After laying off over 1,000 employees, Paytm CEO's to-do list for 2024 features major AI upgrades

After Paytm laid off more than 1,000 employees from its operations, sales, and engineering team following the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve efficiency, its CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said that the fintech firm would undergo major AI upgrades in 2024.

In a post on X listing his to-do list for the new year, Sharma said that Paytm is already expanding its use of AI in customer care operations and is currently working on personalising user experiences using AI. He added that the company has already changed the Paytm app’s home screen and that the Paytm Payments Bank and Other group entities’ offerings have been separated. "Makes it a cleaner view," Vijay Shekhar Sharma said.

Paytm, under Vijay Shekhar Sharma's leadership, has been using AI tools from Microsoft and Google to streamline its operations, reduce staffing needs, accelerate its product development, and improve efficiency.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Sharma expects that the company will need fewer employees as a result of automation. “We will be able to save the targeted 10 percent to 15 percent that we had planned in employee costs, all because AI has actually delivered more than what we expected it to,” he told the publication.

Elaborating on this, a spokesperson told Moneycontrol, "We are transforming our operations with AI-powered automation to drive efficiency, eliminating repetitive tasks and roles to drive efficiency across growth and costs, resulting in a slight reduction in our workforce in operations and marketing. We will be able to save 10-15 percent in employee costs as AI has delivered more than we expected it to. Additionally, we constantly evaluate cases of non-performance throughout the year."