MUMBAI: India’s technology industry could benefit from the creation of a federated industry platform that would provide the sector with a stronger and more credible collective voice on the international stage, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the valedictory session of the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026.

Sitharaman said a collective industry platform could help Indian technology companies, particularly startups, navigate increasingly complex international regulatory frameworks, including foreign licensing requirements and cybersecurity regimes.

“AI, fintech, and digital platforms are, by their very nature, borderless,” Sitharaman said, stressing that early-stage companies often lack the resources and expertise required to independently navigate complex regulatory environments in overseas markets.

She called for closer engagement between technology companies, regulators and policymakers to ensure that innovation can scale globally while maintaining appropriate safeguards.

Balancing AI innovation with accountability

The Finance Minister also highlighted the growing risks associated with artificial intelligence, particularly as frontier AI laboratories accelerate the development of increasingly autonomous systems.

She cautioned against allowing the race for advanced AI capabilities to outpace safety and accountability measures, calling for systems that are “fast yet accountable, autonomous yet reversible, and innovative without diluting consumer trust.”

Sitharaman said the challenge for policymakers and industry was to balance technological efficiency with emerging systemic risks.

Technologies such as tokenisation, agentic AI and quantum computing, she noted, have the potential to significantly reshape financial services.

Tokenisation can reduce unnecessary intermediaries and enable faster asset transfers, while agentic AI can move beyond providing recommendations to autonomously executing tasks, potentially compressing processes that currently take days into seconds.

Quantum computing, meanwhile, could offer significant advances in processing capabilities and security, but will also require financial institutions and other organisations to prepare for major upgrades to existing encryption standards.

Speed must not come at the expense of safety

Sitharaman warned that the same speed that creates efficiencies can also accelerate the spread of software errors, fraud and market disruptions.

While AI can strengthen fraud detection, she said the technology could simultaneously give malicious actors more sophisticated tools to conduct cyberattacks.

The objective, she said, should not be to slow innovation out of fear, nor to allow technological acceleration to undermine safeguards.

Instead, unnecessary operational friction should be removed while retaining essential protections such as human oversight and circuit breakers.

AI-native financial institutions

During the event, Sitharaman also released Balance: Thriving in the Age of AI, a flagship report presented by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the thought leadership partner for GFF 2026.

The report outlines a blueprint for financial institutions transitioning towards AI-native operating models. It projects that AI could deliver a 30–40% reduction in cost-to-serve while making more than 400 million additional customers economically viable to serve, potentially expanding financial inclusion.

The minister also highlighted the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Limited’s tokenised bond pilot conducted under the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) sandbox. The pilot demonstrated simultaneous bond settlement and payment using the Reserve Bank of India’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

Five priorities for India’s fintech ecosystem

Sitharaman reiterated five priorities outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his inaugural address at GFF 2026:

1. Developing curated financial products for communities underserved by traditional credit models.
2. Building cybersecurity capabilities to the highest standards.
3. Developing industry-led ethical standards for data protection.
4. Strengthening engagement between regulators and innovators.
5. Creating a Fintech Consumer Protection Index to assess companies through transparent ratings.

Sitharaman said India is well positioned to deploy emerging technologies at scale, given its experience in building large digital systems and translating technological ideas into practical applications.

However, she stressed that technological progress must remain grounded in human oversight, accountability and responsibility.