New Delhi, Dec 25 (IANS): Fintech leader Paytm has laid off several hundred employees from its operations, sales and engineering team, according to reports.

A company spokesperson did not divulge the number of people affected, but said the company is “transforming our operations with AI-powered automation to drive efficiency, eliminating repetitive tasks and roles to drive efficiency across growth and costs, resulting in a slight reduction in our workforce in operations and marketing”.

“We will be able to save 10-15 per cent in employee costs as AI has delivered more than we expected it to. Additionally, we constantly evaluate cases of non-performance throughout the year," a Paytm spokesperson informed.

In 2021 the fintech major had laid off 500-700 employees based on non-performance.

"Insurance and wealth will be a logical expansion of our platform, in continuation of our focus on the existing businesses. Having shown the strength of our distribution-based business model in loan distribution, we are expanding the same to focus on new businesses to drive scale,” said the Paytm spokesperson.

Paytm is leveraging AI to revolutionise payments and financial services like wealth management, Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Paytm’s AI-driven strategy has helped it reduce workforce while continuing to innovate for India.

“As we lead the AI revolution in India, we are embracing AI-powered automation to eliminate repetitive tasks leading to substantial cost savings. With an aim to drive efficiency across growth and costs, we are reducing our workforce by 10 per cent and continue to drive innovation in India across payments and financial services,” said a Paytm spokesperson.

Paytm believes that its strong mobile-first foundation and early AI adoption will give it a competitive edge. The company aims to hit EBITDA-level profitability sooner. It has generated free cash for the past two quarters and Sharma expects that trajectory to continue.