Agenda 2025
08:30 to 09:00 | Masterclass
Masterclass on Integrated Compliance Framework
Shashank Shekhar
Co-founder and Head of Consulting
The Digital Fifth
09:00 to 09:30 | Speaker Session
The Power of Optionality: Blending Physical, Phygital, and Digital for Success
- Seamless customer experience combining physical branches, phygital touchpoints, and digital platforms for omnichannel engagement.
- Offering flexibility for customers to choose their preferred interaction channels.
- Preparing for hybrid banking and retail solutions as the norm in a connected world.
- Using Gen AI to enhance interactions across physical and digital spaces.
Sameer Singh Jaini
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
The Digital Fifth
09:30 to 09:50 | Speaker Session
Rise of Digital Lending : Balancing Speed, Trust, Technology and Regulatory Compliance
Anjani Rathor
Chief Digital Officer
HDFC Bank
09:50 to 10:15 | Product Launch
Product Launch by SURYODAY Small Bank Finance
10:15 to 10:45 | Trialogue
The Digital Value Equation: Balancing Profitability, Customer Experience, and Cost Efficiency
- Leveraging digital tools to deliver seamless, personalized, and intuitive journeys to optimize customer experience.
- Streamlining operations with scalable digital platforms and cloud-based solutions.
- Redefining traditional financial models to align with a digital-first approach.
- Striking the Balance: Aligning Digital Innovation with Customer Cost Efficiency.
Vineet Arora
Chief Business Officer- Distribution, Data & Technology
HDFC Life
Pankaj Gadgil
Managing Director and CEO
Aditya Birla Housing Finance
Sameer Singh Jaini
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
The Digital Fifth
Moderator
10:45 to 11:10 | Fireside chat
Vision of MSME Credit in 2030
- Leveraging digital tools to deliver seamless, personalized, and intuitive journeys to optimize customer experience
- Streamlining operations with scalable digital platforms and cloud-based solutions.
- Redefining traditional financial models to align with a digital-first approach.
Rakesh Singh
MD & CEO
Aditya Birla Finance Limited
Sameer Singh Jaini
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
The Digital Fifth
Moderator
11:10 to 11:30 | speaker session
Empowering Businesses Through Value Chain: Transforming MSME Growth with Credit, Innovation, and Collaboration
- Unlocking Credit for MSME Growth Across the Value Chain
- Innovative Financing Solutions & Fostering Partnerships to Address MSME-Specific Challenges
- Driving Inclusive MSME Growth with Digital and Collaborative Ecosystems
Sudarshan Chari
Managing Director & Head SME
DBS Bank India
11:30 to 11:55 | FireSide Chat
Harmonizing Finance: Bridging Technology, Business, and Customer Experience
- Crafting unified strategies by aligning technological advancements with business goals to enhance customer satisfaction.
- Balancing automation with a personal touch to build trust and loyalty.
- Partnering with fintechs, startups, and regulators to create cohesive, customer-centric systems.
- Integrating tech-driven efficiencies with meaningful customer outcomes to redefine financial value.
Inderjit Camotra
MD & CEO
Unity Small Finance Bank
Shashank Shekhar
Co-founder and Head of Consulting
The Digital Fifth
Moderator
11:55 to 12:20 | Keynote
Vision 2030: Transforming Banking Infrastructure with Quantum, Blockchain, and Cloud
- Redesigning core banking processes with decentralized, tamper-proof ledgers.
- Delivering faster, secure, and personalized banking services through innovative solutions.
- Leveraging energy-efficient technologies like quantum and cloud to reduce carbon footprints.
- Enabling seamless data storage and processing to support evolving banking needs.
Ramesh Lakshminarayanan
CIO, Group Head -Tech & Digital
HDFC Bank
12:20 to 13:00 | Panel
Analyze ,Innovate, Lead: Harnessing AI for building the Bank of Tomorrow
- Automating repetitive tasks to boost efficiency and reduce operational costs.
- Embedding AI into legacy systems to create a seamless digital-first infrastructure.
- Building personalized, seamless experiences through AI-driven chatbots and recommendation engines.
- Leveraging AI for predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs and trends.
Ramakrishna Raju
Founding Director & CEO
Pennant Technologies
Sudesh Puthran
Chief Technology Officer
CA Grameen
Sumit Nigam
Chief Technology Officer
Perfios
Sudheer Warrier
Executive Director
Sundaram Finance Limited
Ashish Gopal Saxena
Chief Information & Digital Officer
Jana Small Finance Bank
Shrikant Patil
CEO and Managing Director
DigiAlly
Moderator
13:00 to 13:40 | Panel
From Alternate to Prime: Crafting Digital Banking Platforms That Move the P&L Needle
- Transforming Banking Platforms into Profit Drivers by leveraging digital ecosystems.
- Harnessing customer analytics and insights to optimize pricing, cross-sell, and up-sell opportunities.
- Creating seamless, personalized, and omnichannel experiences to increase wallet share.
- Balancing Risk and Revenue by aligning compliance and risk frameworks with the agility of digital transformation.
