Eternal Q4 FY26: Deepinder Goyal Pushes Back on AI Threat to Zomato, Blinkit

Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal has downplayed concerns that artificial intelligence-led chat platforms from major tech players like Google and Amazon could pose a threat to the company’s core businesses. Speaking during the Q4 earnings call on Tuesday, April 28, Goyal said strong consumer habits and established brand recall are likely to limit any near-term disruption.

In a letter to shareholders released with Eternal’s Q4FY26 results, Goyal said concerns about new technologies replacing existing platforms have come up before as well, especially when large tech companies expand their services.

"We've seen such a story play out before. Google spent over a decade trying to pull transactional behaviour into its own platform. Google Flights. Google Hotels. Google Shopping. Restaurant ordering built into Google Maps. They had the largest demand surface on earth, billions of searches a day, and the strongest distribution advantage in the history of the world. And yet Booking.com is still here. Expedia is still here. Amazon is still here. The vertical apps that consumers had built habits around didn't get displaced," Goyal wrote.

Consumer Habits Remain Key

Goyal emphasised that high-frequency use cases such as food delivery and quick commerce are deeply habit-driven, making it unlikely for users to shift to conversational interfaces for everyday transactions.

"People who order dinner on Zomato four times a week, or groceries on Blinkit every other day, are not going to reroute those habits through a chat window. The people who are excited about experimenting with ordering food through AI assistants are a real but early segment, and currently, nowhere close to disrupting our business," he said.

He added that food ordering involves multiple layers of decision-making, including browsing menus, comparing options, checking ratings and tracking deliveries, factors that go beyond simple chat-based interactions.

The Eternal founder also highlighted the importance of brand positioning, noting that distinct apps continue to hold strong recall among users for specific needs.

"When someone is hungry, they think Zomato. When they need groceries within minutes, they think Blinkit. When they want to go out, they think District. This is by design. It is why we run separate apps, and focus on creating super brands, rather than a single super app," he added.

AI as an Enabler, Not a Threat

While downplaying immediate disruption risks, Goyal acknowledged that the company remains cautious about future shifts.

"If something similar didn't work in the past, it doesn't mean it won't work in the future. Agentic commerce is similar to, and also different from, Google's attempt at owning transactions. At this point, we believe there is nothing to panic about," he wrote.

On the role of AI in its operations, he said, "Most of our business happens in the offline realm. AI will not replace the need to move food through traffic. It will not stock shelves in a dark store. It will not manage crowd flow at a 50,000-person event. It will not build cold chain infrastructure or negotiate with suppliers in tier 2 cities. The physical world doesn't get disrupted by language models,"

He added that Eternal is already deploying AI across several areas, including demand forecasting, logistics, supply chain operations, fraud detection, and customer service. According to Goyal, AI is helping the company expand access and serve segments that were previously difficult or costly to reach.