At FIBAC 2026 in Mumbai, he flagged them as the biggest risks to India’s banking system. But here’s the twist; he’s not panicking. He’s preparing. India’s survived Ukraine war shocks and Covid chaos; and came out stronger. Now, the focus is on AI: not as a toy, but as a strategic weapon. Banks must treat AI like a boardroom mission, not a tech experiment. And yes, RBI is cooking up new rules; because right now, even the “black box” models making loan decisions? No one fully understands them. The real kicker? AI can actually help; by lending to the unbanked using GST data, spotting fraud in real time, even speaking Hindi or Tamil. But Malhotra’s clear: the buck stops with the bank. Not the algorithm. The RBI isn’t stopping AI; they’re making sure it doesn’t stop us.