Speed, concentration, opacity remain concerns as emerging technologies get deeply embedded in finance: RBI Dy Guv Rohit Jain
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Deputy Governor Rohit Jain of the Reserve Bank of India
On Wednesday, Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Rohit Jain highlighted three primary worries—speed, concentration, and opacity—stemming from the growing integration of emerging technologies into finance.
Key Takeaways
- RBI Deputy Governor Rohit Jain flagged speed, concentration and opacity as key risks as emerging technologies embed deeper into finance.
- He said technology can amplify existing risks, spreading their impact faster, wider and sometimes less visibly.
- Speaking at Global Fintech Fest 2026, Jain said machine-speed systems require early issue detection, not just error prevention.
- He emphasized limiting fallout and acting quickly before minor issues escalate into major problems.
Although these risks are not brand‑new, technology can magnify them, letting their impact spread across the financial system more quickly, broadly, and sometimes less visibly, Jain warned during his keynote at Global Fintech Fest 2026.
Beyond mere prevention
Concerning speed,the Deputy Governor observed that automated systems can process data and trigger actions far quicker than humans can react. “At machine speed, resilience cannot rely solely on preventing every error. Institutions need to spot issues early, limit their fallout, and act before a minor slip turns into a major problem,” he said.
Regarding concentration, Jain pointed out that banks and other financial firms are leaning on fewer cloud providers, tech vendors, and model suppliers, frequently sharing the same data sets and infrastructure.
Thus, the worry is not just the collapse of a single entity, but the chance that a shared reliance could spread disruption or error simultaneously across many institutions.
On the matter of opacity, the Deputy Governor noted that sophisticated models can uncover patterns and make decisions in ways that are hard to articulate. Yet increased complexity does not justify reduced accountability.
“An institution can delegate the calculation, but it cannot shift the responsibility. A customer impacted by a significant financial decision deserves more than a vague ‘the model said so’ explanation,” he said. “These worries exist within a financial system where the fundamental risks are familiar. Borrowers may still default, liquidity can still evaporate, leverage can still amplify losses, and operational glitches can still disturb financial services. Technology does not erase these risks; it can, however, markedly alter their speed, scale, and transmission.”
Striking a balance
The Deputy Governor stressed that caution should also apply to risks that are not yet imminent. Quantum computing serves as a pertinent illustration; it brings considerable promise but also poses questions about the durability of today’s cryptographic safeguards.
“Getting ready ahead of time embodies a wider principle: we ought not to wait until a future weakness turns into a present crisis before acting. Prudence, therefore, does not mean opposing innovation; it means guaranteeing that innovation stays robust as it expands.
“Yet this poses a tough question for policymakers. Technology can outpace our ability to anticipate all its outcomes. When should regulators step in, and how can they act without stifling beneficial innovation? This is not a simple equilibrium to achieve,” he said.
“Regulating too soon risks imposing detailed rules on a technology we still don’t grasp fully, or on an architecture that may evolve before the regulations take hold. Regulating too late means the technology could already be entrenched before its risks are fully recognized and mitigated. There is no ideal middle ground between these extremes,” Jain added.
‘Keep the user in mind’
He stressed that amid all the talk about algorithms, tokens, platforms, cloud infrastructure, and quantum computing, participants in the financial ecosystem must remember that there is always a person on the other side of the technology.
“There is a saver placing trust in an institution with their hard‑earned money, a borrower looking for opportunity, a merchant waiting for a payment, or a family relying on the financial system when it counts most. That is where our responsibility ultimately resides.
“Most customers will never know which model generated a recommendation, which cloud hosted it, or which technology facilitated a transaction. They will, however, feel the result. Their confidence in technology will ultimately hinge not on its sophistication, but on whether it serves them fairly, reliably, and safely,” Jain said.
Purpose, prudence, and policy must therefore advance in tandem. Purpose lacking prudence can turn into recklessness; prudence lacking purpose can lead to stagnation. Policy is the mechanism that unites the two at scale. The goal should not be merely to make finance faster or smarter, but to ensure that technological advances render finance more useful, resilient, and responsive to the people it serves.
Published on September 9, 2026
