“AI is a true disruptor, reshaping society on an unprecedented scale,” said Shri B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog, during a fireside chat with Mr. Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED, at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2025, being held at the Jio World Centre, Mumbai, from October 7 to 9. GFF 2025 is organised by the Payments Council of India (PCI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC).
Highlighting the tremendous impact of AI, Shri Subrahmanyam said that “AI will influence at three levels — improving tasks, changing processes, and eliminating processes altogether. Improving tasks is efficiency. Changing processes is job substitution. And eliminating processes entirely is transformation.”
GFF 2025 is supported by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology; the Department of Economic Affairs and the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance; the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; New, Emerging and Strategic Technology Division, the Ministry of External Affairs; the Reserve Bank of India (RBI); the Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
Discussing this year’s GFF theme, ‘Empowering Finance for a Better World Powered by AI,’ Shri Subrahmanyam underscored how technology and finance were merging to redefine the future of economic growth. “For a $30 trillion, technology-driven economy, the financial sector will be massive. Organizations — whether banks, financial firms, or fintechs — will have transformative opportunities,” he said.
He added that India’s strength lay in its scale, talent, and digital depth. “A large pool of skilled talent in both technology and finance, unmatched scale, and a deep penetration of the digital economy give India a phenomenal opportunity to lead globally in fintech,” Shri Subrahmanyam said.
He emphasised the need for innovation-friendly regulation to keep pace with technology. “We need to create regulatory sandboxes — small, controlled environments that allow experimentation. Regulators need to be nimble-footed — create pilots, test ideas, see what works, and then scale the successful ones,” he said, adding that regulation must evolve from an “institution-based to an activity-based framework.”
Speaking on the importance of inclusion, Subrahmanyam pointed out that “credit gaps are particularly large for women, MSMEs, youth, and underserved individuals.” He said the Account Aggregator Framework is helping “use digital footprints to expand access to credit.”
Shri Subrahmanyam also highlighted women’s participation as a critical lever for growth. “Women form half the population — and an economy can’t walk on one leg. A 10% increase in women’s labour participation can boost GDP growth by around 1.5%,” he said, stressing that credit, safety, flexibility, and mentorship are key to unlocking their potential.
Looking at the future, Shri Subrahmanyam said that in Fintech 2.0, AI would not just automate but deliver highly customised financial products. “With the right balance of innovation and regulation, India can set the standards in global fintech,” he concluded.
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