Yogendra Goyal is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Kuhoo, a pioneering Edu Fintech platform working strenuously to democratize educational opportunities for learners, irrespective of their socio-economic background. In his current position, he is responsible for ensuring that applicants have adequate experience for the respective job roles while also making certain that data security in the hiring process is iron-clad. Yogendra is also committed to reducing the cost of the loan by 70% and bringing it down to only 30%.
A Mumbai-based entrepreneur, Yogendra has approximately two decades of experience in the fast-evolving internet industry. He completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay. He kickstarted his professional career as a rookie engineer in IndiaIdeas.com Limited (BillDesk).
At Kuhoo, under the supervision of Yogendra, team created some of the innovative products like decision engine, KYC engine, document service which is helping Kuhoo to take right credit decisions.
With his all-encompassing skillset and decades of experience, he now intends to make the higher education path financially sound for brighter minds. Five years down the line, he aspires to see that the entire journey and loan process at Kuhoo is automated. Yogendra is already working spiritedly to make this dream come true.
Outside work, Yogendra is an avid reader and enjoys reading exciting science and fiction books. He is also an enthusiastic traveler and goes on frequent trips with his family and friends.
We got a chance to interview Mr. Yogendra Goyal recently and here’s how it went.
- What is the technology behind Kuhoo Fintech?
We are creating API based frameworks where we utilize not only the latest tech innovations in the financial services space, but we are also focusing on creating advanced and agile solutions to develop a whole variety of products suitable for different education needs. We are contriving to leverage technology to build secure and seamless, fully digital journeys for our customers. We aim to service customers spanning across the horizon which would include young undergrads needing assistance for their college fees to newly qualified graduates looking to upskill himself or herself, to a working professional looking to pursue certification or executive courses hoping to accelerate his or her professional growth.
- Does it comprise the latest buzzwords – Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, etc. If others, please specify?
These buzzwords are integral part of the strategy for any futuristic company. What is important in this context is to apply and use data in a gainful manner.
Kuhoo’s Technology and Platform is built on the latest available tech stack and driven by Data Science and AI. We have rule engines and scorecards at different stages of the customer journey to enable fair, fast and objective decisions. We have invested in latest machine learning technologies like OCR, location intelligence among others. Our platform is built on microservices and allows API integrations with all major 3rd party systems required for a lending business.
At Kuhoo, we are utilizing these analytical tools in order to understand data in a meaningful manner and draw intelligent inferences. Through applying the machine learning, we want to transform underwriting and evaluation of a student’s loan application. We have created collateral-free loans without the parents having to sign-up as a co-borrower. This is revolutionary in itself. Historically, student loans were given against collaterals furnished by the parents and based on the earnings of the parents.
By developing data driven insights and intelligence, we intend to create the right evaluation engine to process loan applications from a plethora of customers from diverse backgrounds.
- How are you using technology to diversify your product?
India is one of the largest democracies with one of the highest working population in the order of almost 6 million. One of the largest in the world. Mix it with the diverse geography, a highly disparate job market landscape and fragmented access to technology and education and we get a complex and highly unpenetrated market from an education financing perspective. Covid led disruptions and steadily falling education loan portfolios of PSBs have added urgency for private institutions to pitch in to service a steadily rising demand for student loans.
At Kuhoo, our overarching vision is to become a one stop solution for anything that a student needs. Through technology, we have improved every step of the loan application journey of an individual. By multiple tie-ups, we have automated the entire customer onboarding journey which would include KYC check and authentication of the documents submitted. Through API integrations we ensure a quick and secure collection of data from various other sources which is used by our underwriting engine to prop a credit score of the individual. With the help of latest innovations in the payment and collections domain, we ensure a prompt and easy flow of funds. There is a dedicated focus on making this journey easy and convenient for a student, so that with minimum effort from his side, we are able to service his needs. Now that there is a wider reach of technology, we are using it to enhance access to our products to remote parts of our country.
People today require funds for a variety of reasons which may include funds for mid-course fees, skill based/ online/ part-time courses, certification and/or executive courses, reskilling courses to become an entrepreneur and for going abroad to study. Aligning our country’s goal of becoming Atma Nirbhar, we wish to provide this opportunity to every student to become self-reliant while being able to pursue the education of their choice and build their dream careers.
- What kind of tech platforms or tools are you using?
Kuhoo is using advanced technology languages like Flutter and Python for development, so as to deliver a platform designed for longevity and scalability in a secure environment. It is also ensuring to leverage advanced security systems like ISTIO with Service Mash, API Gateway. It is using Kubernetes, CI/CD/Dockers to ensure minimum IT risk and optimize cost.
- When you say inclusion, and you serve your clients advancement technology at an affordable cost, what technologies do you mean?
Kuhoo intends to use open source frameworks. Technology like Flutter allows us to build once and distribute on multiple platforms like Android, iOS, Desktop etc. Micro services on Kubernetes allows Kuhoo to scale. Automated KYC engine will help avoid human errors while ensuring compliance with regulatory guidelines. It is using in-house innovation while leveraging the current advancements and technological in-roads in this space, so as to reduce the cost for our customers in the best possible way.
- Please elaborate about how Kuhoo Fintech uses technology and data science to create products that allows students to take their own responsibility instead of putting a financial burden on their parents? – to be answered by Tushar
Kuhoo does a deep assessment of the applicant (student) looking at several factors using data science and scorecards to combine those factors to arrive at optimal decisions. Kuhoo looks at the future earning potential and employability of the student as a key input and does not just go by whether his/her parents have assets or high bank balance. This helps Kuhoo provide loans where student is the primary borrower and has all the flexibility to make repayments when he/she starts earning.
Our aim is to enhance our demographic outreach such that we want to cater education needs for all individuals from the age of 18 and above. Through our domain expertise and a concerted focus on innovation, we want to nurture inclusivity and help every student in India to become self-reliant and move unbridled to fulfill their dreams and aspirations without putting a burden on his or her parents.
- Any new/unique development from a tech perspective, that we can highlight?
As enunciated earlier, our entire focus is to use latest data and technological innovations to reduce cost and make student loan journey convenient. We are constantly improving our processes and some such efforts include:
We are building a technology platform that will create consumer friendly products.
Through extreme focus on automation, Kuhoo is creating comprehensive mobile journeys for our customers for end to end processing in order to facilitate seamless hassle-free experiences for people from remote areas facing access challenges.
- What has been your biggest technological challenge?
Tech talent crunch has been one of the most common industry wide issue for any tech based company but at Kuhoo, we were able to attract high density talent in a short span of time through sound corporate culture and offering a distinctive environment for progressive learning. Creating the right tech infra structure to increase the outreach to a large country like India is our foremost goal and perseverance and dedicated efforts from our team would take us there in due time.
We thank Mr. Yogendra Goyal for taking the time out and answering our questions! Also, wish them the very best in their future endeavors.
