**Mumbai**: Axis Mutual Fund is leveraging emerging technologies like AI and cloud computing to enhance operational efficiency and customer experience. CTO Vamsi Krishna Ithamraju discusses the firm’s strategic initiatives, including natural language processing and comprehensive cybersecurity measures, as they navigate the evolving financial landscape.
In a significant shift driven by technological advancement, the Indian mutual fund sector is finding itself at the crossroads of innovation and agility. This transformation is particularly evident at Axis Mutual Fund, established in 2009 through a joint venture between Axis Bank and Schroder Singapore Holdings Private Limited. Vamsi Krishna Ithamraju, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the Mumbai-based company, recently spoke to TechCircle, elaborating on the pivotal role of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and cybersecurity in enhancing customer experiences and operational efficiency.
The firm is actively pursuing several technological initiatives this year aimed at improving internal processes and decision-making. One of the areas under evaluation is the integration of natural language capabilities into their data analytics practice. Ithamraju explained that this approach would enable research analysts to effectively process and query large volumes of unstructured data using Generative AI (GenAI) and natural language processing. This capability is designed to allow analysts to ask questions in natural language, facilitating the assimilation of vast amounts of data.
Ithamraju highlighted a recent innovation centred on the use of GenAI within Investment Research. This innovation leverages the company’s internal knowledge bases to quickly process data from diverse sources, including news and social media, to generate actionable insights. By automating aspects of data processing, analysts are then free to concentrate on generating deeper insights. In addition, AI is being employed for risk management, utilising real-time market data and sophisticated algorithms to identify hidden risks and correlations, which can enable quicker responses to market fluctuations. The firm has also established a partnership with a credit rating agency for early anomaly detection.
While current AI solutions are delivering value, improvements are primarily focused on enhancing internal processes and automation rather than full-scale customer-facing applications. Given the stringent regulatory compliance and data protection requirements prevalent in the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sectors, AI-powered tools such as chatbots have not yet reached their full potential in direct customer interactions. However, Ithamraju anticipates that with evolving regulatory frameworks, the integration of GenAI will become more prevalent across both back-end operations and customer-facing processes.
In discussing the contribution of his team to technological innovation, Ithamraju noted the strategy of recruiting specialist-grade talent to manage strategic projects. He emphasised the importance of upskilling efforts within the team, stating that their success is rooted in recognising and rewarding these initiatives. The company employs project management tools like Azure to track the progress of various projects and maintains an environment where team members have access to online learning platforms.
In light of advanced cyber threats in the BFSI sector, Axis Mutual Fund has implemented a comprehensive strategy to bolster its cybersecurity measures. The firm maps out the locations of personally identifiable information (PII) and conducts thorough risk assessments before onboarding new systems. A range of 52 controls is applied to ensure resilience and secure data handling, and post-launch reviews examine any emerging vulnerabilities. Additionally, an air-gapping framework has been instituted to safeguard critical systems, and an active cybersecurity programme includes regular vulnerability assessments and threat mitigation exercises.
Recently, the company achieved success with its Cloud disaster recovery project, which enhanced the interoperability of its production and disaster recovery environments. This initiative has resulted in improved Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO), critical metrics for effective disaster recovery planning. Furthermore, Ithamraju mentioned a recent enhancement in customer relationship management (CRM) that introduced multilingual support, enabling the sales team to communicate more effectively with clients in various languages. This development has not only increased productivity within the sales team but also improved customer satisfaction and accessibility.
Looking ahead, Axis Mutual Fund has outlined a tech roadmap emphasising rapid innovation. “Build prototypes, fail fast, and scale quickly,” is the guiding principle for their strategies in the next few years. The firm is focused on enhancing contact centre capabilities through improved integration of sales and customer service platforms to gain comprehensive lifecycle insights, further aiming to boost their Net Promoter Score (NPS). Additionally, the company is exploring potential use cases for the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) in conjunction with India Stack integration to enhance digital connectivity in the investment ecosystem. As part of their efforts to secure intellectual property ownership and enhance business agility, the company is committed to building in-house expertise across digital, cloud, and cybersecurity sectors.
Source: Noah Wire Services
