The upcoming growth is primarily driven by Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Today’s investors are more varied, more demanding, and have greater expectations than ever before. In response, Angel One has fully revamped its structure to cater to these needs effectively.
At the core of this transformation is a daring technological vision, implemented through practical enterprise-wide execution, that seeks to blend agility with scalability, innovation with safety, customer trust with governance, and advanced applications with proactive risk management processes.
Ravish Sinha, the Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO) of Angel One, is on a critical mission. He is carefully balancing speed and vigilance, experimentation and governance, and customer experience with security.Sinha emphasizes that Angel One relentlessly strives to stay proactive in a fiercely competitive and regulated environment, leveraging platform intelligence, technology, data, and AI to strengthen client relationships, unlock greater lifetime value, and ensure sustained operational efficiency, while diversifying revenue through verticals like credit, wealth, and asset management.
In an exclusive interview with ETCIO, Ravish Sinha, CPTO of Angel One, reveals the vision, strategies, and innovations that are steering the future of Angel One. He elaborates on how he is focusing on innovative applications that scale effortlessly and security frameworks that build trust among millions of investors, shaping the company’s digital journey.
As India’s largest listed fintech platform by active NSE clients, Angel One operates in a market characterized by low ticket sizes. To cater to this demographic, brokerage firms must heavily depend on digitization to offer low-cost, high-engagement services efficiently, as a technology-driven fintech entity. How are you utilizing digital technology to make investing more accessible?The implementation of digital technology is simplifying investment processes and broadening access within the investor community.
We have launched features like dynamic filtering, cohort-based customization, simplified navigation, and social proof to assist both novice and seasoned investors in making informed decisions aligned with their risk profiles and objectives. This enhances the experience for both first-time investors and those with prior market interaction.
We have designed our app and web platforms to prioritize clean aesthetics and straightforward features appealing to audiences beyond metropolitan areas. Investors can now tap into real-time market data, advanced charting, and analytical tools that were once the domain of professionals, now accessible to retail clients.The Angel One Super App consolidates stocks, F&O, mutual funds, ETFs, insurance, fixed deposits, and loans into a single platform, enabling users to manage various financial needs seamlessly.
Retail investors seek real-time insights, regulators demand compliance, and market fluctuations test your infrastructure. How does your tech team navigate these challenges?
Our platform’s architecture is designed to incorporate speed, transparency, and resilience, with compliance, security, and investor trust as fundamental elements. We have embraced a cloud-native, microservices architecture that allows our systems to scale effortlessly and manage market volatility, akin to how major digital platforms handle peak traffic.
In what areas is Angel One leading compared to its peers in terms of digital maturity, and where do you still need to catch up?
In terms of digital maturity, we have taken the lead by unifying the entire investment and wealth journey into a single, integrated Super App. Unlike competitors who have separate applications for trading, mutual funds, lending, and educational resources, this all-in-one platform delivers equities, F&O, mutual funds, loans, insurance, and fixed deposits, providing a cohesive financial experience.
This unified approach eliminates friction, enhances engagement, and empowers more informed financial choices. A clean, high-performing interface is consistent across Android, iOS, and web platforms, reflected in robust 4.4 app ratings and numerous user reviews.
We continue to make advancements in hyper-personalization through AI and data science, evolving to meet the needs of digital-first users. By combining scale, simplicity, and intelligent insights, our platform is redefining the future of digital investing in India.
What is one bold technological initiative Angel One is pursuing that distinguishes it from others in the brokerage industry?
One of our most audacious initiatives has involved establishing a trading infrastructure designed to remain reliable under intense market pressure. During high-activity periods—like the general election results on June 4, 2024—many platforms experience slowdowns or failures, but Angel One’s systems maintained both speed and stability along with real-time execution.
This resilience results from intentional technology choices. A modern Order Management System (OMS) and Risk Management System (RMS) are hosted on private infrastructure, ensuring end-to-end control over performance, security, and reliability. A high-speed middleware layer (AMX) processes thousands of transactions per second with minimal latency, while non-core operations are carried out on a cloud-native setup to provide elastic scalability without impacting critical functions.
What distinguishes Angel One is that these engineering investments are not merely protective—they tangibly enhance the investor experience. Consequently, the platform delivers consistent uptime, ultra-low latency, and uninterrupted execution, particularly in volatile moments when investors rely on it the most.
What is a lesser-known metric you monitor to gauge platform stickiness for retail investors?
While metrics like Daily Active Users (DAU) and trading volumes offer a broad perspective on engagement, two lesser-known metrics—Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Contact Ratio (CR)—provide deeper understanding regarding platform stickiness, particularly among retail investors.
We utilize NPS not just to gauge satisfaction, but as an indicator of long-term engagement. Promoters, or those who rate us highly, typically explore more features, conduct transactions more frequently, and remain loyal over time. A shift in NPS often precedes changes in behavior, allowing us to proactively address areas for improvement and maintain an emotional bond with users.
