Won't require more tech-related headcount: Pine Labs' B Amrish Rau

Fintech firm posts second consecutive PAT-positive quarter, plans to maintain tech headcount at 1,000 while boosting software revenues

For fintech major Pine Labs, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is making it hire fewer engineers and product managers. The company believes it will not need an addition to its existing base of around 1,000 techies as it uses AI to code, said B Amrish Rau, MD and CEO, Pine Labs.

 

Rau said that the company was using AI to rewrite legacy code on some of its platforms, with about 18 per cent of all code in the company being developed by AI.

 

The firm is also taking up AI-related initiatives on the customer services side.

 

“We have about 1,000 engineers, technologists and product managers in the company. I don't know why I would require more than 1,000 people on the engineering, technology and product side. Today, we believe 18 per cent of all code which is being written in Pine Labs has been developed using AI… I don't think we are going to be requiring more headcount in our business,” Rau said in an earnings call on Wednesday.

 

Pine Labs, which is known for its point-of-sale (PoS) devices business, said it was ‘deliberately moving away from hardware-included deals to capex-light software deals, where the company earns primarily software and platform revenues’.

 

The company's business verticals include in-store and online payments, value-added services and affordability solutions, fintech infrastructure, and the business of issuing cards and acquiring.

 

Pine Labs reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 5.97 crore in the second quarter of financial year 2025-26 (Q2 FY26), as compared to a loss of Rs 32.01 crore in Q2 FY25.

 

Sequentially, the company’s net profit grew 24.63 per cent from Rs 4.79 crore in Q1 FY26.

 

The company’s revenue from operations grew 17.82 per cent to Rs 649.9 crore in Q2 FY26 from Rs 551.57 crore in Q2 FY25.

 

On a quarterly basis, revenue from operations grew 5.51 per cent from Rs 615.91 crore in Q1 FY26.

 

“The first half of this year is behind us, and both quarters have been record-breaking in our history. First, we turned clean PAT (profit after tax) positive in Q1, and we have now followed it up with a Q2 that is again PAT positive. This is not a one-off event; we believe it is the result of the solid hard work we have been putting in over the last many months,” Rau said in a letter to shareholders.

 

Rau detailed the firm’s reasons for achieving a positive quarter such as low attrition and wage bill management, a drop in capex and depreciation intensity, higher scale in value-added transactions, among others.

 

Each quarter, the company will showcase at least two product demos during the earnings calls, he added.

 

Pine Labs crossed a cumulative one million merchants in Q2 FY26. The company has a total of 1.9 million digital checkout points as of Q2 FY26.

 

The company attributed the rise in operational revenue to the growth of issuing business, affordability and online payments businesses, which ‘continue to outpace growth in the in-store payments business’.

 

“Q3 typically delivers the highest revenue for our business due to festive seasonality. Q2 FY26—despite being a non-seasonal quarter—delivered 8% higher revenue over the peak of the previous FY (Q3 FY25),” the company said.

 

Pine Labs’ other income, which may include interest or dividend income, or any other non-core revenue, was recorded at Rs 23.01 crore in Q2 FY26 as compared to Rs 21.96 crore in Q2 FY25. In Q1 FY26, the firm recorded Rs 37.17 crore as other income.

 

Its expenses grew 8.14 per cent to Rs 661.68 crore in Q2 FY26 as compared to Rs 611.83 crore in Q2 FY26. Sequentially, expenses remained nearly flat at Rs 657.86 crore in Q1 FY26.