CEOInterviews.AI
Start App
Try: AI strategy tariffs earnings guidance layoffs interest rates growth

Vijay Sharma

CEO & Founder, Paytm

Search every verified Vijay Sharma interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm, made several public appearances in late 2026, speaking on topics including digital payments, artificial intelligence, and his company's financial performance. At Paytm's 26th Annual General Meeting, he said FY26 was a milestone year in which the company became fully profitable on a clean profit-after-tax basis, and he described AI as both an ingredient in the business and an opportunity to create new revenue streams. In an interview about UPI charges, he said the government's decision to levy charges on large payments while keeping the system free for common citizens and small merchants was a "Robin Hood kind of work." Sharma also spoke at multiple industry events about India's role in AI development. At Cypher 2026, he argued that India should not settle for being merely an "AI user" and called for building and owning sovereign foundation models, saying "staying a user is losing." At a podcast hosted by Innovation Hub U.P., he encouraged students to take chances and solve problems for their own country, stating that "when we solve our own country's problem, we will become rich and resourceful." At Nexus Luxembourg 2026, he described financial entities as "franchisees of the regulator" and said Luxembourg had a high probability of becoming the gateway for AI in Europe.

Recent appearances

  • Vijay Shekhar Sharma | Paytm Founder & CEO | Exclusive Podcast Innovation Hub 🎙️

    October 17, 2026 · 📺 Innovation Hub, AKTU

    Vijay Shekhar Sharma | Paytm Founder & CEO | Exclusive Podcast 🎙️ Join us for an exclusive podcast with Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO of Paytm, as he shares his entrepreneurial journey, business insights, challenges, and vision for the future of digital payments in India. ● Innovation Hub U.P. , Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow . #VijayShekharSharma #Paytm #PaytmFounder #Podcast #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #Business #Technology #Startup #InnovationHubUP #explore #youtube #viral #viralvideo #video

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • What Family Business Owners Can Learn from Paytm's Founder | Vijay Shekhar Sharma on Resilience

    October 13, 2026 · 📺 Billion Growth Circle

    What does it take to keep a business alive when growth slows, markets turn against you, and the pressure becomes overwhelming? In this honest and inspiring talk, **Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm**, shares the real story behind his entrepreneurial journey—from his humble beginnings and early struggles to Paytm’s rapid growth during India’s demonetization period and the intense challenges that followed its IPO. His experience offers valuable lessons for **family-business owners, next-generation entrepreneurs, and anyone responsible for carrying a business forward**: Why resilience is…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • PayTM CEO on India's AI Future: Why Being a User Is Being a Loser

    October 07, 2026 · 📺 AIM Network

    While India handles over 24 billion UPI transactions monthly, a testament to domestic tech execution. Paytm Founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma argues that the country is risking its future by settling for being mere "AI users" and "sloppy wrapper writers" rather than building and owning sovereign foundation models. Speaking on Day 1 of Cypher 2026, Sharma challenges the belief that India lacks the capital or technical capability to own its intelligence, calling for a shift from consuming foreign AI stacks to building open-source, bottom-up intelligence models. In this exclusive interview reco…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Building FinTech Giants: A Conversation with Paytm’s Founder, Vijay Shekhar Sharma

    September 23, 2026 · 📺 Nexus Luxembourg

    💡 What does it take to build a FinTech giant — and where will AI create the next wave of financial innovation? At Nexus Luxembourg 2026, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder of Paytm, joined Jean-Louis Schiltz and David Shrier for a conversation spanning entrepreneurship, digital payments, regulation, artificial intelligence and Luxembourg’s potential role in the future of European finance. Looking back at Paytm’s journey, Sharma explains why technology entrepreneurs need to return to first principles and solve fundamental problems. For Paytm, that meant making digital payments accessible even to t…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • UPI Charges पर सारी Confusion दूर! Paytm, CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma से समझिए पूरा गणित | Samachar

    September 15, 2026 · 📺 DD News

    Samachar में देखिए Paytm, CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma का UPI और डिजिटल पेमेंट को लेकर बड़ा विजन। उन्होंने भारत के डिजिटल भुगतान इकोसिस्टम, fintech innovation और UPI की बढ़ती पहुंच पर अपनी बात रखी। जानिए कैसे UPI देश में तेज़, सुरक्षित और समावेशी डिजिटल लेनदेन को नई रफ्तार दे रहा है।v #vijayshekharsharma #upi #digitalpayment #digitalpaymentsindia #upiindia #paytmceo #fintech #fintechindia #digitaleconomy #cashlesseconomy #onlinepayment #paymentinnovation #digitaltransaction #npci #indiafintech #financialtechnology #digitalfinance #indiadigitalpayments #upiecosystem Subscribe: For more news go…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Watch Paytm’s 26th Annual General Meeting LIVE | Paytm AGM 2026 | By Paytm | #paytmkaro

    September 14, 2026 · 📺 Paytm

    We are live with Paytm’s 26th Annual General Meeting (AGM 2026). Join us as our Founder and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, addresses our valued shareholders and stakeholders. Watch now #Paytm #PaytmAGM2026 #VijayShekharSharma #PaytmKaro #DigitalIndia #FintechIndia

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • How Great Companies Are Built to Last | Vijay Shekhar Sharma | Entrepreneurship Journey | @paytm

