Babu Unnikrishnan
CTO for Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) - Americas at TCS
The banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector is on the brink of an AI-driven revolution, with software company OpenText and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global IT services leader, at the forefront of this transformation.
Lars Rossen, SVP and Chief Architect at OpenText, oversees the ecosystem architecture and platform architecture of the company’s entire portfolio.
“Large language models have the potential to significantly transform BFSI business processes. In the insurance industry, for example, the ability to efficiently collate information and generate insights will help everyone from agents and brokers to underwriters and claim handlers,” he explains. “But it’s important to understand that Gen AI is not the only solution and other statistical and machine learning algorithms will significantly help the entire BSFI industry.”
Babu Unnikrishnan, Chief Technology Officer for BFSI Americas at TCS, brings 27 years of leadership experience to the conversation. His role in developing technology strategy and driving co-innovation with TCS customers gives him a unique perspective on AI's potential in financial services.
“The main drivers for AI adoption among BFSI firms are enhancing customer experience and innovation, as well as optimising cost and operational efficiencies,” he notes.
Pradeep Kamalanabhan, Global Head of TCS's Enterprise Content Management practice, highlights the emerging capabilities brought by the combination of traditional AI and generative AI: “A combination of AI and generative AI will bring in new capabilities such as knowledge management, content mining, summarisation, content generation and synthetic data creation, which can be leveraged to enhance customer experience and transform business models.”
Looking ahead, AI is set to become an increasingly integral part of the BFSI landscape. “Given AI's potential to add complementary value, it will become mainstream in the BFSI industry,” Unnikrishnan predicts. “Going forward, BFSI firms will increasingly leverage composite AI technologies – both predictive and Gen AI – for disruptive transformation."
This mainstreaming of AI will involve a shift in how the technology is used. As Unnikrishnan explains: “This will entail a shift in how AI is used – from leveraging it tactically to design point solutions for specific use cases to utilising it to drive knowledge-driven decisions and innovation. This, in turn, will reimagine entire value chains and transform the way BFSI firms do business.”
Pradeep adds that future AI implementations will increasingly focus on innovation and revenue growth. “In our recent survey, we found that as many as 88% of BFSI Pacesetter companies – those that enjoy greater financial success than the others – are more focused on using AI to spur innovation,” he notes.
However, at a time of widespread AI hype, Lars injects a note of realism. “Right now, everyone wants to have an AI strategy, but we are also reaching the point of disillusion; it is not as easy or as magical as it looked like 12 months ago,” he says. “I expect that a lot of realism will happen over the next 18 months. There are already a good set of practical solutions you can buy and implement, but the real job of understanding your data and cleaning your data will lead to a lot of new insight and hopefully cool solutions that create value for the industry.”
By combining OpenText's advanced information management and AI solutions with TCS's deep industry knowledge and implementation expertise, the two companies are well-positioned to help financial institutions navigate the complexities of AI adoption and unlock its transformative potential.
The road ahead will present challenges, from ensuring ethical AI use to managing cultural change within organisations. But for those BFSI firms willing to embrace AI and partner with experienced guides like OpenText and TCS, the rewards could be substantial. As Unnikrishnan concludes: “This will reimagine entire value chains and transform the way BFSI firms do business.”
Read the full article HERE.
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