Poonawalla Fincorp Partners With IIT Bombay’s Technology Innovation Hub to Implement AI

The world of business is experiencing a massive transformation with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Poonawalla Fincorp, a key player in the Indian business landscape, is making significant strides by incorporating AI through a partnership with IIT Bombay’s Technology Innovation Hub. The collaboration focuses on using AI to automate and enhance various business operations, especially in human resources. With AI’s potential to boost efficiency and reduce operational costs, Poonawalla Fincorp is transforming its traditional processes into more streamlined, innovative systems.

The Shift Toward AI in Businesses

AI has gained traction in numerous sectors for its ability to solve complex problems and simplify tasks. In human resources, AI can be used to automate time-consuming activities like candidate screening, resume matching, and document verification. By doing so, businesses can improve their overall productivity and reduce the chance for human errors.

As companies continue to integrate AI into their daily operations, the impact is clear: improved speed, fewer mistakes, and more informed decisions. With such widespread applications, AI is undeniably changing the way businesses operate across the board.

AI’s Role in Enhancing Recruitment at Poonawalla Fincorp

Poonawalla Fincorp is now using AI to speed up its HR processes, particularly recruitment. Traditionally, the process of finalizing job offers took up to ten days. However, AI integration has reduced this timeline drastically to under a day, cutting down the process by about 90%. 

The company has identified some key areas where AI can be most effective in recruitment. These functions are transforming how the company approaches HR and its hiring processes:

• AI can analyze resumes and match them to job descriptions in seconds, ensuring that recruiters can quickly pinpoint the most suitable candidates. This removes the need for time-consuming manual sorting and allows for more accurate results.

• Document checks that used to take hours are now done instantly using AI. By automating this step, the company ensures that documents are verified quickly and accurately, reducing the chance of errors.

• AI systems handle candidate processing with minimal human input. The system manages all the backend work while HR professionals only step in when needed. This increases efficiency and reduces delays.

• AI is now responsible for creating and posting job openings across multiple platforms. It ensures that the job descriptions are accurate and reach the intended audience without requiring constant manual effort.

• AI-powered systems assess applicants' qualifications in real time, ensuring that only the most suitable candidates make it to the next stage of recruitment, speeding up decision-making.

By integrating these AI features, Poonawalla Fincorp has achieved a remarkable improvement in its HR processes, enhancing both productivity and accuracy.

Enhancing Employee Experience with AI-Powered Bots

Poonawalla Fincorp has also introduced an AI-powered WhatsApp bot to streamline internal HR operations. These bots will provide real-time assistance to employees regarding leave, payroll, policies, and benefits, ensuring instant responses to common queries. By reducing the dependency on HR teams for routine inquiries, the bots create a more efficient and responsive workplace. Employees can now access answers at any time, ensuring smoother internal communication and faster problem resolution.

Bias-Free, Data-Driven Decisions

AI is also helping Poonawalla Fincorp make unbiased and data-driven hiring decisions. Through the use of AI tools, the company can assess candidates’ qualifications based on their technical and cognitive abilities, ensuring that hiring decisions are not influenced by unconscious biases. AI brings more accuracy to recruitment by relying on concrete data and reducing subjectivity.

AI-Driven Innovation for the Future

As AI continues to advance, its impact on business operations will only increase. For Poonawalla Fincorp, this is just the start of a broader initiative to harness AI for driving innovation and improving efficiency across its functions. The partnership with IIT Bombay’s Technology Innovation Hub will lay the groundwork for further AI-powered initiatives, positioning Poonawalla Fincorp as a leader in digital transformation in the years ahead.

The appointment of Salil Hajarnis as Chief Technology Officer strengthens this vision. With over 20 years of experience, Salil has successfully led key technological initiatives at Fiserv, including AI solutions, API integrations, and platform upgrades.