National: Axis Capital is redefining research solutions with Sound Bytes – new AI-generated audio summaries for securities research.  Extending its thought leadership in research to how content is distributed and consumed, Axis Capital is taking a hard look at conventional research formats with its future-forward research solutions suite of products. The primary objective is to help institutional investors who are suffering from information overload with solutions that reduce the burden of reading without any loss of information. Subscribers to Axis Capital research can now simply click to listen to a sharp 2-minute summary before diving into a full report. This will also allow them to get insights on the go – a quick listen-filter-curate before a deeper engagement with the content. Listen to a quick snatch of Neelkanth Mishra’s 18th Aug analysis of the government’s GST rationalization move.

Why Sound Bytes

Mainstream formats for institutional equity research are turning into a 20th-century anachronism: text-and-nothing-but-text that evolved from paper and printing and hardcopy reading. Digitization has helped reduce the use of paper, but content creation and distribution formats remain largely the same. Something needs to change.

The amount of information and analysis available on global events and the number of stocks worth covering has grown dramatically in the last few years, as has the number of research providers. This is in addition to content relating to our private lives. Most of us struggle with cognitive overload, and those who recognize it respond by conspicuously cutting down their content consumption and daily screen-time.

Axis Capital places a high value on clients’ time and recognizes the need to offer abstracts of serious research that lets clients decide whether to take a deeper dive. Given the excess reading material accumulating in mailboxes or on social media, this must be made available in capsules that can be easily consumed on the go.

Enter Sound Bytes, which allows clients to listen to research briefs while driving, commuting, on a jog, or while grabbing a coffee – a stress-free, usually hands-free solution with the listener exercising the choice to engage less, or more. Audio inputs simply require less mental processing and have been proven to reduce fatigue.

Building an AI-led solution

Given the thousands of research pieces published by Axis Capital annually, automating and standardizing the process of summarization – while abiding by regulatory guidelines and central bank strictures and without adding to the turnaround time – would have been difficult without large-language models (LLMs) using AI.

Importantly, the 2-minute report briefs are not reductive abstracts, neither click bait nor frivolous flags – they are cognitive hooks engineered to prioritize our core theses and calls to action, with quick references to the underlying rationale.

Axis Capital leads the street in this offering, having integrated Sound Bytes with its internal workflow systems and approval processes (which vary by the product and report types).

Management Reactions

Atul Mehra – MD & CEO, Axis Capital:  We are delighted to lead the charge in AI-led products in investment banking in India. We are experimenting with a range of such solutions to service our clients better across our divisions. While Sound Bytes helps address the critical problem of information overload for investors, there are other solutions on the way that can reshape our engagement with clients and dramatically reduce turnaround times. The industry is awash in AI chatter, but we are glad to have the first product off the ground.

Neelkanth Mishra – MD & Head of Global Research, Axis Capital & Chief Economist, Axis Bank: As the Indian market grows in size and diversity, we understand the challenges it places on our clients’ time. Sound Bytes is only the first in a tranche of solutions that are re-shaping the way our clients can engage with our products. We are deeply committed to investing in cutting-edge technology to scale up our services without diluting quality. The genesis of this product was the enthusiastic feedback to our podcasts and other non-text formats of intelligence. We intend to continue listening to our clients and responding to their changing needs.

Raman Jauhar – MD & Head of Equites, Axis Capital:  Innovation demands a departure from convention, and Axis Capital is proud to be at the forefront of the shift in how research content is consumed. Sound Bytes tackles the issue of cognitive strain for the buyside by streamlining access to our industry-leading research. We remain focused on our goal of driving greater client engagement and are proud to introduce this tool as a homegrown initiative developed for the unique requirements of our market rather than relying on global imports. For Axis Capital, AI is not the destination but a means to deliver tailored solutions for the distinct challenges of our industry.