Paytm to become an AI-first company: Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on jobs is inevitable as it has to be incorporated into routine workflows. "Sooner or later we will have to start using AI as an employee or even as a CFO," he said.

Sharma said that as most jobs done by humans will be done by AI, the focus should be on building core products. He added that the goal for Paytm is to go beyond a fintech and become an AI-first company. While it will automate many human processes, AI is also going to create new job roles, Sharma added.

ET reported last month that One97 Communications, the owner of Paytm, is laying off an undisclosed number of employees.


Wider layoffs

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Paytm's sales team headcount dropped by about 3,500 in the March 2024 quarter to 36,521 personnel, mainly due to the impact of the Reserve Bank of India's ban on the services of Paytm Payments Bank.

Paytm reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 540 crore in Q4 FY25 versus Rs 550 crore in the year ago period.

ET also reported on Thursday that Paytm was a distant third in the UPI rankings in June, with 1.27 billion transactions worth Rs 1.34 lakh crore, accounting for 6.9% volume and 5.6% value. PhonePe led the charts with 8.55 billion transactions and a total value of Rs 11.99 lakh crore.

The AI pilot

The Paytm founder announced plans to pilot an AI-powered passbook that would send users a rap song of their monthly expenditure. He was speaking at Shiprocket's Shivir, AI Commerce Edition: Made for Bharat, on Friday in New Delhi.

No timeline has been disclosed but Sharma said it would be accessible to customers soon. He added that the product will use Paytm's data to develop tunes.

Earlier, Paytm had partnered with AI startup Perplexity to integrate AI-powered search into its app.