Large NBFCs scale AI adoption across acquisition, underwriting & servicing

Bajaj Finance, L&T Finance and Tata Capital are embedding AI and GenAI across the lending chain-from acquisition to servicing-to enhance growth, efficiency and risk oversight

India’s leading non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are increasingly deploying artificial intelligence (AI) across the lending value chain — from customer acquisition and underwriting to servicing and collections — to drive growth and improve cost efficiencies.

 

These lenders are embedding AI and generative AI (GenAI) into their operating models, using data analytics, conversational interfaces, and autonomous agents to sharpen decision-making, personalise customer engagement, and strengthen risk underwriting and portfolio management.

 

In a recent analyst call, Bajaj Finance said AI has enabled it to analyse 20 million calls and convert voice into text for 520,000 customers. This exercise generated 100,000 new offers for which the company previously lacked information. It expects to scale this to 100 million calls next year across sales, servicing, and debt management services (DMS).

 

“We will be able to listen to 100 million calls next year and convert voice into text as we move forward — initially for sales, then for service and subsequently for DMS,” Rajeev Jain, vice-chairman, Bajaj Finance, said.

 

The company has recorded nearly ₹1,600 crore in loan disbursements through its AI call centre. Data extracted from these calls led to an additional ₹325 crore in volumes. It currently has 11 AI text bots live and interacting with customers. Of its 26 products, all are expected to go live between April and May 2026, after which no customer communication will be sent without an embedded conversational bot.

 

Bajaj Finance is also investing in autonomous agents and a consumer AI platform to be offered on its app and website. It plans to deploy over 800 autonomous agents across sales, operations, human resources, information technology, risk, and DMS in 2026-27 (FY27). The consumer AI interface is expected to be launched by May or June 2026, allowing customers to choose between the classic and AI-enabled platforms.

 

Similarly, L&T Finance is deploying AI-driven platforms — Project Cyclops and Project Nostradamus — for customer onboarding, credit underwriting, and portfolio management. Project Nostradamus was launched in live beta in the two-wheeler (2W) finance segment in August 2025 and is delivering real-time insights for proactive portfolio monitoring at the micro-market cluster level.

 

The NBFC has also rolled out two additional initiatives — Project Helios and Project Orion. Project Helios, an agentic AI platform, assists underwriters in making faster and more consistent decisions. It has processed over 5,000 cases, resulting in a 30 per cent reduction in turnaround time and saving 1.5 hours per case in the small and medium enterprise segment. The company plans to extend the platform across all business lines in phases.

 

Project Orion serves as a co-pilot for automated portfolio monitoring, enabling credit teams to query complex delinquency and vintage data in real time. It is currently live in the 2W segment.

 

“Full-stack implementation of Project Nostradamus will be completed in the 2W business by March 2026 and extended to the personal loan and rural business finance verticals in the first half of FY27,” Sudipto Roy, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), L&T Finance, said during the post-earnings analyst call.

 

The company is also strengthening its cross-sell engine. A new digital tool, Loan Offer Pod, was operationalised in the third quarter (October–December/Q3) of 2025-26 and will be scaled up in the coming quarters. Operational efficiencies are further supported by Kai Voice and Chat, an agentic AI solution handling automated collection calls in 11 languages across multiple business lines.

 

Tata Capital has similarly deployed AI across marketing, sales, credit, operations, servicing, and collections, delivering cost efficiencies through higher agent productivity, automation, and intelligent call handling. AI underwriting co-pilots and AI-generated credit memos are being used across segments, improving credit manager productivity while enhancing speed, consistency, and risk governance. AI-led automation in operations is also enabling higher volumes with lower manpower intensity.

 

“In the past few years, we have digitised all asset journeys and embedded digital across the organisation. Going forward, the larger benefit will come from our early adoption of AI and GenAI,” Rajiv Sabharwal, MD and CEO, Tata Capital, said during the earnings call.