Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I am the Founder & CEO of Neocerebrum Solutions, a leading provider of product-based solutions known for its innovative approach and dedication to quality. Our focus is not only on addressing challenges but also improving overall ROI by enhancing operational efficiency and maintaining a customer-focused approach for their clients. I am a Business Leader with 20+ years’ experience across the BFSI domain, in various disciplines - Delivery, Managed services, Customer Engagements, Product management/Engineering. I had the opportunity to work in diverse geographies like India, Japan, Australia, SEA, the Middle East, and Europe.
I have been involved with different types of Organizations - Banks, Credit Unions, NBFCs, HFCs, MFIs, Aggregators, and BFSI Business lines - Lending, Core banking, Term Deposit, Cards, Consumer Durables, Co-lending, Trade Advance

My Career Highlights:
•    Transformed and added value to 70+ organizations across 20+ countries
•    Incubated SaaS Offering from scratch (Startup mode). More than125% growth YOY
•    Provided leadership to 200+ associates and led Digital Transformation Programs
•    Massive improvements in Metrics - Program Management, Customer Satisfaction, Learning
•    Created and nurtured Partnerships - Channel, Cloud, and Implementation partners
•    Proven excellence of working in senior leadership roles in delivering value to global businesses with insightful knowledge & exposure by exercising thought leadership, driving innovation, Digital Transformation, and Technology integration 
•    Driving excellence in efficient Product Roll-out by constantly innovating and refining best practices & processes; successfully implemented 150+ modules across 70+ customers in the last 3 years 
•    Delivery Anchor with career success in delivering Cloud Business Solutions that remedy core business issues and position the organization 
•    Excels in contributing significant impact to budget optimization and P&L through innovative technology planning, robust operating standards & procedures; experience in business planning & budgeting, managing P&L of the Delivery Unit 
•    Played a key role in executing & steering large/complex project implementations on Customer Acquisition, Loan Servicing & Customer Delinquency Management Modules at Banks & Non-Banking Financial Institutions 
•    Championed project management disciplines such as Agile and Waterfall 

 

Q2. What shifts are you observing in the BFSI sector’s appetite for SaaS-based lending solutions in 2025, and can you share any adoption or growth metrics you’ve seen across regions or segments?

Primarily, BFSI is getting shifted on the below lines, majorly driven by regulatory changes, customer expectations, along with digital transformations –

CapEx to OpEx Models 

To minimize the infrastructure and maintenance cost, the NBFCs, Cooperative banks, and even Insurance Institutes are shifting from Traditional Data centres (On-premise) to SaaS SaaS-based model and solutions.

Faster Loan Approval Process or Agility in Credit Decisioning 

To ensure that customers are retained and a faster onboarding process, industry players are adopting platforms like 
•    Rule Engine Platforms to automate Credit Decisioning 
•    Multiple Integrations with third-party players to get KYC & AML information
•    Focus on the STP process for faster Customer On-boarding and Loan Approvals

Focus on AI, ML & Analytics Models, Scorecards in SaaS Lending 

BFSI Industry players are ready to adopt quantitative analysis for faster & reliable credit decision-making. This helps them to improve the credit models, fraud detection, and risk scoring for new and existing customers, helping them to reduce the overall NPAs

Focus on Compliance, Data Security, and Regulatory Alignments 
•    With the RBI focus on Compliance and Data Security, the BFSI industry is ensuring that RBI-regulated Lending Workflows are in place to comply with RBI standards.
•    Data is getting hosted within India to ensure data-localization
•    For every KYC, the digital consent is getting mandatory at all levels

Overall Growth & Trends

From market studies and articles published, it is projected to scale to USD 95+ billion by 2030 from current USD 44+ billion in 2025, almost double within the next 5 years, and most of the growth shall be driven by embedded lending and SaaS platforms

Q3. Which geographies are emerging as SaaS growth hotspots—and how are localization, compliance, and cloud maturity influencing GTM success?

Emerging growth hotspots in India
•    Majorly Tier 2/3 cities are the emerging hotspots, due to strong UPI usage and smartphone penetration
•    Karnataka business loan growth in FY24 rose 133%, reflecting rapid fintech penetration beyond metros
•    Gujarat and Rajasthan also show rising digital infrastructure development
•    BNPL usage in non-metro towns grew ~150% YoY mid 2023 to early 2025; 60–70% of new BNPL users now from Tier 2/3 cities

Q4. What types of operating models or GTM strategies are enabling BFSI SaaS players to scale efficiently across regions?

Operating Models & GTM Strategies

Multi-tenant Systems 
It enables players to lower the overall infra cost with better ROI

Different Pricing Models, like revenue-linked pricing 
This helps them to get better results and helps both the financial institutions and SaaS Players

LC/NC Configurability 
This enables the overall low maintenance cost for both financial institutions and SaaS players

Product-specific SaaS Platform 
This helps to have a niche use case for financial institutions to reach better.

Q5. What compliance or regulatory risks could disrupt growth in co-lending or embedded finance ecosystems, and how are players navigating them?

Compliance risks for Co-lending 
•    Non-Compliance of RBI Digital Lending Guidelines on Loan Disbursal, Key Fact Sheet, Consent, etc.

•    First Loss Default Guarantee (FLDG) Capping

•    Compliance risk related to KYC and Account Aggregator

Ways to Navigate these Compliance risks
•    SaaS architecture should be “Compliance by Design” – This will ensure that RBI guidelines are followed for data consent, Key Fact Sheet, Data Privacy, etc.
•    Ensure better underwriting and transparency on collection oversight
•    SaaS platforms to enable and adopt the Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) and the Account Aggregator Ecosystem
 

Q6. Which technologies are you seeing BFSI players adopt to manage regulatory changes proactively, and how are these innovations helping them build long-term defensibility or competitive advantage?

Adoptive Technologies are:

Cloud -  AWS India (BFSI-compliant), Azure India, Yotta (RBI’s Partner)

DR - Multi-zone DR setup, Cross-region backup with versioning

Data Lake - Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, BigQuery, Delta Lake

Backend – Microservices-based architecture - Node.js, Java Spring Boot, Golang, Python (FastAPI), NestJS

Frontend – Responsive-based architecture - React.js, Next.js, Vue.js, Tailwind CSS

API Management - Postman, AWS API Gateway. 

To secure these APIs - JWT, OAuth2, Mutual TLS, and WAFs are getting adopted.

These Technologies build defensibility for – 
•    Regulatory Compliance
•    Faster Product GTM and changes
•    Build trust in Fintech players
•    Long-term technology stack advantages
•    Overall Ecosystem Readiness
 

Q7. If you were an investor looking at companies within the space, what critical question would you pose to their senior management?

Apart from understanding the core values and overarching theme of the organization, I would critically assess: 
•    Domain expertise and functional background of the leadership team
•    Depth of industry knowledge and strategic clarity that truly differentiates high-potential ventures
•    Startup’s focus on its market segment—ensuring there is a clear, scalable opportunity with a well-defined customer base
•    Alignment between domain strength, functional expertise, and market relevance is essential for long-term success