    August 05, 2026 · 📺 Paytm

    What does it take to build a company that outlives its founder? In this inspiring keynote, Paytm Founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma shares his reflections on entrepreneurship, nation-building, and creating institutions that stand the test of time. Speaking at a special event celebrating the legacy of J.R.D. Tata, Vijay talks about the values that have shaped his entrepreneurial journey and why businesses should strive to create lasting impact beyond profits. Drawing inspiration from Tata's vision, he explains how building for the nation's future ultimately leads to building enduring business…

    Read the verified transcript → Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Paytm UPI Grew 2.2X Faster: What’s Driving The Growth?| Vijay Shekhar Sharma | Paytm Karo | @paytm

    July 28, 2026 · 📺 Paytm

    During the Q1FY27 Earnings, Paytm CEO and Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma spoke about the company's consumer market share grew 2.2x faster than the overall UPI market. Addressing the analysts, Vijay spoke about the below: Operational Growth and Recovery: The company has seen strong execution in consumer payments, growing transaction market share at twice the rate of the market. The speaker confirmed that key performance indicators, such as daily active users, have now surpassed the levels recorded in January 2024, effectively moving past previous challenges. Monetization and Profitability: Mov…

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Vijay Shekhar Sharma's Surprising CIBIL Score Story | CIBIL Event | AI in Business | @paytm

    July 25, 2026 · 📺 Paytm

    A credit score is more than just a number, but can AI help make it even more accurate and inclusive? In this insightful conversation at the CIBIL event, Paytm Founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma shares his personal experience with credit scores and explains why the future of credit assessment should go beyond a single snapshot in time. Drawing from his own journey, he discusses how AI has the potential to create a more continuous and holistic view of an individual's financial behaviour, helping lenders make better-informed credit decisions. The discussion also explores the evolution of India'…

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Vijay Shekhar Sharma on India's DPDP Act & Data Privacy | CIBIL Event | AI Innovations | @paytm

    July 24, 2026 · 📺 Paytm

    As Artificial Intelligence becomes more powerful, questions around privacy, consent, and responsible innovation are becoming more important than ever. In this impactful conversation at the CIBIL event, Paytm Founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma shares his perspective on India's Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, why consent-based data sharing is essential, and how strong data privacy laws can empower individuals while strengthening India's digital ecosystem. The discussion also explores the evolving relationship between AI and regulation, including the importance of building AI respo…

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  • Why AI Is Like the Internet in Its Early Days | Vijay Shekhar Sharma | Business Today | @paytm

    July 23, 2026 · 📺 Paytm

    Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way businesses operate, innovate, and create value, but its impact goes far beyond productivity. In this insightful conversation at the CIBIL event, Paytm Founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma shares his perspective on how AI is reshaping businesses, why adopting an AI-first mindset is becoming essential, and how companies can use AI to gain a competitive edge rather than simply improve efficiency. He explains why businesses that embrace AI today will be better positioned to innovate, build new products, and unlock future growth opportunities. The con…

    Watch on YouTube ↗

  • How AI Is Reshaping the Future of Business | Vijay Shekhar Sharma at TransUnion CIBIL | @paytm

    July 22, 2026 · 📺 Paytm

    Artificial Intelligence is redefining the way businesses are built, operated, and scaled—and the entrepreneurs who embrace it today are shaping the future of innovation. In this insightful conversation, at the CIBIL event, Paytm Founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma joins V. Anantharaman to share his perspective on how AI is transforming today's startup ecosystem and changing the way businesses think, innovate, and compete. He explains why AI is no longer just a technological advantage, but a fundamental shift in how companies solve problems, improve efficiency, and create better customer experi…

    Watch on YouTube ↗

Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“When I came out of college at that time, there was a job in a software company. When we solve another country's problem, that country benefits because we will keep solving their problems. When we solve our own country's problem, we will become rich and resourceful. So that's it. The generation we belong to solves a problem and captures opportunity that belongs to us. Our opportunity is for us. If we look at these as ”

“India is no longer a world dependency. We can all create something new in our own country, and we have the capabilities, resources, and market. Earlier, India had a problem: if you wanted to sell something in India, there were fewer customers and less demand. So more or less everything we built had to be explored elsewhere, or the demand was very foundational and local. But now, with the innovation we see, everybody ”

“The way to think about it is that up until now our data center business has been almost entirely GPUs. Vera is our CPU, and you know what's really exciting is that Vera opens a brand new 200 billion TAM for NVIDIA, a market we have never addressed before, and every major hyperscaler is partnering with us to get it deployed, and that's huge for the company because for the first time we have a second engine of that sca”

“We believe the world will be here and we believe and polarize the world pursue push build technologies this is where will it go the puck is moving here jobs language the sadness is IT ki puck wahi khadi hui hai sir That's true. Ye move hogi. Ye chala gaya. Code likhna chala gaya. Ab humein koi gyaan nahi chahiye. Is jagah pe dekh lo. Otherwise dekh lo. To uske upar orchestration layer chahiye thi.”

“First of all, I think we are given this woke virus that we should be only a user. I think user is good but staying a user is losing. And in my opinion, we should be building it. Should be owning our own intelligence and it is important for our country of our size capability and skill as you meet people incredible people around us that we cannot be literally the third world in the AI. Or otherwise the third world but ”

“I think financial systems are or entities in financial industry are I call them franchisee of regulator because practically the responsibility of their operations sits with the regulator. They're fit and proper their operations everything and now that approach lot of time have saved me or created a correct relationship structure of a fintech with regulator. If you think yourself as a I'm independent and I'm here for ”

The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →