Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Tuesday said artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform credit delivery, improve customer service and accelerate financial inclusion in India, urging banks to adopt the technology responsibly and shape their AI journey with intent rather than letting it evolve by default.
Delivering the inaugural address at the FIBAC 2026 conference here, Malhotra described AI as a defining force for Indian banking, comparable to the impact of economic liberalisation in the 1990s and digitalisation in the 2010s.
“The theme of the conference – Artificial Intelligence – has been well chosen. It is apt and timely. It is a theme that, I believe, will define this decade of Indian banking as decisively as liberalisation defined the 1990s and digitalisation defined the 2010s,” Malhotra noted.
He said AI should not be viewed as a standalone technology project but as a new way of conducting banking business and making decisions.
“I also like the use of the word “playbook”. Artificial Intelligence is not a single technology to be procured, nor a project to be completed. It is a new way of doing business, of running a bank. It is a shift in how we evaluate risk, serve customers, price capital, and organise institutions,” he stated.
“Many banks in this room are already deploying AI, and many more are considering it. The only question is whether you shape the AI journey with intent, or you let it shape you by default,” the RBI Governor added.
Making a strong case for adoption of artificial intelligence, Malhotra said the central bank sees AI as a capability that should be responsibly harnessed rather than merely treated as a risk that needs to be controlled.
According to him, AI can significantly improve the economics of credit delivery by helping banks evaluate borrowers who lack formal credit histories.
“I will be unambiguous: the Reserve Bank sees AI as a capability to be responsibly harnessed and not merely as a risk to be contained,” he mentioned.
(IANS)
