BCG’s Tushar Agarwal: Adaptability, data, innovation drive banking excellence in Asia Pacific

He underscores that transformation, talent, and measurable impact separate financial industry leaders from the rest.

The banking and financial services sector in Asia Pacific is currently growing and reinventing itself, thanks to the evolving customer expectations, digital disruption, regulatory developments, and economic uncertainty, which are challenging financial institutions to rethink how they create value and remain competitive.

Amongst the professionals who have closely observed these changes is Tushar Agarwal, a core member of Boston Consulting Group’s Financial Institutions practice.

Tushar specialises in large-scale transformations, transaction banking, revenue productivity, cost optimisation, and balance sheet management. He has spent many years of his career advising banks, asset managers, payments firms, and financial supervisory entities in Southeast Asia, with a deep focus on Indonesia.

His leadership responsibilities include the transformation programmes for financial institutions across Asia Pacific, the CCIB (wholesale & transaction banking), and the CFO Excellence Programme in the region. Tushar has extensive experience in value-based turnaround programmes, which have strengthened the performance of financial institutions that are faced with complex operating environments.

Tushar’s strategic insight and hands-on transformation experience make him a valuable voice as one of the judges at the Asian Banking & Finance Wholesale Banking Awards and Retail Banking Awards 2026.

Opportunities amidst transformation

Whilst market conditions remain influenced by interest rate movements and margin pressures, Tushar sees significant opportunities in the financial services landscape.

He pointed to continued growth potential in corporate and institutional banking, supported by rising cross-border business activity, digital assets, and the increasing financing needs of Asia Pacific companies expanding globally. Wealth and asset management are also expected to benefit from growing personal wealth and the continued development of capital markets across the region.

At the same time, Tushar noted, technology is reshaping how banks compete.

“Digitisation, especially with AI, will be the fastest adopted by banks where the data is rich, and talent is relatively more accessible,” Tushar said.

He believes the strongest near-term gains will come from operational areas such as engineering, fraud management, anti-money laundering, know-your-customer processes, and customer servicing. However, he also noted that the Asia Pacific remains highly diverse, hence institutions are required to tailor strategies to different levels of market maturity and financial inclusion.

Furthermore, in transaction banking, Tushar highlighted the growing institutionalisation of digital assets and tokenised deposits as a major development. Banks are now working with ecosystem partners to embed these capabilities into their product offerings. He also sees significant potential in supply chain finance and cross-border payment systems as businesses reconfigure sourcing networks and regional trade flows.

Building resilient financial institutions

Looking ahead, Tushar believes resilience will depend on far more than technology investments alone.

For balance sheet optimisation, he emphasised the importance of an integrated data architecture that provides a real-time view of capital, liquidity, and risk. Strong financial management frameworks and disciplined capital allocation remain essential for banks seeking sustainable returns.

He added that it is equally important to understand how customer expectations have been changing. As corporate and institutional clients demand faster onboarding, real-time visibility, intuitive digital platforms, and integrated services across multiple markets, banks must be able to meet these service standards. More businesses are expanding internationally, hence the need for reliable banking experiences has become even more critical.

When asked what will define the most successful financial institutions over the next decade, Tushar identifies three critical capabilities: adaptability, talent, and technology.

“Teams that understand the fiduciary duties of the organisation whilst being able to translate the needs of their customers to change people, process, and tech will be gamechanger,” he said.

He also stressed that the effectiveness of artificial intelligence depends on the quality of a bank’s underlying data. Strong data integrity, he argued, will become increasingly important for pricing, risk management, and decision-making as AI adoption accelerates.

As a returning judge at the Asian Banking & Finance Wholesale Banking Awards and Retail Banking Awards 2026, Tushar brings a practical perspective that he earned from his years of helping financial institutions execute transformation programmes and deliver measurable business outcomes.

He believes that rather than focusing solely on ambitious plans or emerging technologies, the strongest entries are those that yield proven outcomes and meaningful innovation. Because for Tushar, success is reflected in how effectively organisations translate ideas into impact.

“What matters is the achievements seen in the pilots launched and how innovative the solutions are over the competitive playing field,” he said. 

His deep understanding of banking transformation, operational excellence, and future industry trends positions him well to evaluate the achievements that are shaping the next chapter of financial services in the Asia Pacific.