90-Year-Old Publishes Book on Customer Service Revolution

Most people celebrate their 90th birthday with cake and quiet reflection, but Gopal K Gureja marked his with a book launch that challenges how companies treat their customers.

Last July, the former Thermax board director released Customer Service Edge, updating his decades-long mission to close the gap between how companies think they serve customers and what customers actually experience. His argument is simple but revolutionary: customer service isn't an expense to minimize; it's part of the product itself.

His passion started in the hills of Himachal Pradesh, where he worked as a young government officer managing road equipment. When machines broke down, manufacturers either showed up late or didn't show up at all. The frustration stayed with him for years.

So he did something unexpected. He joined KG Khosla, the very company whose terrible service had irritated him most, and spent nine years transforming their service department from an afterthought into their secret weapon.

He moved to Pune in 1970, joining Thermax as All India Service Manager and eventually rising to the board of directors. There, he trained service engineers to be more than technicians—they became trusted advisors. Sales representatives who got doors slammed in their faces watched those same doors fly open when service engineers arrived instead.

Why This Inspires

After retiring, Gureja became what he calls "a demanding customer" himself. When companies failed him, he didn't just complain—he walked straight into executive offices until problems got solved. Each time, he discovered the same pattern: senior leaders had no idea their customers were suffering.

That observation sparked three and a half years of research across 12 companies and 200 interviews. He calls it the "iceberg of ignorance"—leadership sees only the tip while massive service failures hide beneath the surface.

His timing matters beyond individual businesses. The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report consistently ranks India low on customer orientation, a gap Gureja believes hurts the country's global standing. He's considering writing directly to WEF chairman Klaus Schwab about his findings.

The response has been encouraging. Symbiosis University ordered 25 copies for MBA students across their business schools, adding it to required reading lists. The connection runs deep—when his first book launched in 1997, Symbiosis invited him to teach Customer Relationship Management before it was even part of MBA curricula.

His daughters helped make the book happen, ensuring it published exactly on his 90th birthday as he wished. They understood what drives him now isn't ambition but responsibility—a need to share what six decades taught him before that knowledge disappears.

He's not naive about technology. AI can script perfect responses, he admits, but it can't replace a service engineer who shows up on time and genuinely cares.

At 90, Gopal Gureja proves that experience doesn't have to retire—it just needs someone willing to keep sharing it.