Fintech firms Paytm, Pine Labs double down on adding sales employees

Comes at a time when maintaining merchant relationships becomes a paramount priority

With artificial intelligence (AI) making software development cheaper, India’s two listed fintech companies — Paytm and Pine Labs — are betting on distribution, ramping up their field sales teams in the June quarter. 

The renewed focus on distribution reflects a broader shift in the sector, where cheaper software development is making merchant relationships — and the ability to cross-sell services — a more durable competitive advantage. 

Paytm’s average number of sales employees grew 12 per cent to 43,715 in the first quarter of financial year 2026-27 (Q1FY27) as compared to 38,946 in Q1FY26. Sequentially, its sales headcount grew from 40,512 employees in Q4FY26. 

Pine Labs added 500 sales employees on a year-on-year basis with plans to deploy them across mid-market segments, international business teams and products capability and innovation, according to the company’s earnings release. 

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, fou­nder & chief executive officer of Paytm, said during the Q1 analyst call that with software development now a few clicks away, what really matters is how faster this can be distributed to customers. “The gating condition of harnessing the power of AI is what distribution you are sitting at. Because nearly everybody could build what you build up after some time, like always,” he said. 

For the fintech firm, more feet on the street translates into greater mileage in servicing its merchant base. AI can further accelerate its mileage. 

Sharma added that tools like an AI agent governs what field sales executives should do on their job. “Our merchant distrib­u­tion, in a way the small busin­ess merchant acquisition is now governed by the agent where the person is identifying what our field sales executives must do. It is all made in-house and I have started to find out use-cases of this going to the third party customers also,” he added. 

Pine Labs CEO Amrish Rau told analysts that the company had front-loaded investments in its sales workforce, with returns on those investments expected to materialise over the next six to 12 months. 

“In India we are seeing very big opportunity coming our way, both in terms of online payments and also on offline payments. So, we believe that more and more D2C (direct-to-customer) internet merchants are looking for options out there. So we are increasing the team on that front,” Rau added.

 

The focus on distribution comes as advances in AI are compressing development timelines for software and digital financial products. 

In December last year, Rau had stated that Pine Labs would not need any addition to its base of 1,000 engineers and product managers because of AI. 

Pine Labs’ employee costs grew by 7 per cent to ₹242 crore in Q1FY27 from ₹225 crore in Q1FY26. 

Similarly, Paytm too has seen its non-sales employee costs rise by 7 per cent on a year-on-year basis to ₹403 crore in Q1FY27 from ₹375 crore in Q1FY26. In June 2025, its costs came down by 28 per cent from ₹482 crore in Q1FY25. 

India's appraisal cycle lands in April, so the June quarter is the first quarter carrying the full increment for employees. A mid-to-high single digit rise could be inferred as headcount being roughly flat or down on a year-on-year basis.