'AI Holds The Blessing Of Progress & Curse Of Risk': NPCI's Ajay Kumar Choudhary At Global Fintech Fest 2025

Mumbai: The Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2025, being held at Mumbai’s Jio World Centre, kicked off today with a powerful address by Ajay Kumar Choudhary, Non-Executive Chairman and Independent Director of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Speaking to a diverse audience of fintech leaders, policymakers, and innovators, Choudhary underscored the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial sector, while cautioning about its dual nature as both an opportunity and a challenge.

“AI holds the blessing of progress and curse of risk,” Choudhary stated, setting the tone for a thought-provoking discussion on the future of fintech. He highlighted how AI is moving “from margins to mainstream” in finance, with investments in AI expected to reach “several hundred billions in the banking industry by 2027.” He pointed to AI’s proven capabilities in combating fraud and money laundering, noting that it “helps lower costs and productivity gains are immense.”

Choudhary emphasised the role of AI in empowering both customers and financial institutions. “AI is helping customers make investment choices, make purchase decisions quickly,” he said, adding that it enables banks to “do more, and do it faster.” However, he stressed that the true measure of progress lies not in what machines can do, but in “how well they shape the people’s future.”

Looking ahead, Choudhary identified generative AI and agentic AI as “two buzzwords that will shape the future of fintech.” He also highlighted opportunities in chip manufacturing, cloud infrastructure, and data centers to position India as a global AI leader. “These systemic dependencies affect finance and national sovereignty,” he noted, calling for robust data governance to ensure accountability.

Choudhary also celebrated the success of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which processes “20 billion transactions a month.” He shared NPCI’s vision to develop small language models to make payment systems “smarter and more intuitive” and to create “global digital public goods” to help other countries build their own payment ecosystems. “We are showing the world that AI in fintech can drive progress,” he said.

However, he cautioned that AI is a “dual-risk technology” that can either solve problems or amplify risks, depending on how it is governed. “It depends on us on how properly we govern, form regulation, and how responsibly we build it,” Choudhary urged. He emphasised the importance of human judgment in finance, stating, “AI should help but not make decisions. Our future should be powered by AI but guided always by human purpose.”

The Global Fintech Fest 2025, themed ‘Empowering Finance for a Better World Powered by AI,’ is hosting over 100,000 attendees and 7,500 companies, making it one of the largest fintech gatherings globally. The event features a keynote address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, alongside participation from industry giants like NPCI, NVIDIA, PayPal, Razorpay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Paytm, and CRED. Attendees can explore the Bharat AI Experience Zone, a collaboration between NPCI and NVIDIA, and engage in workshops, hackathons, investment pitches, and fintech awards over the three-day event.

To get details on exclusive and budget-friendly property deals in Mumbai & surrounding regions, do visit: https://budgetproperties.in/