With a vision to transform customer experiences and streamline operations, Religare has embraced digital-first strategies that enable it to meet the dynamic needs of modern investors. In this editorial interaction, Siddharth Bhat, CTO, Religare Broking Limited, shares his perspective into how Religare Broking is leveraging technology to lead the digital transformation in the broking industry, spearheading initiatives that have enhanced operational efficiency, platform stability, and customer satisfaction. From the adoption of hybrid cloud strategies and advanced AI solutions to driving omnichannel customer engagement, Siddharth shares how the company is setting new benchmarks in the broking space
Religare Broking is known as a digitally native company. Can you share your vision of how technology is revolutionizing the broking industry, particularly within Religare Broking?
The pandemic has significantly accelerated digital transformation in the Broking Industry, reflecting broader trends in the BFSI sector. Discount brokers initially led the way, but the pandemic pushed technology reliance to new heights. At Religare Broking, we’ve rapidly transitioned from a “physical” service model to a hybrid “physical and digital” approach, and now fully digital operations. A standout example is our onboarding process, where efficiency has increased by an impressive 300% in just two years.
This progress is largely due to the efforts of organizations like MEIT, UIDAI, and NPCI, which have made advanced digital technologies accessible to the wider public, enabling seamless, user-friendly experiences.
A key factor in enhancing our platform’s stability and reliability has been the adoption of hybrid cloud technology. By leveraging the scalability and flexibility of the cloud, we’ve built a more robust infrastructure that ensures high availability and performance, even during peak trading hours. This has directly contributed to increased trust and confidence among our customers, knowing that their transactions are secure, fast, and consistently supported by a resilient system.
In today’s fast-paced world, technology is the key to meeting customers’ growing demands for instant solutions. Without these advancements, our ability to reach Tier 2, Tier 3, and Tier 4 towns and cities—markets with immense potential—would have been severely limited.
Real-time technological capabilities, such as personalized stock recommendations and immediate query resolutions, have transformed the customer experience while also enhancing operational efficiency.
The impact of technology in the Broking sector is undeniable, and our ability to adapt has been crucial in maintaining relevance and responsiveness. Looking ahead, the synergy between hybrid cloud technology and finance will continue to reshape the industry, improve services, and unlock new opportunities in emerging markets.
What are the key technological innovations that Religare Broking has adopted to stay ahead in the highly competitive broking services space? What has been the impact?
Religare Broking has adopted a range of key technological innovations to maintain its competitive edge in the broking services space, focusing on enhancing customer experience, operational efficiency, and platform reliability. One of the most impactful changes has been the integration of Salesforce CRM, which has revolutionized customer relationship management by offering a unified view of client interactions. This has enabled personalized communication, faster query resolutions, and tailored stock recommendations, significantly boosting customer satisfaction and retention while improving the efficiency of sales and support teams.
Additionally, the company’s hybrid cloud strategy has been instrumental in strengthening platform stability, security, and performance. By combining cloud scalability with on-premise solutions, Religare has built a robust infrastructure that ensures high availability, even during peak trading hours. This approach has greatly increased customer trust, knowing that their transactions are secure and supported by a stable and resilient system.
To further enhance performance, Religare has simplified its platform architecture, reducing the number of moving parts that traditionally add complexity and potential failure points. This streamlined architecture has improved system stability, lowered maintenance costs, and minimized downtime, ensuring a seamless and reliable service for customers.
The adoption of Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions such as Redis and DynamoDB has also played a vital role in improving scalability and availability. Redis accelerates data access through efficient caching, while DynamoDB provides a low-latency, highly scalable database solution. Together, these PaaS tools optimize data management and enable the platform to handle higher traffic loads without sacrificing performance.
Moreover, the implementation of Docker for containerization has further enhanced Religare’s scalability and operational agility. Docker allows for faster deployment cycles, consistent application environments, and better resource management, making the platform more resilient to varying demands.
Looking to the future, Religare is set to introduce AI-powered chatbots to enhance customer engagement and support. Additionally, the company is developing low-latency, high-throughput solutions to ensure even faster transaction processing. These innovations, combined with the existing technological foundation, are poised to further elevate customer confidence and keep Religare at the forefront of the broking industry.
How is Religare Broking leading the charge in the digital transformation of the BFSI sector? What are the core digital strategies that have driven success for your organization?