Contact Ratio, on the other hand, helps us measure friction and service quality. It tracks how often users seek support relative to their activity across various journeys—whether equity trading, mutual funds, loans, or onboarding. A lower Contact Ratio indicates that users are navigating the platform efficiently without needing assistance—signaling both intuitive design and platform maturity.
The combination of these metrics allows us to move beyond mere transactions and gain insight into how confident, self-sufficient, and connected our users feel—crucial elements for fostering long-term loyalty.
AI is revolutionizing the brokerage landscape. How is it helping you filter out noise to provide real wealth-building insights?
AI is central to our vision of fostering a financially confident India by cutting through market noise to provide personalized, long-term investment insights. Features like AskAngel and automated email systems resolve 45% of customer inquiries instantly, thus improving support and allowing teams to focus on complex tasks.
Machine learning and GenAI personalize in-app experiences, recommend relevant investments, and simplify discovery. Onboarding videos greet users by name while AI-driven regional research is transformed into local-language podcasts for our Authorized Partners, making insights more accessible across India.
Our proprietary AI, Pragya, assists teams with quick answers and automation, while tools like Cursor accelerate development. AI allows us to deliver smarter insights, quicker outcomes, and a platform built for scale, simplicity, and trust.
What challenges do you face with AI in broking, especially in light of regulatory and risk considerations?
AI is redefining broking, enhancing both advising capabilities and risk management. We support SEBI’s advocacy for responsible AI implementation and assert that innovation must be accompanied by accountability and investor protection. Nevertheless, the deployment of advanced AI models, especially generative AI, presents numerous regulatory and operational hurdles.
Investor protection is a paramount concern. Without proper oversight, AI-generated recommendations or automated trading could yield biased or erroneous advice, potentially harming investors and inciting panic. SEBI has identified these risks as critical.
The widespread application of AI may trigger herding behavior and market volatility. To mitigate this, SEBI recommends safeguards, including circuit breakers, stress tests, and robust data governance. Given AI’s reliance on large datasets, cybersecurity and privacy become paramount—necessitating stringent encryption, breach reporting, and vigilant oversight. Firms must ensure human accountability and implement clear governance structures, refraining from shifting responsibility to third-party AI providers.
Firms must reinforce clear human accountability, establish solid governance frameworks, and cannot delegate responsibility to third-party AI suppliers.
How are you enhancing cyber resilience against sophisticated threats that may influence market behavior?
To address advanced cyber threats that could impact market dynamics, we employ a robust, proactive strategy. Real-time threat intelligence and behavioral analytics facilitate the early identification of manipulative activities. Our 24×7 Security Operations Centre (SOC) utilizes SIEM, XDR, and threat intelligence to monitor and respond to potential risks. We safeguard sensitive data using encryption, access controls, and DLP tools. Regular red teaming exercises, cyber attack simulations, and continuity assessments ensure system resilience. These strategies align with SEBI’s guidelines to preserve platform integrity, secure investor data, and maintain market stability in all circumstances.
In an era of rapid release cycles and increasing scrutiny, how do you balance speed, security, and privacy? How do you integrate security at every layer to safeguard investor confidence?
Innovation is deeply rooted in trust, security, and regulatory accountability. Adopting the Zero Trust Principle means access is tightly controlled and continuously scrutinized. Security is entrenched at every layer through DevSecOps practices, encryption, role-based access, and real-time threat identification. Our recognition as a Qualified Stock Broker by SEBI underscores our compliance with the Cyber Security and Cyber Resilience Framework (CSCRF), allowing for prompt risk responses and high resilience—backed by a disaster recovery system capable of restoring service within 15 minutes and data replication to a backup site over 250 kilometers away.
Privacy is managed transparently and with user consent, in line with Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, IT, and RBI regulations, granting users complete control over their data. All third-party integrations undergo rigorous evaluations, and strong incident response and escalation protocols ensure regulatory compliance when necessary. Our clear goal is to deliver secure, compliant, and trusted fintech services at scale.
What does your future tech roadmap encompass?
Our technological roadmap is centered on the creation of a scalable, intelligent, and trusted investment platform tailored to the changing requirements of Indian investors, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. Our primary focuses are speed, security, personalization, and regulatory adherence.
Experiences are crafted to be seamless, inclusive, and insight-driven across different devices, languages, and financial objectives. AI and ML streamline discovery, automate processes, and provide timely insights, while a cloud-native, modular architecture supports continuous innovation.
Security, privacy, and compliance are woven throughout, with robust data infrastructure and agile methodologies promoting efficiency and smarter decision-making. Cross-functional collaboration fosters cohesive execution, supported by sustainable and energy-efficient technological practices.
The ecosystem is designed for scalability, making long-term wealth creation straightforward, secure, and accessible to all.
