L-R: Dahnesh Dilkhush, Executive Director – Customer Success, Microsoft India and South Asia moderates a panel on ‘AI in action in the BFSI sector’ with Devang Mody, CEO, Bajaj Finserv Health, Neha Gupta, MD & Partner, Boston Consulting Group, Nitin Chugh, Deputy Managing Director & Head (Digital Banking & Transformation), State Bank of India and Sonali Kulkarni, Country Head – BFSI, Microsoft India and South Asia at the Microsoft AI Boardroom 2025 in Mumbai.
- India’s BFSI sector is seeing AI move from promise to proof with significant productivity gains, deeper customer insights and cost savings
- Microsoft is helping BFSI firms become future-ready by infusing AI across the value chain and keeping security at the center
- Top voices from leading organizations including State Bank of India, Bajaj FinServ Health, and BCG shared insights from their AI innovation journey, as they look to scale up AI transformation initiatives across their organizations
April 03, 2025: The banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector in India is undergoing a transformative shift driven by the rapid adoption of generative AI (GenAI). At Microsoft’s BFSI Boardroom 2025, industry leaders and experts discussed how AI is revolutionizing the sector, enhancing productivity, customer service, and operational efficiency.
At the session hosted at Microsoft’s Mumbai office, senior leaders of State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv Health and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) shared how they are experiencing tangible benefits from their AI implementations as they look to scale up AI transformation initiatives across their organizations and how Microsoft is helping them copilot their AI transformation journeys.
Puneet Chandok, President, Microsoft India and South Asia, stated, “AI is undoubtedly the most transformative technology of our time, and its impact is particularly profound in India. From streamlining health insurance claims at Bajaj Finserv Health to improving operational efficiency at the State Bank of India, AI is solving real-world problems at scale. At Microsoft, we are deeply committed to making India’s BFSI sector AI-first by empowering financial institutions to move with agility, scale, and trust. As we celebrate 50 years of Microsoft, we remain focused on building AI for everyone and copiloting India and South Asia’s AI transformation. Together, we can unlock the true potential of AI and make India’s AI ambitions a reality.”
A recent IDC survey commissioned by Microsoft revealed that the BFSI sector enjoys the highest ROI from generative AI implementations, with an average return of nearly 5x for every $1 invested. This makes AI a key competitive differentiator for organizations.
Sonali Kulkarni, Country Head – BFSI, Microsoft India and South Asia, said, “We are witnessing a pivotal moment for India’s BFSI sector as AI moves from promise to proof. The significant productivity gains, deeper customer insights, and cost savings being realized are testament to the transformative power of AI. Microsoft is dedicated to helping BFSI firms become future-ready by infusing AI across the stack while keeping security at the center. As we continue to support these initiatives, we are excited about the future possibilities and the role AI will play in driving innovation and excellence in the BFSI sector.”
Takeaway #1: AI is transforming the customer experience as it moves from Promise to Proof
The importance of data in customer experiences is magnified when viewed through the lens of the customer journey—in every place, time, and channel that a customer interacts with their financial institution. To deliver better service and more meaningful interactions, firms need to create consistent and easy experiences and provide a complete view of the relationship.
AI is enhancing customer experiences by providing seamless interactions across all touchpoints. Financial institutions are leveraging AI to create a complete view of customer relationships, delivering better service and more meaningful interactions.
Bajaj Finserv Health is a leading provider of OPD and IPD health claims processing services in India. Their AI-driven SaaS/PaaS platform, Enigma, is helping minimize fraud, optimize resource utilization, and enhance healthcare insurance management for insurers. Enigma is a scalable, AI-driven platform designed to streamline health insurance claim processing, seamlessly integrating with any insurer’s systems. It harnesses Microsoft Azure’s GenAI technologies for document processing, bill digitization, medical encoding (ICD/PCS), tariff standardization, and Copilot functionalities. Enigma has reduced average claim handling time by 40% and enhanced fraud detection capabilities, identifying 5x more fraudulent claims than conventional methods. It has also significantly improved operational efficiency and consistency by automating complex processes such as document classification, medical encoding, and billing. These advancements underscore BFHL’s commitment to leveraging AI to drive innovation and efficiency in healthcare insurance management.
Sharing his insights during the boardroom discussion, Devang Mody, CEO, Bajaj Finserv Health said, “By leveraging advanced AI, we have improved outcomes by efficiently processing claims, detecting fraud, and streamlining operations. Our provider portal identifies any missing document from uploaded PDFs and images, enhancing accuracy without manual intervention. In our emotionally charged industry, where customers want to know about the status of their claim and next steps, Copilot aids our customer service agents in providing empathetic and timely responses, transforming unstructured input into actionable insights. As we look to the future, we hope to use AI to solve even larger problems that help our employees and customers.”
