Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Rohit Jain has outlined a 10-point framework for managing technology and cyber risks, urging banks to strengthen governance as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in financial services. Speaking at the State Bank of India Banking and Economic Conclave in Mumbai on September 24, Jain said technology is becoming part of a bank’s risk architecture, rather than merely serving as an operational enabler. His framework covers technology governance, visibility across complex infrastructure, vulnerabilities and legacy systems, identity and access controls, security effectiveness, third-party dependencies, post-incident analysis, recovery testing, operational resilience, and architecture and capacity constraints.
Jain specifically highlighted the growing use of cloud infrastructure, application programming interfaces, fintech providers and AI models, noting that interconnected technology can create risks extending beyond individual institutions. He stressed that while technology services may be outsourced, accountability cannot be transferred, making access controls, concentration risk, recoverability, data protection and exit arrangements important considerations. For AI applications, he pointed to potential benefits in customer service, fraud detection, risk assessment and productivity, while warning that AI can also amplify errors and influence credit decisions, fraud alerts, pricing and service delivery. Validation, monitoring, human oversight and clear accountability are therefore essential.
Jain also highlighted the emerging use of AI by cyber attackers for phishing, impersonation and other attacks, while banks can deploy AI for threat detection, behavioural analysis and automated incident response. The message for financial institutions is that governance must precede AI scale: boards and senior management need clear ownership of technology governance, with responsibilities extending across business risk, compliance, operations and technology functions.
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