L&T has gained from its strong positioning across businesses

For Larsen & Toubro (L&T), there is significant synergy between its group businesses that has put the company in a strong position. At the Global Fintech Fest held in Mumbai, its CEO and MD S N Subrahmanyan was clear that AI, Generative AI and data analytics have been very useful in identifying and profiling customers. “It worked very well in the IT world and one will see that repeating in the fintech world too,” he said.

Picking out the case of his finance business, L&T Finance, Subrahmanyan explained how trust was still a very important factor in the business: “Between the farmer and our frontline team that is key. A lot has been spoken digital or not phygital, but the presence of a person is required,” he said.

To elaborate the extent to which his own businesses have changed, he drew up on LTIMindtree, a technology consulting and digital solutions company, where a sizeable $1.7 billion from the BFSI stream, with digital revenue as a proportion of the total at 65 per cent today coming from over 500 clients. “We have had some very useful learnings from here and with digitalisation at the core, very high benchmarks are now set.”

Recalling his many visits in the field Subrahmanyan said his presence in financial services with that of IT gives the diversified conglomerate an advantage. “We are seeing monumental changes in rural India and how technology using the mobile, for instance, has worked well.”