At the Nasscom GCC Summit held last week in Mumbai, we engaged in a discussion with two prominent GCC leaders—Ankur Mittal, CTO and Managing Director of Lowe's India, and Praveen Kumar, CEO of Barclays Global Services India—regarding the extent to which artificial intelligence represents a foundational shift and the impact this technology has already had. Both leaders affirmed that the shift is fundamental, compelling companies to fundamentally rethink customer experience, employee productivity, business processes, and the nature of talent.
Reimagining Business with AI
"There are going to be some places where we have to reimagine the business, foundational changes. There are going to be some places where we overlay AI on top of what we are doing today," Mittal stated. Lowe's, the 105-year-old, $86-billion US home improvement retailer, is examining AI through three distinct lenses: how customers shop, how employees work, and how store associates sell. The third lens is particularly crucial because Lowe's operates approximately 1,750 stores and employs 300,000 store associates who assist customers with specialized home improvement needs.
AI-Powered Assistance at Lowe's
A customer may inquire about which generator is suitable for a home, what HVAC system fits a 2,400-square-foot house, or how to repair a leaky faucet. No associate can be expected to know every detail across a 120,000-square-foot store with 40,000 SKUs. Lowe's response to this challenge is MyLow Companion, an AI assistant designed for store associates. This application aggregates product information, store inventory, nearby store availability, and guidance on customer queries. Lowe's has also developed a version for customers on lowes.com. "The app can answer questions like: how do I fix my patio, or which battery do I need for this tool," Mittal explained.
The impact is already evident. Lowe's receives nearly a million questions each month through these AI applications. Customers who interact with MyLow on lowes.com convert at twice the rate compared to those who do not use the AI assistant. When store associates utilize the app to assist customers, Lowe's has observed a 200-basis-point improvement in likelihood-to-recommend scores and associate helpfulness.
Barclays' AI Journey
At Barclays, Praveen Kumar noted that AI is foundational because banking fundamentally involves allocating capital and managing risk. The quality and speed of decisions are of utmost importance. "The more data-centric and faster those decisions can be, that makes a material difference to our outcomes," he said.
Barclays' initial wave of AI adoption focused on individual productivity. This included call summarization, content summarization, credit underwriting support, and other tools that enable employees to make faster decisions. The bank has also developed customer-facing use cases. Its FX bot can reduce the time required for foreign exchange quotes by 75%. Conversational AI in customer service can deliver decisions 95-99% faster.
Next Phase: End-to-End Process Reinvention
Kumar indicated that the next phase will be more ambitious. Barclays is now exploring end-to-end process reinvention using AI and agentic AI. This encompasses know-your-customer processes, customer due diligence, financial client processes, and fraud technology. Referring to fraud, he emphasized that when external threat actors are becoming increasingly sophisticated using technology, it is essential to counter them in real-time with technology as well.
New Business Possibilities
Both leaders concurred that the greater opportunity lies in new business possibilities. "We have to look at: can I create something new, something very different, big bets. It balances out cost and top line," Mittal concluded.
