The summit brought together policymakers, regulators, BFSI leaders and technology innovators to explore AI-led transformation, Digital Public Infrastructure, digital payments, cybersecurity, credit innovation and the future of inclusive finance.
Goa, August 9, 2026: The 7th Elets BFSI Gamechanger Summit 2026, held from August 7–9 in Goa, concluded with a strong focus on the forces reshaping India’s financial ecosystem – from artificial intelligence and Digital Public Infrastructure to cybersecurity, digital payments, responsible data use and inclusive credit. Held under the theme “Forging the Foundations of Finance: Trust. Transformation. Technology,” the summit brought together senior policymakers, regulators, banking and financial services leaders, technology innovators and industry experts for high-level conversations on the future of finance.
The summit was inaugurated in the presence of Shri Digambar Kamat, Hon’ble Minister, Captain of Ports, Public Welfare & Legal Metrology, Government of Goa, who underlined the role of technology in India’s development journey, observing that “technology is the catalyst” for a developed and future-ready nation. He stressed that responsible technology adoption, strong policy frameworks and collaboration between government, industry and technology leaders would be essential to building a resilient digital ecosystem.
Dr. Ravi Gupta, Founder & CEO, Elets Technomedia and Editor-in-Chief, The Banking & Finance Post Magazine, emphasised the importance of bringing policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and technology leaders together to shape the next phase of BFSI transformation in his welcome address.
The conversation around governance and India’s long-term development was further strengthened by Shri Ajitabh Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary, Energy Department, Government of Rajasthan, who emphasised that “institutions, not individuals, create lasting governance.” His address highlighted the importance of institutional capacity, public trust and human accountability as emerging technologies become increasingly embedded in governance and financial systems.
As discussions moved towards the future of financial services, the summit examined how AI is evolving from experimentation into an enterprise capability. Deepak Sharma, Tech Entrepreneur & CXO Advisor and Independent Director, Suryoday Small Finance Bank, summed up the transformation ahead, stating that “Banking 2030 will be defined by intelligent, predictive, and AI-native financial institutions.” The discussion focused on AI-led decision-making, predictive risk management, personalised financial services, embedded finance and AI-powered cybersecurity.
The summit also explored how India can build a distinctive AI-powered financial ecosystem on the strength of its digital foundations. Tarun Chugh, Managing Director, Bajaj Life Insurance, said India has an opportunity to combine “digital public infrastructure, trusted data governance, and inclusive innovation” to accelerate the next phase of financial transformation. Discussions highlighted Aadhaar, UPI, Account Aggregator and the DPDP framework as important digital rails for responsible AI adoption and inclusive financial innovation.
The inaugural conversation on India Stack and Digital Public Infrastructure examined India’s opportunity to take its digital financial architecture beyond domestic use and towards global interoperability. Leaders from JPMorgan Chase & Co, Muthoot HomeFin, Wells Fargo, Suryoday Small Finance Bank and Lightstorm discussed the evolution of Aadhaar, UPI and Account Aggregator, along with the regulatory, governance and interoperability requirements for scaling India’s digital infrastructure internationally.
The digital payments conversation reflected the same shift – from payments infrastructure to broader financial services. The “India’s Digital Payments Revolution – Beyond UPI” discussion examined embedded finance, credit on UPI and how digital transactions can enable working capital, merchant credit and other financial services. The session also emphasised that the next phase of digital finance will require secure APIs, seamless integration, stronger cybersecurity and customer trust.
From Technology Adoption to Inclusive Digital Governance
The summit’s public-policy conversations reinforced that India’s technology transformation must ultimately translate into broader and more inclusive access to financial services. Dr. Krishna Kant Pathak, IAS, Joint Secretary, Department of Fertilisers, Government of India and Ex-Secretary, Department of Finance (Revenue), Government of Rajasthan, captured this balance in his keynote, stating, “The future of BFSI will depend not only on technology, but on the balance between innovation, trust, and human values.” His intervention added a critical institutional and human dimension to the summit’s broader conversation on AI-led transformation.
This focus on inclusion was echoed by Samwartak Singh Khangwal, IAS, Additional Secretary to Government & Director, Information Technology, Electronics & Communication Department, Government of Haryana, who highlighted banking, technology and artificial intelligence as key building blocks of national progress. Stressing the principle of Antyodaya – uplifting and serving the last person in society – he emphasised that as India’s financial sector advances, innovation must remain inclusive and the benefits of digital banking and AI-driven services must reach common citizens, particularly underserved and economically weaker sections.
The intersection of technology, government and financial inclusion came together strongly in the Trilogue Session – “Forging the Foundations of Finance: Trust, Transformation & Technology,” moderated by Dr. Ravi Gupta. The conversation brought together Shri Aman Mittal, IAS, Joint CEO, Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA), Government of Maharashtra, and Shri T Bhoobalan, IAS, Managing Director, KUIDFC & Chief Executive Officer, Centre for e-Governance, Government of Karnataka, highlighting how AI, fintech and digital governance are increasingly shaping citizen-centric public services.
Aman Mittal highlighted the growing role of fintech and AI in public-sector transformation, drawing attention to Maharashtra’s work with the World Bank Group on leveraging fintech to accelerate farmers’ incomes. He pointed to AI-powered, field-level agricultural advisories, supported by integrated datasets including Soil Health Cards, as an example of how technology can make financial and public services more targeted and responsive to local needs.
T Bhoobalan brought the conversation to the scale and execution of digital governance, highlighting the close interaction between the e-Governance ecosystem and the banking and financial sector. He noted that Karnataka’s e-Governance Department facilitates more than ₹1 lakh crore in annual direct benefit transfers to beneficiaries across public sector banks, private banks and cooperative societies, making seamless coordination with the banking ecosystem critical to ensuring that the right beneficiaries receive the right benefits without disruption.
