Riyaz Ladiwala, President and Head, Technology and Operations, Nuvama Group

The year 2022 saw enterprises pushing the pedal on exploring 5G use cases and devising plans to leverage its potential. During the year, enterprises across sectors deployed new-age technology solutions such as AI/ML, big data, AR/VR, cloud computing and robotics to enhance their productivity as well as business. Riyaz Ladiwala, President and Head, Technology and Operations, Nuvama Group, shares his views on the key technology trends, the opportunities opened up by 5G, challenges in digitalisation and the way forward…

How are new-age technologies such as AI/ ML, big data, AR/VR, cloud computing and robotics transforming the enterprise segment and fuelling Industry 4.0? How are you leveraging these solutions?

Industry 4.0 is about AI, ML, big data, AR/VR, cloud computing and robotics, and their relevance to one’s business. With respect to the wealth management industry, these technologies can change the game in areas such as analytics, reporting and client experience.

We, at Nuvama, embarked on this jo­urney about two years ago. We monitor bu­­siness through dashboards and have made significant progress in adopting new te­chnologies to enhance our reporting ca­pabilities. By creating our own data warehouses, we are able to offer a better experience to our clients and are also able to integrate external fintech platforms into our ecosystem.

The next steps for us will be venturing into AI/ML to create intelligent algori­th­ms so as to provide insights on client por­tfolio with a risk management framework and create an experience unique to each cli­ent. A year ago, we adopted auto­mation aggressively, thereby eliminating manual interventions wherever possible. This was made possible by re-engineering workflows, integration with the India tech stack and the fintech ecosystem. We are proud to say that over the past 12 months, after meticulously documenting each pro­cess, we are now at 80 per cent auto­mation of our processes and expect to clock 90 per cent over the next six months.

Besides, cloud computing has been a boon to the wealth management industry as it has enhanced digital transformation. Co­nsidering the requirement for scalable infrastructure, Nuvama has already taken initiatives by moving the current infrastructure to the cloud. All our new platforms are now cloud-ready which means that we can scale, manage risks and offer integration opportunities to businesses easily.

Meanwhile, the use of bots has hel­p­ed us in reducing human involvement, thereby human er­r­ors. The implementation of ro­botic pro­cess automation (RPA) has been a game changer for Nuvama. By automating re­petitive, manual tasks, we have been able to greatly increase our productivity and improve the overall efficiency of our operations. We are excited to continue exploring new ways to use RPA and other emerging technologies to improve our services and benefit our clients.

What opportunities has 5G opened up for enterprises in India? How do you plan to le­verage its potential?

Productivity, in my view, is directly proportional to the speed of data access. The faster we are able to process and transfer data, the better user experience it translates to. We believe that 5G-enabled services will en­hance the overall experience of clients and help them achieve a seamless service experience provided by us.

The direct benefits for Nuvama are as follows:

  • Wealth management companies are prone to security intrusions and threats po­sed by Wi-Fi and public network. The introduction of 5G will enable live video capture and voice signature recor­ding for verification
  • Real-time data analytics will help organisations become smarter and interconnected via live video streams.
  • There will be a reduction in processing time, which will ensure customer support and minimise manual activities.
  • Enable AR/VR to provide visual, perso­nalised offers, and intuitive account handling.

Private 5G would allow seamless connectivity to all devices with no latency.

What, according to you, will be the key digital trends that will reshape the enterprise segment in 2023 and beyond?

Emerging technologies such as AI, IoT and RPA have opened up new business opportunities and given rise to new customer ex­pectations. Companies with the resources and mindset to take the leap can gain a co­m­petitive advantage, widening the gap bet­ween digital laggards and leaders.

I believe that the key digital trends poised to reshape the enterprise segment in 2023 and beyond include:

  • The continued adoption of cloud computing and the shift towards multicloud and hybrid cloud strategies. This will re­duce the dependency on a specific cloud service provider.
  • The increased use of AI and ML to au­to­mate tasks and improve decision-ma­king. This will significantly reduce processing time and improve the quality of service. Moreover, this will help in better decision-making on the basis of predictions.
  • The growing importance of data privacy and analytics that incorporate enhanced privacy protection will increase. This will cater to global privacy requirements.
  • The emergence of edge computing and IoT to process and analyse data closer to the source. This will help in reducing ro­und-trip time significantly, and processing sensitive information at the edge.
  • The growing use of blockchain technology for secure and transparent data ma­na­gement and business processes.
  • The use of low-code or no-code platfor­ms to empower non-technical emp­lo­y­ees and speed up development processes.

These digital trends will play a major role in shaping the future of the enterprise segment and help companies optimise their processes, improve efficiency and re­du­ce costs. Companies that can qui­ckly adopt and leverage these techno­logies will have a competitive advantage in the marketplace. This is expected to lead to more efficient, flexible and res­pon­sive operations, and a more persona­lis­ed customer ex­perience.