Nandan Nilekani, Non-Executive Chairman of Infosys, stated that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a crucial role in enhancing financial inclusion in India. He emphasized that AI can make digital public infrastructure (DPI) financial services accessible to billions, potentially increasing the market cap of DPI-based companies to over USD 100 billion.
During a recent event in Mumbai, Nilekani outlined India's plan to extend its DPI to more than 50 countries within five years, having already implemented parts of it in 20 nations. He highlighted AI's potential to reduce fraud and improve access to financial services tailored to India's linguistic diversity.
Nilekani mentioned that NPCI is utilizing AI-driven language models for voice-activated payment commands in Hindi and English, enabling users to interact in their preferred languages. He remarked, "AI has a huge role in communication," underscoring the importance of language accessibility.
He also expressed skepticism about the need for India to develop large language models (LLMs), suggesting instead that the focus should be on creating small, enterprise-specific models using local data. Nilekani believes India can become the global hub for AI use cases, leveraging its existing digital infrastructure.
Reflecting on the last 15 years of technological advancement in India, he noted that the foundational elements like Aadhaar and UPI were designed to foster financial inclusion and innovation.