Mint DIS 2023 | Generative AI has really given us a good start: Viral Gandhi

Indian business conglomerate Piramal Group is exploring new ways to improve customer, supplier and employee experiences using generative AI, said Viral Gandhi, President and Group Chief Information Officer, of Piramal Group, at Mint Digital Innovation Summit & Awards on June 9.

“Generative AI has really given us a good start. We are also looking at lots of use cases for every actor in the organization to really leverage generative AI and come up with some productivity improvements,” said Gandhi adding that the firm’s tech innovation lab, which is based out of Bengaluru and has some 500 professionals on the tech analytic side, are already leveraging generative AI to a great extent.

Enterprise interest in generative AI has soared in the last few months, especially after the announcement of Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI services in January.

Gandhi pointed out that the conglomerate’s focus is shifting from automation and cost efficiency to more advanced analytics and using AI/ML for business decision making.

“A lot of financial processes that we earlier started with RPA are now maturing to AI/ML to make it more automated and human-less. Across all our group businesses, we focus on how we make our business decisions based on data analytics,” said Gandhi.

He further said that the conglomerate is leveraging AI/ML across customer space, for risk management and fraud prevention and to improve employee experience and reduce attrition.  

Gandhi also talked about a five-pronged approach adopted by Piramal Group in its tech transformation journey. It includes leveraging latest technology, modernizing and scaling infrastructure, developing a culture of experimentation and innovation, focusing on data privacy and security, and up-skilling of employees.

“At Piramal Group we are in the sectors of finance services, pharma, real estate. There are regulations and personally identifying information. We have the responsibility of managing data privacy and data security. If you don't manage this, well, you could be out of business,” he warned.

He also emphasised upon the importance of upskilling all the employees and not just those working in tech and IT. He added that the conglomerate is running programs to educate and upskill the entire employee base.

Though generative AI is going to have a huge transformational impact, Gandhi believes that this is not the last curve.

“Two years down the line, there may be another transformation curve and we will be looking at something else. That's the nature of the beast, which we are handling. I think it's very important that we stay agile, ready to change, and learn continuously,” he added.