before joining gojek. How did this immense experience help you at gojek? Also, what are the key lessons/learnings that you will carry with you when you depart gojek?
My past experience as a founder has made me work hard and focus on innovation in everything I do. It has also taught me that there is always a solution, no matter the circumstance.
In fact, a lot of innovation happens precisely because of constraints. At the start of gojek’s journey, we had far fewer people than we do today and were faced with the daunting task of having to find more talent, while still delivering high-quality products. But we managed to do it, even with a smaller team!
My experience in connecting with teams and people as a founder has also enabled me to build strong relationships with my team at gojek. Staying positive is key, and I also believe that empathy is a trait that all leaders should have. It’s important to understand that people work with you (not just for you) — that is a mindset that has helped me a lot.
How do you compare your experience being a founder v/s being gojek’s CTO? Which has been more fulfilling and satisfying, and why?
Both have been very fulfilling. One of the great things about working at gojek is that I’ve never felt like this is just a job. As I step down from my role, I know I am not just leaving colleagues and a great team, but also a family.
I’ve always told my team that they are my 9am-5pm family, and this is something that will always remain even after I leave the company.
In a way, working at gojek has been more impactful as compared to when I was a founder. My time at gojek gave me the opportunity to work with an extremely inspiring, capable team, and I have also learnt a lot from being part of a company that makes a positive impact on the lives of so many people.
gojek recently sealed investment deals with WhatsApp and Paypal. While the PayPal integration sounds interesting, how will you deal with regulators of several countries moving forward. Also what is the rationale behind the WhatsApp deal?
Digital platforms and payments are the future and will continue to play an increasingly large role in the lives of consumers. We believe very strongly in these trends, and will continue to work with our partners to further enable the digitisation of businesses. The vote of confidence from our investors shows that we are on the right path.
The world that we live in is also changing amid current circumstances, and the microeconomy in Indonesia and Southeast Asia will likewise go through significant shifts. There will be many opportunities for gojek to contribute, and our latest partnerships will enable us to make an even bigger difference in the region.
What are the positive sides of the Coronavirus outbreak from gojek’s perspective? How did the company exploit this?
I believe that gojek is going to play an even more important role in the post COVID-19 world. More people are staying home and there is a real opportunity here for gojek to contribute in terms of facilitating payments, logistics and generally connecting demand to supply, as more people look online to meet their daily needs.
We have already been doing this amid the pandemic by adapting our services to meet consumer needs and enabling more merchants to go online, but there is a lot more to be done.
As we adapt to life in a changing world, this will be one of the most powerful things we can do for Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
gojek is already a super app. What is next for the company? Also, is it looking to expand outside of Southeast Asia?
As a tech company that focuses on solving problems, the options for gojek are limitless. If we find the right partners and there is a suitable opportunity for us to contribute, we will certainly consider doing so.
Our focus has always been on helping businesses and consumers through tech, and this will not change even as gojek grows and expands.
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Image Credit: gojek
The post ‘gojek taught me the importance of making data-driven decision’: Outgoing CTO Ajey Gore appeared first on e27.