Banking and financial services industry professionals will need to look beyond traditional roles. The transformation that is happening in the BFSI space is rapid, necessitating the need for engaging professionals with tech-management skills, says Robin Bhowmik, Chief Business Officer, Manipal Global Academy of BFSI (MGA-BFSI).

The academy, which has always focused on training BFSI professionals, registered a surge in demand for reskilling in the last six months. Bhowmik said that the academy reskilled 16,000 professionals (in 6 months), which was equal to the annual turnout.

Earlier, the demand used to be for induction training; it is now shifting to advanced programmes, in line with the digital transformation that is happening in the BFSI sector.

“As most banking applications are built on Open Source, the industry has started to feel the pinch, the imperative need for upskilling its people on tech-management. The shift is drastic and visible. Big Data has evolved, and banks are trying to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to leverage their digital footprint.

“The lockdown has fuelled the rate of adoption of contactless payments; the crisis has forced bankers and insurance professionals to reskill themselves, to understand and cope with the requirements of the digital consumer,” the CBO of MGA said.