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

The increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by India’s leading non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) across the lending value chain, from customer acquisition and underwriting to servicing and collections, is driving business growth and improving cost efficiencies.

 

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

 

In its recent analyst call, Bajaj Finance said AI has enabled it to analyse 20 million calls and convert voice to text for 5.2 lakh customers. This exercise generated 1 lakh new offers for which the company previously did not have information. It expects to scale this to 100 million calls next year across sales, servicing and debt management services (DMS).

 

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

 

The company has seen nearly Rs 1,600 crore of loan disbursements through its AI call centre. Data extracted from these calls led to an additional Rs 325 crore of 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 that will be available on its app and website. It expects to deploy over 800 autonomous agents across sales, operations, human resources, information technology, risk and DMS in the next financial year. The Consumer AI interface is expected to be launched by May or June 2026, giving customers the option to choose between the classic platform and the AI-enabled platform.

 

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 mode in the two-wheeler finance segment in August 2025 and is delivering real-time, actionable 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, consistent and more accurate decisions. It has processed over 5,000 cases, resulting in a 30 per cent reduction in turnaround time (TAT) and saving 1.5 hours per case in the SME business. The company plans to extend this platform across all lines of business in a phased manner.

 

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 two-wheeler segment.

 

“Full stack Project Nostradamus implementation will be completed in the two-wheeler business by March 2026 and will be implemented in the personal loan and rural business finance vertical in H1FY27,” Sudipto Roy, MD & 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 Q3FY26 and will be scaled up in the coming quarters. Operational efficiencies are further supported by KAI Voice & 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, service and collections, resulting in 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, reinforcing operating leverage.

 

“In the past few years, we have digitised all asset journeys for ourselves. We have embedded digital in every function within the organisation. Going forward, the bigger benefit to us will come from this early adoption of AI and Gen AI,” Rajiv Sabharwal, MD & CEO, Tata Capital, said during the earnings call.