Global Fintech Fest opens in Mumbai with agentic AI, tokenisation and quantum on the agenda

The seventh Global Fintech Fest opened in Mumbai on September 8, 2026, running to September 11, with an official theme built around agentic artificial intelligence, tokenisation and quantum computing framed as trusted and connected global systems for inclusive finance.

The Prime Minister was scheduled to inaugurate the festival as part of a two-state visit that also included the dedication of three key sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor and foundation stones for rail, road and state projects worth more than ₹35,000 crore in Vadodara.

From potential to impact

Previous editions of the festival organised their programmes around potential. The 2026 edition has been organised around deployment: central bank digital currency interoperability, tokenised deposits, cross-border settlement rails and the settlement layer that underpins all three.

• Tokenisation of deposits and securities moves from pilot to schedule, which changes who bears the operational risk.
• Agentic AI shifts the compliance question from model output to delegation — who is accountable for an agent's action.
• Quantum moves onto a payments conference programme as a horizon risk to signature-based authentication.

For an Indian delegation, the subtext is the payment infrastructure already in place. UPI's throughput made India a reference point for real-time retail payments; the argument the festival is now having is about what sits on top of that rail, and which of the three announced technologies will carry live traffic first.