Kotak Mahindra Bank is going to recruit as many as 500 engineers as the bank aims to ramp up technology to lift its long-term competitiveness.
Chief Technology Officer Bhavnish Lathia is targeting to hire people from large tech firms as well as competitor banks for building a “technology company with a banking license,” Moneycontrol reported.
The technology workforce of the company is currently more than 2,000. The employees hail from companies such as Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc., alongside Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
“Where we see a unique opportunity is in combining talent from deep tech companies with talent that brings deep domain expertise,” Lathia said. “To me, it’s like ginger and cardamom going into chai.”
The banking sector of the country is ramping up investments in tech and steady growth in deposits and buoyant credit activity. While AI adoption is yet at the early stages across many firms, larger banks are boosting the use of AI across customer service and fraud detection departments.
Further, high competitiveness is also building up in the workforce as global firms hire in India, pushing up salaries and attrition rates.
Lathia further added that AI will be central to work processes and Kotak is using machine learning and AI to monitor transactions, flag anomalous behaviour, and strengthen cybersecurity.
“In about eight months, almost everything we do will be AI-infused,” Lathia added.
