Paytm Appoints CTO Manmeet Dhody As AI Fellow To Drive Artificial Intelligence Projects

Paytm parent One 97 Communications Ltd. on Friday announced the appointment of Manmeet Dhody, its chief technology officer - payments, as the company's AI fellow.

Dhody will "drive projects related to AI innovation in business", Paytm said in a release. The move strengthens the company's "commitment to advancing technology leadership in financial services, with a focus on artificial intelligence", it added.

As Dhody moves to the AI team, Paytm has appointed Deependra Singh Rathore, its senior vice president - technology, as the new CTO - payments. The new appointments will come into effect with immediate basis.

"We are excited to see Deependra Singh Rathore step into the role of CTO, and build for financial services in the AI age. We also welcome Manmeet as an AI Fellow, helping accelerate our vision of integrating AI-driven processes across our business operations," a Paytm spokesperson said.

Paytm, which is increasing its focus on AI, has used innovations like mobile payments, QR codes and Soundbox to expand its payments business in the Indian market.

Recently, the company launched the next-generation NFC Card Soundbox, which combines NFC technology with mobile QR payments.

Notably, Paytm came under the cloud earlier this year after its banking arm faced regulatory action from the Reserve Bank of India. The Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. was barred by the RBI from onboarding new customers and accepting fresh deposits from Mar. 15. The regulatory action hammered the parent company's stock for a couple of months, but the shares started to recover from May onwards.

Shares of Paytm closed 4.45% lower at Rs 695.15 apiece on the NSE on Friday, compared to a 0.93% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50.

The stock is up 9.4% on a year-to-date basis, but down by 19.5% over the past 12 months.

Six out of the 18 analysts tracking the company have a "buy" rating on the stock, six suggest a "hold", and six recommend a "sell", as per Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analysts' price target implies a potential downside of 20.4%.