When loss left a business without its founder, one woman chose to stay, learn and lead. Years later, her son is reimagining the legacy with AI and fresh ambition. Ms. Rakhi Ahuja, CEO, and Mr. Paras Ahuja, Head of Strategy and Growth, Freight Look, share a remarkable and moving story of resilience, faith and a future, built on enduring trust.
The values, relationships and legacy we build can last for generations
Freight Look was built in the field, one conversation at a time. Late Mr. Arun Ahuja, Founder, Freight Look, carried long lists of clients to visit, believing technology should make workflows easier, not more complicated. Working closely with Mr. Sunil Arora, one of the key minds behind the product, he built what was then the only software to bring all airlines and rates onto one platform. Alongside it stood DocFA, among India’s first financial accounting and ERP solutions developed specifically for the freight industry. His belief fitted in a line: “Make each process more simple, logical and user friendly.”
Stepping Forward at a Difficult Hour
On 21st September 2014, Rakhi Ahuja’s world changed overnight with the passing away of her husband, Mr. Arun Ahuja. By 1st October, she was at his desk, carrying a loss no one could prepare for, with two young sons who needed her and a business whose finances and industry she had never worked in. She learnt patiently, reassuring employees and customers that Freight Look would continue. Mr. Sunil Arora remained a pillar of strength, and the full family remains grateful for his continued support. When offers came to merge or sell, she declined and gave her team a mission: “Sales go up and down; service stays forever.” Having come from outside the trade, she became the link between her husband’s vision and her son’s ambitions.
A Successor Who Chose the Business
Paras Ahuja was in the sixth grade when he lost his father. After completing his education and getting some work experience, he was driven by a desire to build something of his own, and told his mother his ambition was to take Freight Look forward. She wanted it to be his conviction, not an obligation. On his first day he chose to sit with the team instead of in her cabin. “That small decision stayed with me,” she says. It showed a wish to learn from the ground up and earn his place.
Reimagining, Not Merely Maintaining
Paras describes his aim as honouring the legacy as a second-generation entrepreneur while building with the mindset of a first-generation founder. When modernising a product, he asks a simple question: if I were building this in 2026, how would I build it? He believes in inheriting the foundation, not the limitations of the way things have always been done.
Artificial intelligence is central to that thinking. He recognises a certain apprehension about AI among experienced industry professionals, and wants to make people comfortable with it rather than intimidated. In his view, AI cannot replace decades of experience, relationships and instinct. The opportunity lies in bringing the two together. Freight Look has already launched an AI-integrated WhatsApp bot that lets freight forwarders and cargo agents ask for rates, surcharges and other essential information in natural, conversational language. A revamp of DocFA is also being prepared with a renewed vision and an AI first approach.
Values That Endure
Faith, service and relationships remain the foundation. Paras notes that people across the industry still remember his father with warmth and respect, a reminder that products evolve but the way you treat people stays with them. A founder who listened. A wife who stayed. A son who chose to build. Together they carry one promise forward: “His legacy will live on in each and every product we build.”