Religare Broking is focusing on a core philosophy of “Keep it Simple.” While simplicity in design may sound straightforward, it is a complex challenge that requires deep technological adaptation to bring in true intuitiveness. The goal is for customers to feel that the app, IVR system, or any other touchpoint knows exactly why they are engaging with it. This intuitive experience requires a true omnichannel approach where the customer is always at the center of every interaction, whether digital or human.
Achieving this level of seamlessness demands that every team within the organization upholds the ethos of making interactions as intuitive and simple as possible. While we are still taking steps toward fully realizing this vision, Religare Broking is already well on its way to creating an ecosystem where technology anticipates and simplifies the customer journey, driving success across the organization.
Which areas of your business do you see benefiting the most from AI in the future, and how is Religare Broking preparing to further integrate AI-driven solutions?
We see immense potential in leveraging AI across multiple areas of business, with a strong focus on enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency. One of the key areas where AI will drive future growth is in offering the right products to customers at the right time and stage of their lives. By analyzing customer data and behavioral patterns, AI will enable Religare to deliver hyper-personalized product offerings that align with individual financial goals, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and engagement.
In terms of customer servicing, AI-powered automation will revolutionize how we interact with clients. Through AI, Religare is preparing to introduce smart assistants that can provide timely, efficient responses to customer queries, streamlining the entire servicing process. This will allow for faster resolutions while reducing dependency on human agents, leading to a more seamless and convenient customer experience.
AI will also be pivotal in delivering hyper-personalized services, including timely and contextual alerts, notifications, and messages. Instead of overwhelming customers with generic notifications, AI will enable Religare to send targeted communications that add real value to their financial journeys. For instance, alerts on stock movements, investment opportunities, or reminders to rebalance portfolios will be more relevant and actionable.
In the area of risk management, AI will help Religare Broking weed out potential frauds by analyzing transaction data and identifying suspicious activities in real time. Similarly, in cybersecurity, AI will play a crucial role in recognizing attack patterns, providing early warnings of potential threats, or even stopping cyberattacks before they cause any damage. This will bolster the security of customer data and build greater trust.
Lastly, we will look at AI to significantly enhance the overall customer experience on both the app and website. By making these platforms more intuitive, AI will enable customers to find relevant information quicker, and make informed decisions faster. With these AI-driven solutions, Religare is preparing to set a new benchmark in the financial services industry, offering smarter, more secure, and highly personalized experiences to its customers.
In terms of future growth, what role do you see technology playing in Religare Broking’s overall strategy? Are there any new digital initiatives on the horizon?
Technology is core to the business model that we drive at RBL. Every business initiative is seen from a technology lens, and every technology initiative is seen from a business lens.
We recognize that adopting and adapting to the fast paced technological changes is essential for making a significant impact in the market.
Our current digital initiatives revolve around significantly improving Customer experience, through best in class products like Salesforce. We are also bettering our onboarding system through the use of AI, to make the journey much more intuitive and user friendly. We will be exploring voice and multi-lingual capabilities shortly to increase our customer outreach.
As a CTO, what technological trends do you think will define the future of the broking industry in the next 3-5 years? How is Religare Broking preparing to adapt to these trends?
The trading landscape is set for significant transformation, primarily driven by advancements in technology. AI and machine learning are expected to propel the growth of algorithmic trading, which, while currently accessible only to high-end users, will eventually become widely available to all customers. As algorithms become more sophisticated and lightweight, it will be interesting to see how exchanges and regulators address potential issues like market manipulation. In the future, trading could largely occur between algorithms with minimal human involvement, leading to exponential increases in trade speed and volume, supported by the ongoing growth of computing power to meet the demands of advanced trading models.
AI will also enable highly personalized services, anticipating customer needs without explicit input. Customers will benefit from AI models that can predict their financial needs and provide tailored advice. Virtual assistants will become the norm, offering deep, personalized connections with customers.
In risk management, AI will revolutionize the detection of behavioral anomalies, outperforming current static data rules or manual monitoring. This will allow organizations to mitigate reputational, financial, and regulatory risks more effectively. As the customer base grows in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns, safeguarding the interests of new or smaller investors will be critical. With the shift from physical to digital operations, the threat of cyber fraud and attacks will increase, and AI will be essential in identifying and neutralizing these threats. AI-driven cybersecurity solutions are already being integrated into many products.
Beyond mobile phones, new channels for customer transactions are expected to emerge, making interactions even more convenient. While popular platforms like WhatsApp are already enhancing customer engagement, future possibilities such as voice interfaces and augmented reality are likely to play a significant role in improving the customer experience over the next few years.