The regulatory environment has become an increasingly complex system over the past few years. Studies expect spending on RegTech by financial institutions and other industries to more than double globally between by 2028.
Financial Institutions and Regulated Entities today operate under constantly evolving anti-money laundering (AML), sanctions, and financial crime prevention rules. In the current context, Regulatory Technology (RegTech), supported by Open Data Intelligence, is a crucial solution to mitigate regulatory risk, enhance transparency, and enable smarter compliance outcomes.
RegTech is described as the use of technology to help organizations meet regulatory requirements and mitigate the chances of penalties and fines imposed by the Regulated Entities (REs).
Initially, the concept of RegTech focused on workflow automation, rule-based engines, and basic monitoring systems to reduce manual effort and improve reporting accuracy. Over the years, due to an increase in penalties imposed by regulatory bodies, the focus has shifted from “automation first” to “intelligence-led” compliance, where technology is used to analyse data, identify patterns, and support informed decision-making. This shift highlights an important change in how compliance functions operate.
Evolution of RegTech
- The Global Financial Crisis (2008): The crisis exposed major weaknesses in the risk management practices. This made the adoption of technology-driven compliance solutions important.
- Emergence of RegTech (mid-2010): RegTech as a service gained momentum when a few of the organisations adopted automation, rule-based systems, and digital tools to manage growing regulatory requirements.
- Cloud, AI, and Pandemic Acceleration (post-2020): The global pandemic led to the rapid adoption of digital systems, with cloud-based platforms and AI enabling remote onboarding, continuous monitoring, and scalable compliance.
- Smart Compliance and GenAI (2023): Compliance functions began adopting intelligence automation to support everyday activities. GenAI and Open Data Intelligence helped identify and mitigate early-stage risks and understand regulatory requirements.
- Rise of Automation in Compliance (2025 and beyond): Increase in importance of tech-enabled risk mitigation platforms that offer end-to-end compliance solutions, real-time monitoring, and position compliance as a strategic and real-time capability
Role of Open Data Intelligence in RegTech
Open Data Intelligence plays an important role in advancing modern RegTech solutions by collecting and analysing real-time publicly available data such as regulatory disclosure, sanction lists, social media channels, and corporate registries.
When implemented efficiently, Open Data Intelligence transforms regulatory compliance from a static, check-the-box mentality into a dynamic, intelligence-led process. It enables continuous monitoring, deeper due diligence, and improved visibility into complex risk structures.
RegTech in India
India’s regulatory ecosystem is rapidly evolving, driven by digitisation and stronger compliance frameworks across banking, fintech, and financial services. Regulators such as the RBI, SEBI, and IRDAI have increased expectations around transparency, risk governance, and reporting accuracy, pushing organisations to adopt technology-led compliance models.
Powered by India’s digital public infrastructure, Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, CKYC, GSTN, and government open data platforms, RegTech in India is moving from manual compliance to intelligence-led systems. By combining automation with Open Data Intelligence, organisations are building proactive, scalable, and future-ready compliance frameworks that strengthen trust, reduce risk, and support long-term regulatory resilience.
What’s Next for RegTech
Automation in compliance is becoming an important part of modern compliance as regulatory requirements continue to grow. RegTech solution will help in mitigating the risk of delays, inconsistencies, and human error. By enabling continuous monitoring instead of one-time review, automation will allow organisations to identify potential issues earlier and maintain better alignment with regulatory expectations. This approach will lead to a more consistent, proactive approach to compliance while allowing teams to focus on higher-risk areas that require human judgment.
Conclusion
RegTech is no longer a tool for meeting requirements, but a strategic enabler of trust, transparency, and resilience. Real-time compliance checks with the support of Open Data Intelligence can move beyond traditional compliance limitations and bring together a smarter, proactive approach to risk management.
As regulatory complexity continues to increase, the use of open data intelligence to derive actionable intelligence will define the future of modern compliance!