Suryoday Bank, Kyndryl Deploy Agentic AI Across Banking Operations
Suryoday Small Finance Bank has partnered with Kyndryl to deploy agentic artificial intelligence (AI) across its operations, with the initiative targeting customer service, compliance, account onboarding and. . .
Suryoday Small Finance Bank has partnered with Kyndryl to deploy agentic artificial intelligence (AI) across its operations, with the initiative targeting customer service, compliance, account onboarding and lending workflows. As part of the collaboration, Kyndryl will establish an Agentic AI Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Suryoday Bank. The centre will help identify areas where AI agents can be deployed, modernise operations and scale AI capabilities across the bank's digital and physical channels. The bank will use Kyndryl's Agentic AI Framework to automate and coordinate tasks across several processes. These include the digitisation and validation of account-opening forms, voice-enabled mobile banking support, responding to legal enforcement requests, investigating suspicious transactions and supporting the underwriting of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) loans. The companies said the deployment is intended to reduce customer service response times while improving operational productivity and compliance. It will also allow employees to focus on higher-value activities rather than repetitive processing and investigation tasks. Agentic AI Moves Beyond Banking AutomationUnlike conventional automation, which typically performs predefined, rule-based tasks, agentic AI systems are designed to coordinate multiple steps towards a defined objective. In Suryoday Bank's case, the technology is being applied to workflows that involve document processing, customer interactions, compliance investigations and lending decisions. Baskar Babu R, MD & CEO, Suryoday Small Finance Bank, said the bank is using the technology to embed intelligence into critical customer and operational processes. “Suryoday Bank aims to deliver simple and trusted banking at scale by incorporating a digital-first approach, while maintaining the highest standards of compliance discipline. By establishing an Agentic AI Center of Excellence with Kyndryl, we are embedding intelligence across critical customer journeys and operational processes, helping us accelerate onboarding, improve responsiveness and enable our teams to focus on higher-value engagement,” said Baskar Babu R. Kyndryl said its framework is designed to help organisations move from individual AI pilots towards integrated systems in which AI agents can be orchestrated, secured and scaled across business processes. Hussain Zaidi, VP-Client Unit Leader, Kyndryl India, said the deployment could provide a model for how smaller financial institutions can adopt AI while maintaining governance. “By applying the Kyndryl Agentic AI Framework to embed agentic AI at the core of its operation, Suryoday Bank is setting the benchmark for how small finance banks can use AI to scale responsibly and deliver measurable business outcomes,” said Hussain Zaidi. AI Targets Compliance And MSME LendingOne of the notable aspects of the deployment is its use in compliance-related workflows. Suryoday Bank plans to apply agentic AI to legal enforcement requests and suspicious transaction investigations, areas where financial institutions need to balance automation with regulatory oversight. The technology will also support underwriting for MSME loans, potentially helping the bank process information and assess applications more efficiently. Kyndryl said its consulting and implementation teams will work with Suryoday Bank on the deployment, with Kyndryl Consult aligning AI strategy with business outcomes and Kyndryl Vital supporting co-creation, user-centred design and rapid prototyping. Suryoday Small Finance Bank operates across 16 states and Union Territories through 712 banking outlets, with a strong presence in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. The bank began operations as a small finance bank in 2017 after more than a decade as a non-banking financial company (NBFC). The partnership comes as banks increasingly explore AI beyond customer-facing chatbots, with compliance, lending, fraud detection and back-office processes becoming potential areas for agentic workflows. For Suryoday, the immediate focus is on embedding AI into operational processes while retaining the governance and compliance requirements of a regulated banking environment.