Together, the trilogue reinforced a central message emerging across the summit: technology delivers its greatest impact when policy, digital infrastructure and financial institutions work together to create inclusive, seamless and citizen-centric outcomes.
AI Moves from Experimentation to Enterprise Execution
AI’s transition from isolated use cases to measurable enterprise outcomes emerged as another defining theme. Vijay Rajagopal, Chief Growth Officer, Nugget by Zomato, stressed that “Enterprise AI must move beyond conversations to deliver measurable business outcomes at scale.” The discussion highlighted the growing deployment of AI across customer acquisition, servicing, multilingual engagement and operational workflows in BFSI.
Similarly, Krupesh Bhat, Founder & CEO, Melento, mentioned that the real opportunity lies in building “AI-native banks that can execute, automate, and make better decisions.” The discussion underscored the need for connected enterprise systems, integrated data, governance and orchestration to move from AI productivity tools towards AI-led execution across banking functions.
The summit’s conversations also turned sharply towards the growing risks accompanying digital financial expansion. A dedicated discussion on financial crime, cybersecurity, deepfakes and digital resilience examined how fraud is moving from physical channels to digital ecosystems through stolen identities, cyberattacks, deepfakes, voice cloning and sophisticated phishing. Speakers emphasised the need to move from reactive security towards predictive monitoring, stronger digital identity protection and industry-wide collaboration.
The theme of responsible AI was carried into the second day, with Ram Mohan Rao, Executive Director, SEBI, stressing that “technology changes, but trust endures.” His keynote highlighted AI’s growing role in customer onboarding, surveillance, compliance monitoring and predictive fraud detection, while emphasising that AI-led finance must remain grounded in accountability, explainability, transparency and human oversight.
The second day also placed strong emphasis on the foundations required for meaningful AI adoption. George K John, Executive Director, ESAF Small Finance Bank, captured the challenge succinctly: “AI does not transform institutions. Transformation creates the foundation that allows AI to deliver real value.” He highlighted modern core systems, integrated architecture, trusted data, cybersecurity and an AI-ready workforce as essential prerequisites for responsible AI adoption.
Financial inclusion remained central to the discussions. Deo Shankar Tripathi, Executive Vice Chairman, Aadhar Housing Finance Ltd., noted that “Viksit Bharat is not only about achieving a larger economy,” but about improving the quality of life of citizens through affordable housing, financial inclusion and wider opportunities. The discussion explored how cash-flow-based assessment and technology-enabled lending can bring underserved households into the formal credit system.
The summit also examined the ₹25 trillion MSME credit opportunity, focusing on the challenges faced by thin-file businesses and underserved enterprises. Industry leaders highlighted cash-flow-based lending, alternative data, GST and e-invoicing signals, digital underwriting and stronger data availability as important tools for expanding responsible credit access.
The NBFC and co-lending conversation similarly explored how banks and NBFCs can expand credit without proportionately increasing risk. Discussions focused on data sharing, API-based integration, aligned underwriting policies, automated reconciliation and clearly defined responsibilities across the lending lifecycle. The session noted that co-lending AUM had crossed ₹1 lakh crore in 2024, underlining the growing importance of the model in India’s credit ecosystem.
Another important discussion focused on AI and alternate data, with Nilesh Gaurav, Head of Business, PayU Innovations, noting that “the next alpha in BFSI will come from going beyond traditional bureau data” to understand customer intent, behaviour and context. The conversation highlighted the potential of consent-led alternate data to strengthen underwriting, fraud detection and customer experience while bringing more consumers into the formal credit ecosystem.
The importance of customer context also emerged strongly in conversations around AI-powered engagement. Aman Goel, Co-Founder, GreyLabs, noted that “AI should not just automate conversations; it should preserve context” across customer interactions to create more seamless experiences.
Data privacy and responsible data use formed another important pillar of the summit. Rashmi Mishra, Chief Operating Officer, CERF, emphasised that “DPDP compliance begins with knowing where personal data resides” and ensuring individuals have control over how their data is used. The discussion highlighted data discovery, consent management, transparency and governance as critical elements of trusted digital finance.
Across the two-day conference programme, discussions repeatedly returned to a common message: AI will create the greatest impact when it is supported by trusted data, strong institutions, secure infrastructure, responsible governance and customer-centric design. From India Stack and digital payments to AI-native banking, MSME credit, co-lending, cybersecurity and DPDP compliance, the summit reflected the BFSI sector’s shift from technology adoption to technology-led transformation at scale.
The summit also featured curated leadership interactions, networking and technology showcases, along with the Baithak-e-BFSI – Power, Partnerships & the Road Ahead, creating an informal platform for senior BFSI leaders to exchange ideas and strengthen industry collaboration.
The 7th Elets BFSI Gamechanger Summit 2026 was supported by a strong ecosystem of technology and industry partners spanning AI, digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, customer experience, data intelligence, privacy, lending and financial technology. Nugget by Zomato, Lightstorm, GreyLabs AI, SAP, Melento, Wonderful, Rezolv AI, DataRakshaQ, Glib.AI, Surepass, DetectifAI, Signzy and Devnagri were among the key technology partners supporting the summit, alongside Fingerprint, PayU Innovations, Yodaplus, Credgenics and Bolna as associate partners and Finakon, Dataeaze and Lauro as exhibitors.
The summit was hosted by Goa Electronics Limited, with The Banking & Finance Post as the Knowledge Partner.
Concluding the summit, the conversations reinforced the central message of the 7th edition: the future of finance will not be built by technology alone. It will be built where trust enables transformation and technology delivers meaningful, inclusive and resilient outcomes.
