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EASE 9.0.

An operating perspective for CIOs, CROs and transformation leaders. Sixteen categories on what the Reserve Bank's scorecard rewards once AI agents run the decisions behind it.

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Sixteen categories · Four foundations Updated 2026
THE GUIDE · FREE PDF

Accelerating EASE with AI Agents.

All sixteen EASE 9.0 categories, the four foundations that unblock them, and how AI agents apply to each — with cited sources, not vendor claims. 27 pages, built for a board conversation.

Free · Letter PDF · 27 pages
Accelerating EASE with AI Agents — cover

The R.I.S.E. Framework

Four interconnected pillars that define PSU banking excellence in the EASE 9.0 era.

Risk & Resilience

Foundation. Credit decisioning at scale. Real-time governance. Trusted data as prerequisite for everything built above.

Innovation

Differentiator. AI and agents as the decision-making capability. Process re-engineering. New channels and reimagined models.

Socio-Economic Impact

Mandate. Financial inclusion. Sustainability. Empowering emerging segments. Banking with social purpose.

Excellence

Outcome. Growth in advances and deposits. Cost optimization. Superior customer experience and retention.

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Category 15 · Excellence · The Flagship Case

Five Days by Phone, Instant by App

Multiple PSU banks, one platform, real results — not a projection of what's possible for customer experience, but a record of what real-time campaign personalization has already delivered. Start with the page that proves the rest of this guide.

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Explore All 16 Categories

Deep-dive into each EASE 9.0 category and how AI agents enable transformation. All sixteen are covered in depth below and in the free guide above.

I. Risk & Resilience

Category 01 · Credit Risk & Resilience

Old Banking or New Banking

The choice was never speed versus safety. Real-time decisioning is already cutting days to hours at PSU banks.

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Category 02 · Technology Modernization & Renewal

RBI Stopped India’s Biggest Card Issuer Cold for Eight Months

Repeated outages, then an eight-month RBI freeze on every new HDFC Bank credit card.

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Category 03 · Data Quality & Management

What the Agent Can’t See, It Declines

RBI's new data-governance draft requires a named, CGM-rank owner for exactly this problem.

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Category 04 · Cybersecurity & Fraud Resilience

Fewer Frauds, Bigger Ones

RBI's own FY2025–26 numbers: cases nearly halved, value hit a three-year high of ₹48,021 crore.

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II. Innovation

Category 05 · Artificial Intelligence

A Model Scores. An Agent Decides.

RBI's own MuleHunter.AI already runs the agent side of that distinction, in production.

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Category 06 · Business Process Re-engineering

The Delay Was Architecture, Not People

Collapsing five desks into one pass at a PSU bank surfaced approvals that used to fall through the cracks.

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Category 07 · Global Capability Centres & Talent

Built Once, or Bought Four Times

A PSU bank opened the first PSU-bank GCC in Bengaluru in January 2026. The talent math is harder than the real-estate math.

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Category 08 · Digital Channels & API Ecosystem

A Batch File Is Not an Integration

A PSU bank is already live on India's Account Aggregator network, both sides.

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III. Socio-Economic Impact

Category 09 · Inclusive Banking

Invisible to the Model, Not the Market

Swiggy disbursed ₹102 crore to delivery partners on alternative-signal underwriting alone.

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Category 10 · MSME & Priority Sector Credit

Collateral Was Never the Real Signal

PNB is the first PSU bank live on GST Sahay, financing invoices in real time off GST data.

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Category 11 · Financial Literacy & Digital Access

Everyone Can Pay. Few Can Explain Why.

27% adult financial literacy against near-universal UPI access. The gap moved from access to comprehension.

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Category 12 · Sustainability & ESG Finance

A Green Book No One Can Prove Is Green

The ECB's first climate-risk fine wasn't for bad lending. It was for a 65-day-late answer.

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IV. Excellence

Category 13 · Advances & Deposits Growth

The Same AI That Wins a Deposit Can Walk It Out the Door

A 3× cross-sell lift at salary credit, and the deposit-side risk racing toward every bank.

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Category 14 · Cost Optimization & Income Growth

Savings a Market Competes Away

Central Bank of India's stressed-account ratio fell from 8% to 3% after adopting AI-driven collections.

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Category 15 · Customer Experience Transformation

Five Days by Phone, Instant by App

26% offer uptake versus a 6–8% baseline, at a PSU bank. This already happened.

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Category 16 · Governance & Next-Gen Operating Models

RBI Already Wrote the Governance Framework

Seven Sutras, 26 recommendations — FREE-AI already applies to every RBI-regulated entity.

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