AI will change nature of work, but won't lead to job losses: Axis Bank

Axis Bank spent nearly two years on so-called 'hyperpersonalization' for its app, which includes nudges for customers when their salaries get deposited or when bills come due, its digital head said

By Preeti Singh 

Axis Bank Ltd says artificial intelligence will change the nature of work but won’t lead to net job losses at the Indian lender, which has boosted digital staffing more than 10-fold in recent years. 

There’s “no need to shrink our workforce,” said Sameer Shetty, head of digital business and transformation at India’s third-largest private bank by market value. 

 

The technology team at the Mumbai-based firm has increased to 800 employees across engineering, product design and marketing, up from about 60 people nearly five years ago. The bank plans to expand its team by 10 per cent a year, and employs about 70 people who work exclusively on AI, Shetty said.

 

Many operations jobs will get automated and the bank’s employee mix will flip in the next five years in favor of technology and customer-facing roles, Shetty said. The bank’s workforce will continue to expand as it grows and introduces new business lines, he said. 

 

“We will have more front-facing folks who will spend time helping customers, solving their problems, talking to them, understanding their needs, and lesser people in the back office for processing jobs,” Shetty said. 

 

Banks in India have been ramping up their technology and spending more on digitization of their processes, products and services. However, glitches have cost them dearly. Regulators barred Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. from taking on new customers to its digital platforms and credit cards this year due to governance and risk issues.

 

“While banks have undertaken significant investments across digital banking, data management practices and privacy, along with modernizing core tech platforms, still need attention,” McKinsey & Co. said in a report. 

 

Axis Bank spent nearly two years on so-called “hyperpersonalization” for its app, which includes nudges for customers when their salaries get deposited or when bills come due, Shetty said in an interview in Mumbai. 

 

“These nudges are very, very specific to the customer, and an intense activity because you need to pull customer data in one place,” Shetty said, adding that hyperpersonalization has been one of the biggest sources of growth in new customers for the bank. 

 

The company is also using AI to “sharpen its targets” for advertisements on search engines, and to estimate what it calls the “value” of each added customer and the kinds of products to offer them, Shetty said, a former partner at McKinsey. These efforts have increased customer additions by nearly 50 per cent, resulting in lower costs per addition, Shetty said. 

 

Axis Bank is experimenting with several test-use cases with generative AI to increase efficiency, according to Shetty. One of those being rolled out is Adi, an internal chat bot, that helps bank employees answer specific queries at bank branches. 

 

AI “is not about replacing a human being but ensuring the journey is smoother for both the customer and the bank staff,” Shetty said.