Data & AI - Shaping the Future of BFSI

At a time when the BFSI sector is navigating the crosscurrents of digital transformation, regulatory shifts, and exponential data growth, FinTrek 2025, presented by Banking Frontiers in partnership with Hitachi Vantara, set the stage for an introspective and strategic dialogue.

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The event opened with an engaging note from Manoj Agarwal, Editor at Banking Frontiers, who reminded the audience of the need not only to forecast the future but to imagine it boldly, much like the event's namesake, Star Trek.

Manoj emphasised the accelerating impact of shifting technologies, regulations, and customer expectations. These forces, he noted, are converging like tsunamis, each capable of reshaping the financial services landscape on its own. He described the financial ecosystem as a complex, tightly woven network of banks, NBFCs, mutual funds, insurers, and tech platforms, all of which must operate seamlessly for customer-centric outcomes. In such a landscape, data emerges not merely as a resource but as a strategic asset, one that powers everything from compliance and personalisation to risk mitigation and innovation.

A SECTOR AT AN INFLEXION POINT

Taking the stage, Prabhakar Venugopal, Regional Director - Sales (West & North), Hitachi Vantara, captured the urgency of the current moment. "I have never seen this amount of expectation from data, cybersecurity, and AI before," he remarked. Citing notable trends such as one million credit card transactions per minute, Prabhakar illustrated the scale of the data explosion and its implications for financial institutions. But it isn't just about handling more data; it is about extracting actionable intelligence from it. He quoted a McKinsey report noting that data-driven organizations are exponentially more effective at customer acquisition and retention, and as an example, pointed to Netflix saving a billion dollars using analytics-driven efficiency.