Videos
Accelerating AI-Driven Change in Banking: Insights from Stanford with Infosys’ Bal Shukla
Insights
- AI in banking is approaching a “J-curve” moment, with unlocked enterprise data set to transform processes from fraud prevention to customer service.
- The biggest impact of AI will come from cultural change—rethinking inputs, outputs, and how talent and processes are aligned for the future.
- Partnerships between academia and industry are accelerating innovation cycles, solving problems years ahead of schedule.
How is AI poised to reshape banking, operations, and the culture of financial services?
Recorded at The Business and Economics of AI workshop co-hosted by Stanford University and Infosys on May 14, 2025, this interview features Bal Shukla, Head of AI and Transformation for Financial Services at Infosys.
Bal shares why the industry is on the brink of rapid AI-driven change, powered by the integration of structured, unstructured, and third-party data with advanced compute capabilities. He explores how organizations can reimagine processes by focusing on inputs and outputs, adopt AI as a catalyst for cultural as well as technological transformation, and leverage academia–industry partnerships to accelerate solutions for critical challenges like fraud and security.
Key takeaways include:
- Why banking is entering a steep AI adoption curve and how data is the unlock
- How AI changes not just workflows but organizational culture and talent strategy
- Why academic collaboration is critical to solving urgent industry problems faster
An essential discussion for leaders in financial services, technology, and enterprise transformation seeking to turn AI potential into measurable impact.
Jay Nair:
Hi, my name is Jay Nair. My title is Executive Vice President and Industry Head. I'm responsible for the Infosys business in EMEA and I also sit on board of Infosys subsidiary called Stater, which is a mortgage processing company based out of the Netherlands.
Tell us about your experience with AI?
My experience with artificial intelligence is on twofold. One is what we're doing internally with our teams on the productivity side, but also it started a couple of years of doing early pilots with some of our clients in Europe, especially the large banks. And also I see that bit in the Stater subsidiary that I talked about. Some early use cases, some a few in production as well.
How confident are you in AI’s impact today?
Actually very confident because I see that already. AI is generating value, generative AI is, agentic AI is now about to, has a lot of promise. I see early successes which some of our clients have already experienced. Not all the pilots have been successful, but some of them definitely have been and bringing results for our clients.
What sparked your curiosity and or made you want to learn more today?
So I found the sessions extremely useful, not just myself, but my clients also who are here. One of the things was when the professors talked about the advancements which is there, the impact on the economy. That was quite revealing. And also some of the sessions were talking specifically on the impact to software engineers. That was quite, it was really revealing and really good food for thought because we're a company which is based on a lot of programmers, how that will impact our business is definitely a big topic for us.
Would you recommend others come and learn?
Absolutely, absolutely. I would recommend my clients to come in because the clients who came in, they found tremendous value. And actually, one of the things which this partnership, the Industry-academia partnership, brings is that, an ability to look at industry problems, experiment in a controlled environment here, and then take it to production. And also, Stanford itself, it's a place where all the innovation happens.
It's very inspiring to be here. I think this partnership is really going to be quite fundamental in the way Infosys delivers to its clients.
What excited you most about AI?
I think the thing that interests me a lot in financial services and the implication of AI is simply the amount of uplift which is possible. One is that you're able to get in new products and services into the market a lot more faster. That's one. Second is getting financial literacy to a lot more people. That's a possibility which AI brings. And the last one, of course, is our clients will be able to deliver the solutions more economically. So hopefully that benefits the larger world as well.
