In an exclusive conversation with Express Computer, Rahul Dayal, CTO of WhiteOak Capital, shares how his extensive industry experience is helping the company transform its technology landscape into a true business enabler. He talks about building a frugal, future-ready tech stack, the growing importance of data-driven decision-making, and how AI/ML is fundamentally reshaping mutual fund operations. He also discusses how WhiteOak is transforming customer experience, bolstering cybersecurity, and preparing for a connected, API-first future.
You’ve had a distinguished career across some of the most respected financial institutions. What has been your core philosophy in aligning technology with business transformation, especially at WhiteOak Capital?
Over the past 27 years in the industry, I’ve witnessed technology evolve from a backend function to a full-fledged business enabler.
It’s no longer just a backend function supporting some sort of business; it has now become a complete enabler.
You have multiple examples. If you look at organizations like Zerodha, Zomato, Swiggy, Uber, Ola, all of them have revolutionised their respective industries through technology. Similarly, in mutual funds, everything is gradually moving toward a digital function. It is intrinsic to the business now and can actually be a business generator as well.
That’s why we are building an extremely strong tech team. This is broadly in-house, and we are gradually building this team so that we can deliver differentiated offerings. Also, technology is becoming experience-driven. It’s no longer about a single touchpoint but about the end-to-end experience. For example, with Swiggy or Zomato, it’s not just about placing the order digitally, but whether the delivery is on time, how the delivery agent behaves, how they’re dressed, and so on. The customer experience is end-to-end.
We are following a similar method to provide a consistent experience for investors and distributors across all channels. We have built an omni-channel framework so whether someone approaches us via a branch, contact centre, or any of our multiple digital assets like apps, websites, or portals, the experience is seamless. Even through ecosystem partners, the experience remains consistent.
The other big thing is that we are building very modular, scalable, multi-cloud, hybrid technology architecture. We are making it completely future-proof, built entirely on APIs and microservices. We have designed this using frugal technology with security and governance built in at the core.
As a CTO, you’re building resilient and agile technology, especially at WhiteOak. What are the key digital capabilities that you’re prioritising right now to ensure the organisation is future-ready?
First and foremost, frugal engineering is our priority. We are attempting frugal engineering and frugal innovation. The ticket sizes for transactions are getting smaller as mutual funds and investments reach broader markets. But when transactions are happening at high volumes, it’s important to keep the technology cost under control so that small-ticket transactions remain viable for investors, distributors, and fund houses alike.
We are building technology where the cost per transaction is extremely low. That’s how we are enabling investments as low as INR 100, INR 500, and so on. With growing volumes, this becomes even more important.
We have also set up an AI/ML Centre of Excellence, with a dedicated team building models for predictive analytics and customer behaviour analytics. These models assist our sales, support, and other teams.
Another big focus is data-driven decision-making. We use real-time analytics with automated dashboards that are published across the organisation. These dashboards are generated without manual intervention, delivering MI and insights straight through.
From a customer and distributor perspective, we are aiming for hyper-personalisation, offering tailored products based on investor profiles. And finally, cybersecurity is a very important aspect for us. We are investing heavily in it and have built it by design.
You mentioned about the AI/ML Centre. In today’s time, irrespective of the sector, the ultimate motto is to deliver high customer experience. With your experience in data analytics and fintech collaboration, how do you envisage the role of emerging technologies like AI/ML and blockchain evolving within the asset management sector?
According to me, AI/ML is the next big innovation after the internet. It has been around for a while, for instance, MS Word’s spell check is a form of AI. But with the advent of LLMs, the technology has taken a massive leap.
Here, our entire website search is built on an LLM. Visitors can ask questions directly and get answers, not just links. It’s beyond traditional search.
We’ve also developed a Location Performance Index using AI, which benchmarks performance by geography and helps our internal teams determine where to focus. Eventually, we plan to extend this to our distributor network.
AI/ML is going to completely change the way we work, even in the mutual fund space.
You have led several pioneering innovations in your previous roles. Can you share an innovation that you’re particularly proud of and that made a tangible business impact?
There are three, actually that are close to my heart.
At WhiteOak, we generate a lot of content like webinars, videos, PDFs, etc. We created an LLM-based model to help our teams query this content and get precise answers instantly. It saves a lot of time that would otherwise be spent searching through documents.
Earlier in my career, I implemented an AI bot that automatically processed investor emails. For example, it could generate and send account statements without human intervention. This reduced contact centre volumes by 38%.
Another initiative was called eScan. We used to receive physical forms that needed to be timestamped and sent to the RTA, which took over 24 hours. We built a solution to scan, timestamp, and send them digitally, reducing turnaround time to just 3–4 hours. This became an industry standard.
Congratulations on those. Now, let’s talk about cybersecurity. In the BFSI sector, especially with regulations like DPDP coming in, how do you strike a balance between driving innovation and maintaining risk management and compliance?
It’s a valid concern. Cybersecurity is indeed a major issue and has therefore become a boardroom-level discussion. We’ve seen large NBFCs and mutual funds suffer attacks in recent years. Fortunately, those with the right safeguards recovered quickly.
SEBI has done a commendable job issuing clear, risk-based guidelines. For example, the cloud circular and the more recent CSCRF circular are well thought out.
At WhiteOak, we embed security at the development stage itself. Code reviews and automated scans are built into our SDLC. We also follow a zero-trust framework across network and identity layers, and conduct red teaming to test our defences.
Strong governance wraps around all of this, allowing us to innovate confidently.
What are your key technology priorities for 2025?
It’s threefold. Frugal innovation remains our top priority. We want to drive down transaction costs and make investing accessible at the remotest corners of India. Enabling micro-investments of INR 100 or less is our goal.
Another focus is embedding AI into all investor and distributor touchpoints. We are also strengthening our API stack to allow tech-savvy partners to connect directly to our systems.
Given the evolving role of technology leadership, what advice would you offer to emerging CTOs navigating such a dynamic, high-stakes environment?
I’d say focus on three things: agility, frugality, and business alignment. Technology should not become a barrier due to cost.
Tech leaders must understand how their work impacts the business. In the future, many CEOs will come from tech backgrounds. CTOs need to think beyond infrastructure and start driving the business itself.
Any exciting upcoming initiatives at WhiteOak?
We’re working on embedding AI and LLM capabilities into our mobile apps and websites. Soon, investors will be able to simply type a sentence and complete an investment. That’s something we’re very excited about and will roll out soon.