Interview with Harsh Jha Head of Technology, Nuvama Group

The banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector has been at the forefront of India’s digitalisation journey. Enterprises in the sector are leveraging new-age solutions such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things and cloud to enhance customer service and satisfaction while improving their business operations. However, the adoption of these technologies presents several challenges, such as limited skill sets, and data protection and security concerns. Industry leaders discuss the key technology trends shaping the BFSI sector, their experience, deployment challenges and the way forward…

How has the digital transformation journey of the Indian BFSI sector been?

The Indian BFSI sector has reached a critical point in its digital transformation, where much of the existing technology is becoming obsolete. To remain future-ready, financial institutions are adopting secure, cloud-native and open-source solutions that support AI integration. AI is playing a key role in automating processes, enhancing efficiency and improving customer engagement.

Another trend is the adoption of the omnichannel approach, ensuring a consistent customer experience across mobile, online and in-person channels. With the roll-out of 5G, faster connections will enable real-time data processing and personalised services. Further, cybersecurity will remain a top priority for protecting both organisational assets and customer data in an increasingly digital landscape.

What are the digital solutions being adopted by your organisation to improve operational efficiency and enhance the customer experience? What have been the key benefits?

To develop scalable and resilient systems that benefit both internal and external stakeholders, we are investing heavily in modernising our IT infrastructure, with a focus on cloud-native, secure and open-source ecosystems. This modernisation effort is not merely for meeting industry standards, it is about pushing frontiers to set global benchmarks in reliability, efficiency and cost optimisation. These improvements make our development and deployment processes more agile, reliable and efficient. We want to build an IT infrastructure that is not only resilient and scalable but also capable of delivering great value for both our internal and external stakeholders.

For our customers, we have enhanced our mobile apps and websites to deliver seamless experiences, particularly in our retail and UHNI businesses, where most customers now transact and engage with us online. We have also strengthened our customer relationship management systems to provide personalised services, implemented marketing automation tools and launched online service modules, reducing the need for paperwork.

For enterprise operations, RPA has streamlined processes such as account opening and back-office tasks, saving time and increasing accuracy. Our Nuvama Markets App is highly rated, and enterprise automation has saved over 53,000 hours while improving process accuracy to 96 per cent. We have also successfully addressed fraudulent activities and protected data. With the implementation of our advanced order management system in the commodity segment, we have reduced order latency by nearly 90 per cent. This enhancement has enabled us to handle four times the order volume using the same infrastructure, significantly enhancing our efficiency and service capacity.

What measures are being taken to mitigate cybersecurity risks?

We conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments to address vulnerabilities and ensure our systems are always ready to face new threats. In our cloud-native environment, we benefit from automatic updates and strong disaster recovery capabilities. We have adopted zero trust architecture, where no user is trusted by default, and access is continuously verified. Employee training is also a priority, as employees are the first line of defence. By maintaining compliance with regulatory standards and collaborating with industry experts, we ensure we are always prepared for emerging cybersecurity challenges.

Going forward, what emerging technologies or trends will reshape the BFSI sector?

We foresee that the BFSI sector will continue to be reshaped through ongoing IT modernisation, especially with cloud-native systems and data strategies. AI will continue to revolutionise risk management and fraud detection by offering real-time analytics, enabling swift detection and response towards threats. Routine tasks will become increasingly automated, leading to an improved customer experience.

India stack initiatives such as Aadhaar and UPI are already revolutionising the sector.

The adoption of account aggregator platforms is also gaining traction in the BFSI sector, particularly in the lending space. This will soon extend to other aspects of BFSI such as wealth management and banking, with significant controls built in for end-customers. The newly enacted Digital Personal Data Protection Act will also be a game changer, giving customers greater control over their data and compelling organisations to improve their data security and privacy.

“We have adopted zero trust architecture, where no user is trusted by default, and access is continuously verified.”