Latest news with #KripadyutiSarkar
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Rewriting the Rulebook: How AI Is Modernising BFSI and Real Estate
A few years ago, a junior employee at a major Indian bank spent hours navigating outdated policy manuals just to respond to a client query. Today, that same task takes less than 30 seconds to complete. All thanks to an artificial intelligence (AI) powered chatbot. What once demanded tedious manual effort, multiple approvals, and endless email threads is now handled by intelligent automation, offering instant and reliable answers. This offers a glimpse into a broader transformation quietly reshaping the banking, real estate, and financial services sectors. AI is no longer a distant promise. It's here, and it's redefining how legacy industries operate, deliver value, and make decisions. One powerful example is the State Bank of India's generative AI solution, askSBI. Designed to help employees tackle complex business scenarios, the chatbot serves as a centralised knowledge hub. It reduces dependence on manually curated documents, enhances internal communication, and streamlines access to critical information, ultimately improving operational efficiency and service quality across the board. But AI in traditional sectors is not just about cutting costs or increasing speed—it's about enabling smarter decisions, improving customer experiences, and future-proofing operations. This was the central theme of a recentpanel on Mint's series All About AI featuring industry veterans such as Arundhati Bhattacharya, President and CEO of Salesforce - South Asia; Kripadyuti Sarkar, CIO at Ambuja Neotia; and Ratan Kumar Kesh, Executive Director and COO of Bandhan Bank. Together, they unpacked how AI is creating real, tangible change—and the roadblocks that still need to be overcome. Watch the full episode below, In banking, AI tackles vast operational challenges swiftly and efficiently. Arundhati remarked, 'Banking has a lot of operational challenges. There are risk management issues. There are issues of finding fraud. But more than anything else, there is an issue of giving a uniform level of customer service that really and truly gives an experience to a customer which will enable the customer to want to come back again.' The transformation is already measurable. One of the most immediate and visible applications is fraud detection. Traditional systems rely on static, rule-based models that can be slow to adapt. In contrast, AI-powered tools continuously learn and evolve. For instance, in 2019, SBI deployed an AI-driven fraud analytics platform capable of analysing transaction patterns in real-time. Similarly, ICICI Bank's AI chatbot, 'iPal,' utilises natural language processing not only to handle customer queries but also to proactively flag suspicious behaviour, thereby enhancing both customer service and fraud prevention. Besides these, multiple other banks, including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Federal Bank, and more, have implemented conversational AI solutions. But AI's role in banking goes far beyond risk mitigation. It's helping banks deliver hyper-personalised experiences. Ratan highlighted AI's indispensable role in today's financial services landscape, stating, 'In the financial services industry, you cannot survive without AI. It provides a comprehensive view that allows effective management without needing a large number of experts on staff.' The potential benefits of AI are substantial. According to anEY report, generative AI is projected to boost productivity in Indian financial services by 34–38% by 2030, with banking operations alone expected to see a 46% increase. Ratan also pointed to concrete improvements, noting, 'Costs come down by 20 to 30%. Net Promoter Scores increase by 20 to 30%. Fraud detection, personalised customer offers, and credit decision-making — AI is fundamentally transforming the banking landscape.' Further emphasising AI's growing prominence, Gartner predicts that by 2026,90% of finance functions will have integrated at least one AI-enabled technology. This shift marks a move from experimentation to full operational adoption, making AI a core pillar of modern financial strategy and decision-making. Kripadyutipointed out the inherent human dependency of the real estate sector. "Real estate is a human-dense industry. It has always been trusted human intelligence over any sort of intelligence, be it AI or ML." He emphasised the challenges posed by human variability and emotion in decision-making, which led to difficulties in analytics and customer insights. AI is helping real estate firms make data-backed decisions faster than ever before. From predicting market trends to qualifying leads and automating documentation, AI is streamlining everything. One standout example of AI in action is the rise of intelligent property platforms, such These platforms now use AI algorithms to analyse buyer behaviour, preferences, and search intent, enabling them to recommend properties more accurately and significantly reduce the time required to find a suitable home. In the commercial real estate sector, the potential is even more transformative. By strategically embracing AI, companies can optimise everything from space utilisation and lease management to predictive maintenance and investment planning. According to JLL's recent report, over 90% of C-suite leaders believe AI will fundamentally change the way the workforce operates within the next five years. Kripadyuti highlighted the importance of transparency in real estate, describing it as "a business where I'm selling a dream to a customer," who invests significant money in a property that is often just barren land at the time of purchase. AI helps provide real-time updates and data access to customers, enhancing trust. 'AI gives us a platform that integrates my customer experience to that level where even a customer can have a photograph of the existing situation of the site. Not only photographs, if they want any of the financial data, their outstanding data, or even if they have any complaint, they can raise their concerns. This is real-time.' Speaking of customer experience, one cannot overlook the developments in the field of agentic AI, which refers to autonomous systems capable of performing tasks, making decisions, and interacting in ways previously limited to humans. These intelligent agents are now redefining how industries manage scale, efficiency, and human connection. 