Market View
Navigating the AI transformation journey: How global service providers are reimagining value creation
Sponsored by:
Produced by:
Suri Babu Komma
Vice President of Digital Transformation and AI Solutions at EXL
About Suri Babu Komma
Suri Babu Komma is Vice President of Digital Transformation and AI Solutions at EXL, where he leads global finance transformation initiatives across all the company's clients. With over 24 years of experience in finance and accounting operations, he combines technical expertise with deep domain knowledge to deliver measurable business outcomes. Suri holds a master's degree in commerce and finance, a postgraduate diploma in computer applications, and multiple professional certifications including Six Sigma Black Belt, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and business analytics from the Indian School of Business.
How has the landscape of service provider expectations evolved, and what impact has AI had on EXL's engagement with clients in finance transformation?
The expectations are changing rapidly compared to when I started my BPO career. Back then, people focused on labour arbitrage—clients wanted to reduce costs by moving roles to different locations. Continuous improvements were considered sufficient for most finance operations.
Today, it's about business outcomes rather than just SLAs. In accounts payable, clients previously focused only on processing metrics like invoice volume and accuracy. Now they expect insights about optimising cash outflow, vendor relationships, and fraud analysis. They demand quick innovation while maintaining quality and responsiveness. We focus on the three E's: efficiency, effectiveness, and experience—how both internal stakeholders and external customers feel about services.
For service providers, this means going beyond cost reduction to providing automation and business value. It's about partnering with clients to understand their goals before recommending solutions. Service providers must now demonstrate domain expertise alongside technical capability to remain competitive in this rapidly evolving landscape.
The secret to our success lies in balancing domain expertise with technology knowledge. When you have a thorough understanding of finance operations and can identify day-to-day challenges, you can effectively apply technology to address these pain points.
Could you explain EXL's approach to AI implementation and how you balance domain expertise with technology innovation?
We begin by understanding the client's process maturity and existing applications. Our approach solves specific problems rather than transforming the entire technology landscape at once. Instead of proposing multi-year, multi-million pound projects, we identify targeted solutions through one or two-month sprints, allowing clients to reinvest savings into additional improvements.
Our success lies in balancing domain expertise with technology knowledge. Understanding finance operations helps us effectively apply technology to address pain points. We recommend optimising existing investments before suggesting new solutions. Most clients appreciate not having their entire landscape changed immediately, especially when they've made significant investments in their current systems.
This is where orchestration becomes vital—identifying the right technology and bringing in partners when needed. EXL has strategic partnerships with major application providers, allowing us to recommend solutions that deliver ROI and remain sustainable. These partnerships enable us to offer best-of-breed solutions tailored to specific client needs.
How has EXL evolved its service offerings to meet changing client needs in the AI era?
EXL has significantly expanded our AI offerings. We now provide AI strategy consulting and data engineering services, with nearly 10,000 experts working across multiple domains including insurance, healthcare, banking, and finance.
We've developed EXLerate.ai, which includes AI agents and domain-specific Large Language Models for insurance claims and finance operations. These agents can autonomously process invoices, post journals, and analyse customer payment patterns to improve collection effectiveness. Our finance LLM has been specifically trained on finance operations to provide relevant insights.
We've also created our Digital Finance Suite, which we personally led the design of. Beginning with small components around 2017, we've built a comprehensive platform covering accounts payable, receivable, record-to-report, and finance analytics. The suite is modular so clients can select specific components without implementing the entire platform, making it accessible regardless of digital maturity.
This evolution reflects our transition from offering labour arbitrage to becoming a technology-led transformation partner. Some clients now engage us specifically for our AI capabilities rather than traditional outsourcing.
Transformation is not a single activity—it's a journey that must continue, and fundamentally, it's a partnership. It's not simply about a service provider delivering something to the client. It's about collaboration.
What value does AI-enabled transformation bring to finance operations, and how do you measure success?
AI transformation impacts finance operations through efficiency, effectiveness, and scalability. While automation reduces headcount, for compliance-related processes where mistakes attract significant penalties, effectiveness becomes paramount. AI can provide proactive alerts—notifying you before deadlines and identifying dependencies. Here, value is measured by avoiding penalties rather than headcount reduction.
Scalability allows businesses to expand operations without proportionally increasing resources. With minimal technology adjustments, you can manage additional workload automatically across multiple regions and business units. This scalability is particularly valuable for growing organisations or those undergoing mergers.
Finance is moving beyond bookkeeping to enabling better business performance. Today's CFOs need to provide strategic insights for decision-making. AI can analyse costs to identify savings opportunities or improve pricing strategies based on market dynamics. It's about business enablement—proactively advising how to optimise operations.
Success metrics vary by objectives—whether cost reduction, penalty avoidance, or revenue enhancement. In accounts payable, efficient processing saves money while early payments can generate additional income through discounts.
What does successful partnership look like in the AI transformation journey?
Transformation is a journey, not a single activity. In 2016, we began working with an electrical manufacturing company whose initial expectation was labour arbitrage. After moving processing offshore, we reduced process exceptions and non-value-added activities through systematic analysis.
First, we designed lean-based improvements without changing their technology. After standardising processes, we introduced technology—RPA, analytics, and AI/ML automations. We've supported them through system implementations for nearly nine years, deploying relevant technologies throughout the journey. This gradual approach built trust and delivered consistent improvements.
Successful partnerships require alignment on goals and collaborative problem-solving. Both parties must look at challenges from the same perspective, ensuring the process flows smoothly rather than becoming disjointed. This alignment is critical when implementing AI solutions, as it requires understanding of both business processes and technological capabilities.
We always focus on solutions that deliver ROI, solve problems effectively, and remain sustainable. This collaborative approach drives lasting transformational partnerships that continue to evolve over time, adapting to changing business needs and technological advancements.
Today, it's not only about SLAs but business outcomes. For example, in accounts payable, clients previously focused on processing metrics like volume and accuracy. Now they expect insights about optimising cash outflow, vendor relationships, and fraud analysis.
About EXL
EXL is a leading operations management and analytics company that helps businesses enhance growth and improve profitability through data-driven insights and process optimisation. Specialising in digital transformation, the company delivers AI-powered solutions across industries including insurance, healthcare, banking, and professional services. With a global presence and over 43,000 professionals, EXL combines deep industry knowledge with cutting-edge technology to drive measurable business outcomes for its clients.
About Enate
Enate is the leading SaaS solution for business services. Enate orchestrates work from start to finish, giving clients the visibility and control needed to deliver better services. From email management and data analysis to intelligent document processing, Enate also offers a host of touch-button AI features designed to slash the time spent on manual work. Trusted by global service teams, Enate ensures smooth, consistent operations that help clients perform at their best.