Paytm Ramps Up Investment To Build Autonomous AI Stack

Making a strong pitch for artificial intelligence (AI), Paytm founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the fintech major is looking to build a full-fledged artificial general intelligence (AGI) stack. 

AGI simply refers to AI models that can perform tasks autonomously to realise objectives without any human intervention.

In a letter to shareholders in the company’s annual report for FY23, Sharma said the company has ramped up investments in the emerging technology and is looking to leverage the potential AGI model not just in India but also globally. 

“Paytm is investing in Al with an eye on building Artificial General Intelligence software stack. We believe by building it in India we are not only making our country’s tech capability, also creating something that could be leveraged outside India,” said Sharma.

Touting the fintech giant’s in-house AI capabilities, he further said that Paytm is building an indigenous AI system that would help flag possible risks and frauds in the financial sector by deploying the new technology.

Sharma also noted that the country is staring at a window of opportunity to become a ‘net exporter of payment technology, software and hardware’. Citing Paytm’s R&D design and software capabilities, he said that Paytm could lead the country in this regard. 

“I believe India has an opportunity to become a net exporter of payment technology, software and hardware, and I expect Paytm to lead the way in this. Our R&D design and software capabilities are the best in the world, in which Paytm Labs is constantly building various Al and big data features that enhance payment trust, when consumers or merchants use Paytm,” said Sharma.

The CEO also said that the fintech company is ‘leading from the front’ as the digital payment ecosystem potentially grows to 500 Mn payment consumers and 100 Mn merchants in the future. 

Sharma also said that the company is operating with a ‘disciplined and result oriented approach’ in all its selected investment areas. He said that this would enable it to build strong differentiators, thereby, enabling its businesses to scale efficiently without ‘linearly adding to costs’.

He also expressed excitement about the government-backed Open Network of Digital Commerce (ONDC), saying the company is witnessing encouraging early results on the platform. 

Reiterating the focus on profitability, Sharma closed the letter by saying that Paytm is committed to building a long-term profitable business. 

This comes at a time when Paytm has made a slew of new launches while aggressively cutting down on costs. Alongside, it has been witnessing healthy growth across all operational metrics, especially in the lending and payments businesses. 

Even as competition mounts from players such as PhonePe, Paytm has ramped up focus on profitability and scaling up its revenue. The fintech major’s consolidated net loss declined to INR 358.4 Cr in the first quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 645.4 Cr in the year-ago period.

Shares of One97 Communications, Paytm’s parent company, closed 2.54% lower at INR 837.90 on the BSE on Monday (August 21).