Генеральный директор TaskRabbit Аня Смит не боится, что роботы с искусственным интеллектом заменят человеческий труд.

Today, I’m talking with Taskrabbit CEO Ania Smith. Taskrabbit is a platform focused on work you might need done in your home, and has been around for nearly 20 years. Taskers can sign up to offer services like assembling furniture, mounting TVs, and helping people move, setting their own prices. Taskrabbit manages the entire interaction from end to end — it’s not just a directory, but also where people can leave reviews, get customer service, and manage all their payments.

Taskrabbit is now owned by Ikea, with interest in how the platform grows and integrates services into the Ikea customer experience. Assembling Ikea furniture is a core Taskrabbit service.

The conversation focuses on the next wave of user interfaces, particularly AI assistants that can book services like Taskrabbit, DoorDash, and Uber. Google demonstrated an agent going through Taskrabbit’s website, and the discussion revolves around how these services are thinking about tools stepping in between them and their customers. The core differentiator for Taskrabbit is its end-to-end focus, which other platforms may find hard to compete with.

Ania Smith, you are the CEO of Taskrabbit. Welcome to Decoder.

Thank you for having me. Excited to be here.

I’m very excited to talk to you. It feels like there’s a lot of change coming to the service economy on our phones. There’s a lot of change in the economy in general that is interesting to talk about. Let’s start at the very beginning. TaskRabbit has been around for a while. You’ve been the CEO for about five years. How would you describe Taskrabbit today? How should people think about it?

We connect people who need help around the home with a vast network of highly skilled and reliable Taskers who can help with cleaning, mounting TVs, assembling furniture, or a range of other tasks.

Taskrabbit was founded in 2008. Many things have happened since then. We’ve gone from a desktop paradigm to a mobile paradigm. Competitors have shown up. Do you think of Taskrabbit as expansive into digital services? You’re describing hanging TVs. Is it more of a physical services platform?

Today it is, and that’s our focus. We envision becoming the number one marketplace for home services. There's a lot to do around the home – from putting down mulch and cleaning gutters to mowing the lawn. Then there’s interior work, and significant life events like moving. Moving involves cleaning, packing, unpacking, and mounting TVs. There are many use cases where these services are still needed.

There’s no shortage of gardening, moving, or Craigslist options for hanging a TV. There are also AV installation companies at the high end. Do you want companies discovering services, or individuals?

We focus on individuals. Half of workers in the US are now gig economy workers, offering flexibility and transitions between life stages. We aim to provide meaningful income to those who need it, offering opportunities for students or those seeking additional income.

What’s next for Taskrabbit?

We’re rolling out new products to allow partners to integrate with our platform via API. We’re also focusing on improving the matching process between clients and Taskers, making it easier to find the right person for the job. We believe there’s significant opportunity for growth and expansion. We are excited to continue to evolve and provide innovative solutions for home services.

We’re continually exploring integrations with AI platforms like Google’s Project Mariner. We want to ensure we're involved in the development of these technologies and can offer seamless experiences for our customers. Our priority is always to make it easy for clients to get the help they need. We want to be where the customer is.

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