India’s Best CEOs 2025 awards: Technology will be the great leveller, says K.V. Kamath on the next phase of financial services
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The India growth story has been told many times, but few people describe it with the clarity and calm confidence that K.V. Kamath, chairman of the board of directors at Jio Financial Services brings to the subject. In a wide-ranging conversation with Fortune India’s Editor-in-Chief, Sourav Majumdar, he reflected on how India has changed over the decades and why the next 20-25 years could become the country’s most powerful phase yet. During a discussion titled “The India transformation story” at Fortune India’s Best CEOs 2025 awards held at Mumbai's Trident on Monday, Kamath touched upon economic shifts, technology, and the changing needs of Indian consumers.
Kamath reminded the audience that India’s transformation did not begin recently. “My story starts in the mid-90s when India was already changing,” he said, adding that companies that failed to adapt would “face disaster” as the country moved ahead.
Speaking about the broader shifts shaping India today, Kamath said the country now stands on the edge of a long and strong period of growth. “Viksit Bharat is here, and that is a reality,” he said. He explained that India has a “runway which no other country has”, stretching from villages to cities, supported by rising aspirations.
He pointed to the strength of India’s financial system as a key pillar of this journey. “We have clean balance sheets in the banking sector, and the government runs a very tight fiscal policy,” Kamath said. According to him, this foundation gives India all the ingredients it needs to stay on course for the next two decades.
November 2025
The annual Fortune India special issue of India’s Best CEOs celebrates leaders who have transformed their businesses while navigating an uncertain environment, leading from the front.
On technology, Kamath said India’s digital public infrastructure has already changed the way people live and businesses operate. “Without that innovation, our path through the COVID years would not have been easy,” he said. Looking ahead, he believes the next phase will be shaped by artificial intelligence and other advanced tools.
Kamath stressed that financial services will see the deepest shifts. “Technology is going to be the great leveller,” he said. Banks and financial companies that embrace new systems will lead the future, while others may struggle. “Any institution with the ability and the guts to take this on will be the winner,” he said.