SDSB Speaker Session: Ms. Vidya Vidyasagar Explores Real World AI Impact

On Thursday, April 10, 2025, SDSB-LUMS welcomed Ms. Vidya Vidyasagar, Global Head of Cloud and Production Engineering for Wealth & Retail Banking at Standard Chartered Bank, for a session titled "AI Trends: Preparing Talent for a Global Landscape."

With over 25 years of experience across infrastructure, cloud platforms, and conversational AI, Ms. Vidyasagar brought rich insights into how AI reshapes the business world. In her current role at SCB, she leads technical teams and drives engineering performance metrics development through data-driven strategies.

During the session, Ms. Vidyasagar highlighted how AI and data democratisation unlock enterprise intelligence, driving productivity, innovation, and faster decision-making across finance, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing. She highlighted how making data accessible to all employees—not just data scientists—empowers organisations to scale AI adoption, foster innovation from every function, and make smarter, faster, and more inclusive decisions.

She emphasised that AI thrives on data, and the synergy between AI and data democratisation allows frontline teams to act on real-time insights, improving forecasting, operational efficiency, and customer experiences. However, she also noted key challenges in this transformation, such as ethical concerns, data privacy, skill gaps, and governance risks, which organisations must proactively address to fully realise AI’s potential.

Citing real-world applications such as AI-powered customer service chatbots, predictive maintenance, fraud detection, and hyper-personalised marketing, Ms. Vidyasagar illustrated how AI is not just a tool for efficiency but a strategic enabler across multiple business dimensions.

For instance, AI chatbots equipped with natural language processing are transforming customer service by offering round-the-clock support, reducing response times, and enhancing customer satisfaction—all while freeing human agents for more complex tasks. In predictive maintenance, AI models analyse equipment data to foresee and prevent failures before they happen, drastically reducing downtime and maintenance costs, particularly in manufacturing and logistics-heavy sectors.

In the financial sector, AI-driven fraud detection systems now play a critical role in safeguarding transactions by identifying real-time anomalies, minimising risk, and increasing trust among consumers. Similarly, hyper-personalised marketing strategies, powered by AI-driven customer segmentation and behavioural analysis, allow brands to craft tailored campaigns that resonate more deeply with individual customers, boosting engagement and conversion rates.

Together, these applications enable businesses to move from reactive to proactive and predictive decision-making, enhancing their ability to adapt to market shifts and consumer demands swiftly. Ms. Vidyasagar emphasised that such capabilities are essential for building resilient and agile enterprises, particularly in an increasingly volatile and competitive global landscape. When combined with widespread access to quality data, AI becomes a powerful driver of strategic foresight, innovation, and long-term value creation.

The session resonated with a diverse audience of students, faculty, and staff, offering a deep dive into the evolving landscape of enterprise AI and preparing future professionals to engage meaningfully in this space.

The SDSB Speaker Series continues to bring influential voices from global industry to LUMS, enriching the academic environment with practical insights and inspiring conversations at the intersection of technology, business, and innovation.