TLDR: The Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2025, held in Mumbai from October 7-9, showcased India’s growing prowess in artificial intelligence within the financial sector. The event highlighted five innovative Indian AI startups, including Gnani.ai, Helo.ai by Vivaconnect, and Kiya.ai, which are driving advancements in customer experience, data insights, and banking automation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized India’s technological inclusivity and its aggressive push to leverage AI for economic transformation, positioning the nation as a global hub for fintech and AI innovation.
Mumbai recently hosted the sixth edition of the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2025, a premier event that brought together global fintech leaders, regulators, investors, and innovators from October 7-9. The festival served as a crucial platform to explore how emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, are reshaping the future of finance. A significant highlight of GFF 2025 was the emergence of five innovative Indian AI startups, signaling India’s aggressive push to harness AI as a cornerstone of economic transformation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the event, underscored India’s remarkable progress in democratizing digital technology, asserting that the nation is now among the most technologically inclusive societies globally. He also highlighted the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) digital currency initiative, which is expected to enhance financial transactions and strengthen India’s digital economy. PM Modi welcomed the United Kingdom’s participation as a partner country, emphasizing that such collaborations between democratic nations would improve the global financial landscape.
Industry experts echoed this sentiment, with Apurv Suri, Head of Client Engagement and Partnership Lead at Standard Chartered (SC) Ventures, describing India as a ‘gold mine of startups and talent, all with global ambitions.’ Suri noted that AI is the next major wave driving transformation across industries, poised to disrupt traditional banking and fintechs by enabling hyper-personalization. He also predicted the rise of a new ecosystem of startups driven by ‘agentic AI’ – systems capable of operating autonomously.
Among the promising Indian AI startups showcased at GFF 2025 were:
Gnani.ai: This company specializes in voice-first agentic AI platforms, enabling enterprises to deploy intelligent agents across various channels like voice, chat, SMS, and WhatsApp. Gnani.ai unveiled its self-cloned Digital Human, powered by the HumanOS platform, which offers realistic AI avatars supporting Indic languages. They also demonstrated real-time AI agent building, pushing the boundaries of agentic interactions in finance.
Helo.ai by Vivaconnect: Tailored for fintech innovators, retail banks, and digital service providers, Helo.ai provides a platform for real-time, compliant communication at scale. At GFF 2025, they officially launched Helo Clarity, a tool for unified customer data and engagement, alongside Helo Conversations, aimed at delivering clearer, more actionable insights for fintechs.
Kiya.ai: Partnering with major financial institutions such as HDFC, Axis Bank, Union Bank, IDFC Bank, HDFC Life, Bajaj Allianz Life, and Ageas Federal Life Insurance, Kiya.ai offers scalable automation solutions for high-volume operations like claims processing, fraud detection, and reporting. The company emphasized ‘Driving Inclusive Growth Through Responsible AI’ at their booth, showcasing live demos of their AI-powered banking technology that aligns with India’s UPI-led digital finance leadership and sets new global standards for ethical AI deployment.
Also Read:
- NPCI’s Shri Ajay Kumar Choudhary Advocates for Responsible AI in Inclusive Finance at GFF 2025
- Nvidia’s Vision: Mumbai to Evolve into a ‘Financial Capital with Intelligence’ by 2028, Driven by AI
The Global Fintech Fest 2025 underscored India’s pivotal role in shaping the future of finance through technological innovation and collaborative efforts, with AI at the forefront of this transformative journey.
