Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma captivated the Global Fintech Fest 2025 in Mumbai on Tuesday, channeling Bollywood flair to redefine entrepreneurship with a twist on Shah Rukh Khan’s iconic Baazigar line: “Jeet kar haarne wale ko, aur haar kar jeetne wale ko entrepreneur kehte hai. Jiski koi na le sake, woh entrepreneur.” Speaking during a fireside chat with Yes Bank CEO Prashant Kumar, Sharma used the platform to narrate his journey from a Hindi-medium student in Aligarh to architect of India’s fintech giant, while issuing a clarion call for the nation’s tech ecosystem to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) or risk global irrelevance.
Reflecting on his roots, Sharma recounted overcoming linguistic and academic barriers. “As a small-town student, English lectures were a struggle, and setbacks were plenty, but each hurdle forged the builder in me,” he said, addressing an audience of over 10,000 fintech leaders. His rise from launching Paytm in 2010 to its current valuation of $6 billion mirrors India’s digital payment boom, with Paytm facilitating 1.2 billion monthly transactions in 2025, per company data. Yet, Sharma’s focus has shifted to a looming technological frontier: AI.
“In 2025, if you’re not leveraging AI, you’re already obsolete,” Sharma declared, emphasizing that AI is not a mere buzzword but the backbone of Paytm’s future strategy. “I’ve seen telecom and payments revolutions—AI is next, and India must lead, not follow.” He warned that the country risks ceding its technological sovereignty to global giants like OpenAI or Google if it fails to act swiftly. Citing India’s missed opportunities in past tech waves—like semiconductors and cloud computing—Sharma stressed urgency: “We’re underestimating AI’s transformative scale. It’s not just innovation; it’s survival.”
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Sharma revealed plans for a forthcoming AI-focused brand under Paytm’s umbrella, signaling a strategic pivot as the company stabilizes after regulatory hurdles faced by its payments bank in 2024. “India has the talent and market to build world-class AI solutions,” he asserted, pointing to the nation’s 1.4 million software developers and 600,000 AI-related jobs created in the past two years, per NASSCOM. “The day we believe we can lead globally, we will win,” he added, urging entrepreneurs to seize the moment before foreign dominance sets in.
His comments come amid India’s push to bolster its AI ecosystem, with government initiatives like the ₹10,000 crore IndiaAI Mission aiming to develop indigenous models. Yet, challenges persist: India’s AI investment lags at $8 billion compared to China’s $20 billion in 2024, per Statista. Sharma’s vision aligns with national goals but demands a cultural shift. “We can’t afford to be complacent,” he cautioned, citing Paytm’s own AI-driven fraud detection system, which reduced transaction risks by 40% in 2025.
As India stands at a technological crossroads, Sharma’s reimagined Bollywood maxim and bold AI agenda resonate as both a personal credo and a national challenge. With Paytm’s next chapter poised to blend fintech with AI innovation, the entrepreneur’s call to action could redefine India’s global tech standing—or highlight the cost of hesitation.
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