FSS Appoints Rishi Verma As First-Ever Head of Its AI Centre of Excellence to Pioneer AI-Led Innovations in India’s Payments Sector
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, 22 May, 2025 – Financial Software and Systems, a leading provider of payments technology and transaction processing, a pioneer in digital transformation for banks and financial institutions, has announced the appointment of Mr. Rishi Verma as the Head – Artificial Intelligence, Centre of Excellence (AI-COE). In a first-of-its kind move for the Indian payments ecosystem, FSS becomes one of the few companies in the industry to formally establish an AI leadership function signalling a strategic shift toward AI-first product design, operational intelligence, and customer-centric transformation.
With over 14 years of experience across AI/ML, analytics, and digital transformation, Rishi brings deep domain expertise, having led Generative AI initiatives, built and scaled AI Centres of Excellence, and driven impactful innovation across organizations such as RBL Bank, Diebold Nixdorf, L&T Infotech, and FirstRand Bank. His prior work includes the development of Propensity engine, forecasting engine, credit risk engines, Intelligent fraud detection platforms, customer data platforms, MLOps /AIOps frameworks with focus on ethical and responsible AI.
Speaking on the strategic importance of the appointment, V. Balasubramanian, CEO, FSS, said: "Artificial Intelligence is not merely a technology upgrade for us, it is a fundamental pillar of our transformation journey. At FSS, we view AI as the cornerstone for designing the next generation of payment systems that are secure, scalable, and intelligent by design. The appointment of Rishi Verma as the Head of our AI Centre of Excellence marks a pivotal milestone in this journey. His proven expertise in building enterprise-grade AI solutions and Centres of Excellence will help us accelerate the institutionalization of AI across our product and platform suite. We are committed to nurturing a strong innovation ecosystem, including partnerships with academia and research institutions, to build cutting-edge capabilities. With this appointment, FSS takes a decisive step toward becoming a truly AI-first organization one that enables banks and financial institutions to harness data-driven intelligence to compete and grow in a digital economy.”
The appointment of Rishi Verma builds on FSS’s growing portfolio of AI-driven initiatives. Over the past year, FSS has made several strategic moves in the AI space from strengthening its fraud management capabilities to enhancing customer experience through digital intelligence. FSS has consistently emphasized the use of AI for predictive fraud analytics, real-time risk mitigation, and transaction anomaly detection across its payment platforms. The company also introduced its proprietary AI-powered chatbot, Merlin AI, on its website to provide instant, intelligent responses to customer and partner queries making digital engagement faster and more intuitive. These initiatives reflect FSS’s broader mission to harness the power of AI to solve real-world banking challenges and deliver resilient, scalable solutions to the financial services sector.
This strategic shift will enable FSS to stay ahead of evolving market demands, unlock new monetization models, and reinforce its position as a trusted innovation partner for banks and financial institutions globally.
