Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma highlights the inevitability of artificial intelligence to reshape the future of work, claiming that AI will soon become a central part of everyday operations, and may even assume key roles such as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Speaking at ShipRocket's Shivir: Friday's capital, Sharma said that AI Commerce Edition not only replaces everyday human functions, but also opens fresh employment opportunities in the emerging technology domain.
“We must learn to use AI not only as a tool, but also as a colleague or as an executive,” Sharma said. He emphasized that companies need to focus on innovation and core product development as automation is likely to replace several human-driven processes. Sharma converts Paytm from the Fintech platform to an AI-First enterprise, and makes full use of machine intelligence in its operations.
While most companies are handing out pink slips to employees to increase automation, Paytm employee staff has declined due to Reserve Bank of India's restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank. The company reduced its sales staff by approximately 3,500 in the March quarter 2024, bringing its total number to 36,521.
New AI Features
As part of this AI-driven ambition, Paytm pilots quirky, innovative features, an AI-powered passbook that transforms users' monthly spending patterns into personalized lap tracks. The company has not announced an official rollout date, but Sharma has confirmed that the project is ongoing and can be accessed by users immediately. AI products use transactional data to create rhythmic summaries of users' financial activities, combining technology and creativity to make personal finance more attractive.
This is not Paytm's first foray into the AI-powered consumer experience. Previously, the company partnered with AI search startup Perplexity to integrate conversation search capabilities within the PAYTM app. This move reflects a broader shift in strategies to inject intelligent technology into everyday user interaction.
AI takes over more work
The tech industry has already cut more than 100,000 jobs worldwide in 2025, with over 1,00,000 jobs, and tech giants like Intel, Meta and Google steadily trimming their teams as they tackle economic headwinds, internal shakeups and dramatic pivots towards AI-driven operations.
This year's high-tech unemployment reflects the widespread redundancy seen in 2023 and 2024. Only now seems to be at a faster pace. Several forces are contributing to reform. This ranges from sustained inflation and weaker consumer trust to sharper interest rates and tougher corporate spending. But what looms above all is the sector's aggressive transition into an age of artificial intelligence.
Many tech companies are undergoing a fundamental talent-based restructuring rather than simply shrinking to reduce costs. As AI tools and automation become increasingly integrated into daily workflows, long-standing roles have been replaced by professional positions in data science, machine learning and intelligent systems. Ironically, thousands of jobs have been dropped, but companies are actively hiring, but only those who bring AI-centric skills to the table.
This is not just a wave of redundancy, but rather an earthquake change in the way the industry is constructed. AI is no longer an experimental add-on. This has become the core driver that reconstructs the capabilities of business, the types of important roles, and how it scales in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
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