NIBM HR CONFERENCE 2024 - TALENT MANAGEMENT IN BANKS IN THE AI AGE

The annual NIBM HR conference held on March 1, 2024, witnessed a constellation of top executives from public sector banks deliberate upon the theme of ‘Talent Management in Banks in the AI Age’. The proceedings were set in motion by the inaugural remarks of Shri. B. Ashok, Faculty – NIBM, followed by the online keynote address by Shri. P. Vasudevan, Executive Director – Reserve Bank of India, wherein he gave a broad overview of the evolution of Indian banking in the context of HR and AI while drawing parallels with digital banking and its impact on the industry. He also touched upon many examples of banking and fintech innovations like UPI, CBDC and RBI’s recent pilot project of public tech platform for ‘frictionless credit’.

The panel discussion in the second half of the conference also stimulated interesting insights about the future of HR vis-à-vis AI. The esteemed panel members comprising Prof. Partha Ray, Director – NIBM, Shri. Sanjay V. Mudaliar, Executive Director – Bank of Baroda and Shri. Shiv B. Singh, Executive Director – Indian Bank, delved deep into the myriad points of divergence and intersection between human potential and AI algorithms. The lively discussion was moderated by Dr. Shomi Srivastava, Faculty – NIBM.    

The annual NIBM HR conference also acts as a reciprocal platform for HR Heads of leading banks to put forth their training goals, expectations and requirements to the NIBM faculty. The feedback provided by the HR Heads and other senior banking executives thus helps the respective area group faculty to fine tune the Institute’s ‘Executive Training Programme Calendar’ as per the emerging trends and unmet needs of the banking industry. Therefore, an additional major highlight of the conference was the release-cum-presentation of the NIBM annual training calendar 2024-25 by Prof. Kaushik Mukerjee, Dean (Executive Training Programme) – NIBM, along with other faculty members.      

In his erudite and effusive valedictory address, Shri. Swarup Kumar Saha, Managing Director & CEO – Punjab & Sind Bank, fondly recalled the various training programmes attended by him at NIBM and the vital role it played in his career growth over the years. He also highlighted the whole spectrum of risk management and the interconnected banking functions that is dependent on HR and IT, to prove his point that modern banks now seem more like 'IT companies doing banking' when compared to the manual banking systems that were prevalent till the turn of the millennium before the advent of digitalisation, and thus AI is similarly bound to be a game changer for the BFSI sector in general and banking in particular.

The confluence of thought-provoking speeches, discussions and equally engaging audience queries continued unabated till it was time for the vote of thanks, which was proposed by Dr. Shomi Srivastava.

Shri. B. Ashok, Faculty - NIBM, delivering the opening remarks (L-R on the dais: Dr. Shomi Srivastava, Faculty - NIBM, Prof Kaushik Mukerjee, Dean (Executive Training Programme) - NIBM, Prof. Partha Ray, Director - NIBM).

Prof. Partha Ray, Director - NIBM, delivering the welcome address.

Shri. P. Vasudevan, Executive Director - Reserve Bank of India, delivering the keynote address.

Panel members discussing the various aspects of talent management in banks in the AI age (L-R: Dr. Shomi Srivastava, Faculty - NIBM [Moderator], Shri. Sanjay V. Mudaliar, Executive Director - Bank of Baroda, Prof. Partha Ray, Director - NIBM, Shri. Shiv B. Singh, Executive Director - Indian Bank).

Prof. Kaushik Mukerjee, Dean (Executive Training Programme) - NIBM, elaborating on the NIBM annual training calendar 2024-25.

Shri. Swarup Kumar Saha, Managing Director & CEO - Punjab & Sind Bank, delivering the valedictory address.