AI Efficiency vs. Accountability: A Challenge

New Delhi, Feb 16 (PTI) Artificial Intelligence (AI) is boosting efficiency and reshaping the way work is done, but gaps in the education system and the risk of weakening human accountability pose serious challenges, leading voices from global financial institutions cautioned on Monday.

Speaking at a panel discussion at the AI Impact Summit 2026, Srijay Ghosh, a senior executive at Temasek, said that AI will enable employees to use their time more productively and add 20–30 per cent more value in their work.

"This is a potential for us to move up the value chain in everything we do... I can move up 20-30 per cent value chain of humanity because I can use my time productively," he said.

However, he cautioned against weakening human oversight as machine-led decision-making becomes more prevalent.

"What I'm worried about is dilution of human accountability because there will be a lot of decisions which will be taken by agents, machines, but human accountability has to stay. I hope we don't dilute accountability while we think about opportunities in productivity while moving up the value chain," Ghosh said.


Mahindra & Mahindra's Bhuvan Lodha said AI has the potential to eliminate drudgery of the work and significantly enhance individual efficiency, but flagged concerns over the readiness of the education system.

"The drudgery of the job goes away. Personal productivity becomes 10X of who you are because you are using AI's working framework. What's worrying is our education system is yet to catch up," Lodha said.

Manish Agarwal, President & Business Head of Kotak Mahindra Bank's flagship digital banking platform, 811, highlighted both the pros and cons surrounding rapid technological change.

"The speed which AI brings is really exciting. The thing which bothers me is do we have a job tomorrow," Agarwal said.

The senior executives at the global financial institutions broadly agreed that while AI-driven transformation presents immense opportunities for value creation and efficiency, maintaining accountability and preparing the workforce for the shift will be critical to ensuring inclusive and sustainable growth.