'AI, especially the agentic autonomous layer, provides digital labour,' notes Arundhati. She explains it through an example of customer service. Traditional call centres often face long wait times due to staffing limits. Doubling the workforce to cut wait times isn't feasible. 'But with agentic AI, a 2-minute wait can be reduced to 2 seconds,' she says. This will dramatically improve customer satisfaction without the need for massive hiring. Healthcare offers another compelling use case. Doctors are often overwhelmed with routine tasks like recording symptoms and drafting diagnoses. An agentic AI can handle these processes, freeing up the physician to 'do the deep dive to give you a much more personalised human experience.' Beyond automation, agentic AI unlocks time, giving employees the capacity to connect more deeply with customers and patients. 'AI should help humans become more human,' Arundhati concludes, highlighting the technology's role in shifting human roles from routine execution to empathetic engagement. Both sectors underscore trust as a crucial factor. Sarkar pointed out that AI-enabled platforms deliver transparency, which is vital when customers invest their lifetime savings. "Transparency to the customer, progress of the project to the customer is very important so that they can tie it up with the project," he remarked. The panelists agreed that investing in robust AI platforms like Salesforce is key to achieving this trust and future readiness. India's digital transformation is accelerating rapidly, though not without its challenges. Arundhati Bhattacharya acknowledged the regional dynamics, saying, 'We are seeing signs in the East of a lot of interest; companies that want to go pan-India and have global ambitions. The entire ecosystem is changing.' Ratan Kumar Kesh reflected on some of the initial hurdles, highlighting concerns around cloud security and legacy systems: 'Initially, the lag was on account of the fear of cloud because India was basically an on-prem kind of an ecosystem. As we moved towards digitisation, there was a lot of technical debt.' Despite these challenges, the momentum behind AI adoption is unstoppable. Kesh emphasised, 'Change is not going to wait for them anymore. With the coming of generative AI, the future belongs to those who are agile.'
Mint
26-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
How Canon's office automation solutions are helping Ambuja Neotia Group go digital
As industries in India embrace digital transformation, the real estate sector—which has historically relied on physical documentation, is also beginning to make significant shifts. One such example is the Kolkata-based Ambuja Neotia Group, a diversified business group with operations in real estate, hospitality, healthcare, and education. Until 2022–2023, the group's documentation processes were largely paper-based, leading to operational inefficiencies and growing concerns around data accessibility and security. To streamline its documentation workflows and move toward a digital-first approach, Ambuja Neotia joined hands with Canon India, a digital imaging and document solutions provider. Why the shift was necessary According to industry reports, document digitisation has become increasingly important for sectors like real estate, where legacy paperwork, regulatory filings, and contract management are core to daily operations. For Ambuja Neotia, like many other ogranisations, the challenges included: Manual handling of large volumes of documents across projects and departments. Locating and retrieving key records such as project files, invoices, agreements, and communications was time and resource intensive Storage constraints due to the physical space required for document archives Concerns around the security and management of sensitive legal and financial information. Streamlining operations with Canon's support To address these challenges, Canon India deployed its multifunction devices (MFDs) at several of Ambuja Neotia's locations. These devices enabled staff to scan, print, and copy documents more efficiently, forming the foundation for a more integrated digital workflow. 'I want to thank Canon India because their products have not only made our lives easier but also empowered the functional teams with more agility by using these solutions. Our group spans across a diverse portfolio of real estate, hospitality, healthcare, and education and requires a lot of documentation. Canon has helped us increase efficiency by digitising documents to improve access and data protection, transforming our daily operations,' said Kripadyuti Sarkar, CIO, Ambuja Neotia Group. The hardware was complemented by Canon's Therefore Document Management System, which allowed the Group to securely archive, index, and retrieve documents via a centralised platform. This shift has made internal collaboration easier and document retrieval faster. 'We are pleased to collaborate with the Ambuja Neotia Group on their digital transformation journey, bringing the power of Canon's innovative technology to streamline operations and drive efficiency. Our solutions are thoughtfully designed to meet the evolving needs of modern business infrastructure.' said Toshiaki Nomura, President & CEO, Canon India. Canon India offers a comprehensive range of solutions spanning multifunction devices, high-speed scanners, and efficient document and print management through platforms such as Therefore, uniFLOW, and Tungsten Automation. Together, these technologies support data analytics and play a key role in driving digital transformation, enhancing operational efficiency, and boosting productivity. Additionally, Canon India provides advanced cybersecurity solutions through ESET, with a focus on Zero Trust Architecture. These solutions offer comprehensive protection for Microsoft Office cloud applications, endpoints, and servers, effectively safeguarding critical systems against cyber threats. By combining innovation with deep industry expertise, Canon enables businesses to build smarter, safer, and more cost-effective work environments. Note to the Reader: This article is part of Mint's paid consumer connect initiative and is independently created by the brand. Mint assumes no editorial responsibility for the content, including its accuracy, completeness, or any errors or omissions. Readers are advised to verify all information independently.
