my uttarakhand news Bureau
Kashipur, 7 Sep: The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kashipur successfully hosted its flagship sector conclave, ‘Navayug 2026: Reinventing BFSI’, on 5 September, bringing together distinguished C-suite executives, risk strategists, HR leaders and academic scholars to deliberate on the rapidly evolving landscape of Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI).
The high-level conclave focused on two critical strategic imperatives: transitioning towards skills-first, AI-augmented talent architectures and deploying enterprise-grade Artificial Intelligence (AI) supported by robust human risk governance.
The conclave opened with the session ‘The Financial Professional Reimagined’, during which industry experts examined how rapid technological integration is redefining leadership, human resource strategies and organisational culture. Moderated by Dr Gurveer Singh Jaswal, Associate Professor of Practice in Strategy, IIM Kashipur, the panel highlighted that while AI can significantly accelerate analytical workflows—including reducing tasks requiring eight hours of data processing to around 15 minutes—individual intellect, critical thinking, healthy scepticism and human oversight remain indispensable.
HR and capability leaders from Axis Bank, Anand Rathi Wealth, Credit Saison, Axis Max Life Insurance and RBL Bank highlighted an industry-wide shift from degree-centric hiring towards skill-based talent frameworks encompassing domain expertise in areas such as treasury, actuarial functions and underwriting, along with cross-functional collaboration and critical thinking.
The panellists observed that as, candidate applications and recruitment processes become increasingly AI-assisted, future talent strategies are likely to place greater emphasis on original thinking, trust-building and authentic relationship management, alongside technical capabilities.
The discussion then expanded to systemic enterprise transformation during the second panel session, ‘The Intelligent Financial Enterprise’, moderated by Vijay Chandola, Lead Product Manager (Corporate Servicing), Axis Bank. Panellists from Lendingkart, Acko Insurance, Bajaj Finserv, Apollo Global Management and DBS Bank deliberated on corporate strategy, credit risk architecture and digital scalability.
The experts cautioned against excessive institutional reliance on monolithic AI models and uniform data pools, which could compound historical biases and potentially widen financial exclusion. Corporate strategists noted that while AI is expected to significantly reduce per-unit economic costs and generate strong revenue multiplier effects over the next two to three years, a key immediate challenge for financial enterprises is the ability to capture and convert unstructured data into structured intelligence.
Consequently, experts advocated hybrid operating models that leverage Large Language Models (LLMs) for repetitive tasks while retaining final authorisation, risk governance and fraud prevention with human decision-makers.
Dr Gurveer Singh Jaswal said that technology companies are making investments of more than $200 billion in capital expenditure this year to scale AI infrastructure, but AI cannot replace fundamental management principles. He emphasised that management education must equip professionals to complement AI, critically evaluate its outputs and navigate its application effectively.
Anuj Sahai, Regional Head – Treasury, Axis Bank, said that in sensitive and compliance-driven businesses, AI can serve as a powerful catalyst by significantly accelerating analytical tasks. He emphasised that human intellect must remain central, with professionals applying their own judgement, questioning AI outputs and critically evaluating the results before taking strategic decisions.
Navin R Gangaramani, Assistant Vice President – HR, Anand Rathi Wealth Limited, said that AI will not replace professionals, but professionals who adapt to AI will increasingly replace those who do not. He stressed that organisations must leverage technology to enhance productivity while keeping pace with the expectations and capabilities of the emerging generation of talent.
Nikhil Jain, Vice President – Corporate Strategy, Bajaj Finserv, emphasised that, in risk-driven businesses, final decision-making authority must remain with humans. He noted that while AI can lower unit economics and expand use cases, a key priority for financial enterprises is currently the conversion of unstructured data into structured intelligence.
The conclave concluded with an engaging interactive session that provided MBA students and research scholars an opportunity to directly interact with senior industry executives and gain practical insights into contemporary challenges and opportunities in the BFSI sector.
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