Paytm's Big AI Bet: Driving Efficiency Across Growth And Costs To Accelerate Profitability

Fintech giant is embracing AI-powered automation resulting in workforce optimization

Paytm, India’s leading payments and financial services company and the pioneer of QR, soundbox and mobile payments, is leveraging artificial intelligence to revolutionize payments and financial services like wealth management, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Sharma also said that the company aims to hit EBITDA-level profitability sooner. It has generated free cash for the past two quarters and Sharma expects that trajectory to continue.

When we contacted the company, a Paytm Spokesperson said, "As we lead the AI revolution in India, we are embracing AI-powered automation to eliminate repetitive tasks leading to substantial cost savings. With an aim to drive efficiency across growth and costs, we are reducing our workforce by 10 per cent and continue to drive innovation in India across payments and financial services."

This would also mean there is a need for upskilling and reskilling to equip employees for AI-enabled roles. "We will be able to save the targeted 10 per cent to 15 per cent that we had planned on employee costs, all because AI has actually delivered more than what we expected it to," Sharma said in his interview with Bloomberg.

Paytm has been the first to introduce India to mobile payments and QR-based payments, and then taking it up one notch further with the introduction of its audio-based confirmations device Soundbox. Sharma aims to replicate the same success in AI-driven solutions. Sharma acknowledged that other companies will also leverage AI, but Paytm's strong mobile-first foundation and early AI adoption will give it a competitive edge.

In a letter to shareholders in August, Sharma said, "I am very proud of our Advanced AI capabilities in use and how we are expanding. We are building an India-scale AI system that will help various financial institutes in capturing possible risks and frauds, while also protecting them from new kinds of risks due to advancement in AI. Paytm is investing in AI with an eye on building an Artificial General Intelligence software stack."