Murali Manduva
Chief Technology Officer
DCB Bank
Prabhu Kumar
Founder
Wegofin Digital Solutions Pvt Ltd
Rohit Kilam
Chief Technology Officer
HDFC Life
Sameer Singh Jaini
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
The Digital Fifth
Moderator
13:40 to 14:00 | Trialogue
The African FinTech Journey: Building a Unified FinTech Ecosystem
- Overcoming market fragmentation to create unified financial ecosystems
- Creating interoperable, secure payment systems to support digital ecosystems
- Attracting funding and fostering innovation to scale African FinTech
Munya Chiura
Executive, International Markets
CBZ Holdings Limited
David Gonahasa
Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation
Government of Uganda
Sreekant Rudrabhatla
Co-Founder, Head - Sales and Partnerships
The Digital Fifth
Moderator
14:00 to 14:25 | Keynote
From Assistants to Autonomous Agents: Agentic AI Redefining Work, Business, and Everyday Decision-Making
- Transition from Assistants to AI Agents for task independence.
- Enhancing productivity by automating complex workflows and decision-making.
- Transforming business operations with AI-powered process optimization.
- Revolutionizing industries through scalable, adaptable autonomous AI solutions.
Farhana Haque
Senior Director and Cloud Leader - Strategic Solutions
Microsoft
14:25 to 14:50 | Trialogue
Balancing Tradition and Technology: Redefining Banking in Emerging Markets
- Integrating digital tools while preserving traditional banking trust.
- Expanding financial inclusion through innovative, scalable solutions.
- Balancing customer experience with operational efficiency and cost.
- Fostering collaboration between traditional banks and fintech innovators.
Pradyuman Pokharel
Chief Executive Officer
Muktinath Bikas Bank Limited
Sreekant Rudrabhatla
Co-Founder, Head - Sales and Partnerships
The Digital Fifth
Moderator
14:50 to 15:10 | FireSide Chat
The Bharat Lens: Driving Financial Change with Digital Innovation
- Leveraging digital platforms to bring financial services to underserved regions.
- Enabling credit access, payments, and growth opportunities for small businesses.
- Creating seamless, low-cost solutions to ensure wide-scale adoption in Bharat.
- Exploring the integration of AI, and voice-based solutions for rural customers.
Deepak Sharma
Digital Leader
Sameer Singh Jaini
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
The Digital Fifth
Moderator
15:10 to 15:50 | Panel
Banks x Fintech Infra: The Future of Banking in a BaaS-Driven Economy
- Banks and FinTechs unlocking new digital financial ecosystems.
- BaaS empowering scalable, inclusive, and customer-centric banking solutions.
- Transforming traditional banking through agile FinTech infrastructure integration.
- Revolutionizing financial services with plug-and-play BaaS innovation models.
- Driving financial inclusion across Bharat with seamless Bank-FinTech partnerships.
Balaji Rajagopalan
Chief Technology Officer
State Bank of India
Priyanka Kanwar
Co-founder & CEO
Falcon
Vishal Bhatia
Chief Information and Digital Officer
SBI Life Insurance
Harsh Gupta
Principal
Flourish Ventures
Sumoth C
Head-Fintech Partnerships
Federal Bank
Sameer Singh Jaini
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
The Digital Fifth
Moderator
15:50 to 16:10 | Speaker Session
Affordable Housing 2.0: From New-to-Credit to Next-Gen Solutions
- Leveraging alternative data for inclusive credit assessment of new borrowers.
- Innovating digital platforms to streamline onboarding housing loan processes end-to-end.
- Customizing products for small sector self-employed and informal sector borrowers.
- Balancing technology with personalised support to build customer trust.
- Adopting scalable solutions for underserved regions in Tier 2 and 3 cities.
Sandeep Menon
Founder, Managing Director
Vastu Housing Finance Corporation
16:10 to 16:30 |Speaker Session
Integrating PropTech & Fintech: Creating India’s Largest Marketplace For Real Estate
- Building a robust property search & discovery engine with strong data intelligence capabilities for large-scale lead generation
- Digitisation of transaction process with real-time inventory selection, e-payments, digital escrows, and e-signatures
- Integrated mortgage fulfillment with credit checks, property e-valuation, digital title search & technical verification
Vivek Agarwal
Co-Founder & CTO
Square Yards
16:30 to 17:10 | Panel
Great Tech, Weak Funnels, Low ROI: Closing BFSI’s Customer Acquisition Gap
- Leveraging technology to balance operational efficiency with ROI-focused acquisition strategies.
- Exploring new approaches like embedded finance and contextual banking to attract and retain customers.
- Identifying and addressing bottlenecks in the digital journey to improve conversion rates.
- Using AI and analytics to create hyper-targeted campaigns that resonate with diverse customer segments.
- Implementing cost-effective tools like automation and chatbots to lower acquisition costs.
Harish Shashidhar
Head, Digital and Customer Experience, Consumer Banking Group
DBS Bank India
Sanket Pradhan
EVP and Head Tech Digital
HDFC Bank
Mridul Sharma
Chief Technology & Digital Officer
Jio Finance Limited
Vikrant Kulkarni
Director
The Digital Fifth
Moderator
17:10 to 17:30 | Closing Remarks
17:30 to 18:30 | Award Ceremony
Awards