India is hosting the AI Impact Summit—a global flagship forum on artificial intelligence where experts are discussing the impact of neural networks on the economy, security, and global governance. In an interview, Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank, discussed how the office in India has become a platform for implementing the bank’s cutting-edge AI solutions and why transitioning mutual payments to rupees is beneficial for both countries.
In Russia, Sber has long been perceived not just as a bank but as one of the technological leaders in the field of artificial intelligence and information technology. How in-demand are your competencies in AI in India?
India is one of the most significant markets for Sber. It’s one of those countries where we not only resolved payment issues but also built a comprehensive ecosystem tailored to the needs of corporate and individual clients.
The development of Russian-Indian cooperation in many areas, including technology and AI, is showing growth. We are currently looking at the Indian market as broadly as possible, considering interaction across a wide range of directions: from medicine and education to robotics and AI.
Employees of Sber’s branch in India actively use our own advanced developments in their work, including fintech solutions and AI. For example, our neural network model GigaChat, built from scratch, is used by Indian employees for both routine operations and specialised processes. We are developing our own solutions that make our business more sustainable and efficient.
At the end of last year, we implemented a multi-agent system based on GigaChat to verify export documentation. We automated the analysis of documents and the preparation of mandatory reports for providing tax deductions to clients: verification time was reduced from months to a few days, and the quality of data processing increased. AI agents recognise and verify information from documents, provide feedback on them, and pre-fill all necessary forms so that a person only needs to check the AI’s result and certify it with a digital signature. This impacts the speed of trade turnover between our countries and promotes trade growth.
Of course, in the era of digital banking and smart assistants, most tasks can be solved remotely, but a minimum level of physical presence and the ability for personal contact with clients in key regions is necessary. Therefore, alongside automation and the development of online services, we plan to expand our network of offices in Indian regions. Sber is also considering the possibility of building an office in Delhi. It is expected to house not only Sber’s office but also the representative offices of other Russian companies planning to start business in India. This is the synergy that is currently needed.
The capabilities of artificial intelligence can be applied not only in business. Are you considering cooperation with India in other areas as well?
Last year, we conducted a series of experiments and are considering the possibility of developing international projects in this direction, including with Indian partners. In particular, I mean our projects in the collaboration of AI and culture.
In the summer of 2025, the Mariinsky Theatre hosted the premiere of the world’s first opera, "Mandragora," completed with the participation of AI. Sber’s neural networks helped re-create and complete the opera based on the original concept by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachinsky. GigaChat helped to write the libretto, SymFormer refined the music, and Kandinsky created visual and scenographic solutions. All AI solutions were implemented under artistic supervision and with appreciation for the style of the era.
In November 2025, Sber presented the film "ClassicAI," created with the help of AI. This work “brought to life” the classics of Russian literature—Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, and Anton Chekhov. The film’s main characters travel through modern Russia and visit places they once described in their works.
These examples demonstrate that we have experience and examples of collaboration between AI and creative industries and art. We would be open to developing this direction together with Indian partners, and we already have projects in the implementation stage.
Last year, Sber celebrated its 15th anniversary in India. What results from this period do you consider the most important?
The figures speak for themselves. Looking at the B2B segment, by 2025, compared to 2022, turnover in national currencies increased 12 times. The number of companies from Russia and India operating through Sber increased 6 times.
I’d like to highlight the dynamics regarding accounts: the number of corporate and individual accounts in rupees increased 40 times. The number of payments in Indian currency increased 26 times, to 210 thousand transfers. But the most notable result is the speed of payments. In 2022, a payment took 1–2 days. Now it takes less than 10 minutes—an improvement of more than 200 times.
The existence of a reliable channel for mutual payments between Russia and India in national currencies ensures independence from international payment systems.
The internationalisation of the rupee is a strategy that opens up opportunities for business growth and creates a stable payment system resilient to sanctions pressure.
Russian companies are interested in expanding the ability to work through Indian rupees directly with counterparties in countries that have close trade ties with India. This will further increase the resilience of payments and avoid the need to take on risks from intermediaries.
The transition to payments in national currencies is not exclusively a Russian need. It is a necessity for us, and for India, it is an opportunity to strengthen its own financial sovereignty.
Earlier, you mentioned that Sber helps Russian businesses recruit personnel from India. Banks rarely act as recruitment agencies. How did that come about?
This is a response to a systemic challenge. According to the Russian Ministry of Labour, by the end of 2030, the labour shortage in Russia could reach 3.5 million people. This is an objective constraint on economic growth.
In India, there are currently over 120 million people aged 25–34, and an industry for recruiting, training, and exporting personnel is well-established. However, for businesses that have never dealt with international hiring, entering this market can be associated with challenges, from finding candidates to legalisation and salary payments. And this is where Sber is ready to help. We have a branch in India with an established payment channel, GR capabilities, and an understanding of regulations on both sides.
Not long ago, in partnership with the Russian job search and recruitment service "Rabota.ru," we launched a comprehensive service for targeted hiring of employees from India. We handle the entire turnkey cycle: from finding candidates to their adaptation and integration into the Russian environment. Using solutions from Sber’s ecosystem, workers receive financial tools to transfer funds to their families back home, and employer companies receive full banking service under one roof.
And here, of course, our most important competitive advantage is the existence of a reliable channel for mutual payments between Russia and India in national currencies, which ensures independence from international payment systems. This is precisely what turns hiring from an experiment into a systemic solution for the Russian economy.
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