On the day Perplexity teamed up with Paytm to offer a new artificial intelligence-boosted service, the digital payment app's CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma aired his vision on AI and its benefits for India. He said, “The ultimate AI moment for India will be when every Indian can utilise an AI assistant and get their questions answered. It might take time but India will definitely reach there.”
Sharma was speaking during an interaction with AI-driven search engine Perplexity's CEO Aravind Srinivas. The interaction focused on AI and mobile payments and how the technology is enhancing the experience for consumers.
Paytm, Perplexity's ‘Cool' Partnership
Notably, Paytm and Perplexity have joined hands to incorporate AI-driven intelligence into mobile payments and provide consumers with real-time financial support through the Paytm app. The goal of the innovation: improve digital literacy among Indians.
Apart from "everyday questions," users can "explore topics in their local language." But most of all, the highlight of the new offering is to enable users to "make informed financial decisions," as per Paytm.
India's payments pioneer is here with some exciting news! Paytm x @Perplexity_AI are coming together for an insightful session on AI, mobile payments, and more.
February 27, 2025
Tune in live as we showcase how AI is enhancing the experience for millions of consumers #PaytmKaro https://t.co/tjpyyJqJXOEarlier in the morning, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas had taken to his X handle to post about this "...cool new partnership between @perplexity_ai and @Paytm."
Explaining the benefits, Srinivas said, "You can ask AI before paying somebody or fact check real time. We are really excited to democratise access to AI for Indians through Paytm.”
Srinivas listed his top three priorities for India as well as the aim of his partnership with Paytm: "Our first priority is to make the AI experience good for crores of Indians through Paytm. Second is to localise experiences for Indians, apart from just languages. Third will be to solve native payments using Paytm for commercial experiences.”
Democratising The AI Experience
Paytm users will get the benefit of an AI assistant to help answer some tough questions and provide relevant financial solutions. And all of this is integrated in the Paytm app and therefore there will not be any need to go out.
Paytm's Sharma said the AI-powered offering would be "something that will be useful for every Indian."
Srinivas added, "We aim to make the platform accessible to everyone. The collaboration with Paytm and ...focuses on localisation, customisation, and leveraging the existing infrastructure to reach consumers effectively."
The partnership comes at a time when India's digital economy is expanding and the need for quick and trustworthy information to power decision-making is growing, whether it is for everyday decision-making, market trend analysis, or money management.
Sounding quite optimistic about the rising AI use in India, Srinivas said, "Indians are already embracing AI, with statistics showing widespread adoption for knowledge-seeking. AI isn't just for work—it's used for shopping, travel, and everyday activities. It works seamlessly across multiple languages and offers voice-based interactions."
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