State Bank of India (SBI) is pioneering a digital-first, GenAI-powered, and cloud-enabled approach to transform its banking services. With a workforce of over 235,000 employees, the bank is transitioning to a hybrid cloud infrastructure that combines the private Meghdoot cloud with the public Azure cloud, ensuring data security while leveraging the scalability and flexibility of public cloud services. This initiative enhances operational efficiency by enabling faster access to critical information, with a projected 65% improvement in handling user queries. It also minimizes manual efforts and human error, providing accurate, consistent information and enhancing response times. Fully aligned with SBI’s stringent security and regulatory frameworks, this approach positions SBI as a forward-thinking, digitally proactive organization, setting a benchmark in the banking industry.
- The Deceased Account Settlement Queries Chatbot is a user-friendly solution designed to handle customer inquiries related to deceased account settlement cases. It provides branch and BU staff with a scenario-based query interface, offering resolutions that are fully aligned with internal SOPs and circulars. This reduces friction in customer interactions, ensures timely and accurate information on settlement processes and regulations, enhances employee turnaround time and overall productivity, and decreases the bank’s effort in managing deceased account inquiries.
- The Generative AI-powered askSBI Chatbot enhances employee satisfaction by delivering human-like responses to diverse and complex business scenarios faced by staff, even in remote locations. This solution serves as a centralized point of contact for internal staff, improving operational efficiency and enhancing employee job satisfaction and retention by reducing the burden of manual tasks and reliance on manually curated documents. This integrated approach not only streamlines operations and improves service quality for SBI’s vast workforce but also reinforces the bank’s commitment to innovation and excellence in digital banking.
Takeaway #2: AI is Enabling Secure and Transformative Changes in Financial Services
On the security front, financial services organizations are among the most targeted in the world. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that the escalating cost of cybercrime will reach USD10.5 trillion annually by 2025, up from USD3 trillion a decade ago. The increasingly dangerous threat landscape compels firms to better safeguard critical systems, enhance data protection, and maintain compliance with a host of regulations.
To help cyber defense teams work more effectively amid chronic talent shortages, Microsoft Copilot for Security empowers analysts to rapidly assess an organization’s security posture and create actionable insights and solutions at much greater speed than current approaches.
Takeaway #3: Agentic transformation is the next frontier for BFSI
Microsoft and its partners are pivotal in AI adoption in financial services, offering tailored solutions. This collaborative approach harnesses the power of generative AI to provide deeper levels of real-time analysis, decision-making support, streamlined operations, and potential new revenue opportunities, enabling financial services organizations to respond more swiftly to market changes and customer needs.
One of the key components of this collaborative approach is the use of generative AI assistants, also known as agents. AI agents act as human proxies, mimicking how humans plan and execute tasks but operating within boundary conditions and aligning to the guardrails provided by the instructions. Using agents, financial service providers can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, allowing employees to focus on higher-level strategic work.
For example, financial institutions can use agents specialized in the KYC process and delegate work on KYC verifications to them. Under the supervision of staff, these agents can handle high volumes of diverse customer scenarios, while elevating complex tasks to representatives. This has substantial implications for organization-level productivity and efficiency, while reducing operational costs and improving decision-making processes.
Neha Gupta, MD & Partner, Boston Consulting Group shared, “AI is transforming both BCG and our customers, with traditional AI improving productivity and GenAI reshaping functions and business models. Wealth management is a prime example, moving from physical to virtual relationship management. As companies expand their target segments, the gap between leaders and laggards becomes clear. With 70% organizations incorporating autonomous agents into their AI roadmaps, we are now in the deployment stage, unlocking significant value. AI is moving from support functions to core business functions, which signals the confidence that customers now have with AI. GenAI has been a great equalizer of talent, and going forward, how effectively we deploy it will define the future of the BFSI sector.”
Ultimately, the integration of generative AI and the support of Microsoft partners represents a potential transformative shift in how the financial services sector operates. By embracing these technologies, organizations can achieve greater agility, improve risk management, and deliver superior value to their clients. As the financial landscape continues to evolve, the adoption of generative AI will undoubtedly play a crucial role in shaping the future of the industry. The next big idea, that agent that changes the game once more, could still be forming in someone’s mind right now.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
