Navigating the Ongoing Innovation in the Insurance Industry

1. Can you give us a short bio of yours and how the experiences you've gained have equipped you to be in the current role?

I am currently leading the Business Transformation function for Dai-ichi Life Asia Pacific’s business, spanning projects across the digital and operations space. My career over the past decade has allowed me the privilege to experience life in other global insurers, taken me to many regional markets as a strategy and management consultant, and also provided me with front-row seats to the highs and lows of building ventures from scratch. In a global MNC like Dai-ichi, most of my projects tend to be multi-market engagements/implementations, so the project management experience from my past stints has proven to be invaluable in this aspect. Furthermore, being in a transformation function, the ability to think ahead of the pack, plan, and execute business roadmaps has been a real value-add to my key responsibilities.

2. In your view, what are the biggest challenges faced in the insurance industry and how are you addressing them?

I believe the biggest challenge that the insurance industry faces is a two-tiered one, primarily one that is inherently trend-led, and a more deep-rooted people-driven challenge that exacerbates the former. Before you get into an uproar, hear me out! We have good people, brilliant ones. But insurance, at its core, tends to be a pretty conservative industry that looks at historical data and has some tight governance. That limits the way our people get to innovate on new topics, stay ahead of the curve, and come up with forward-thinking propositions. It is also probably the main edge that the snazzy tech companies out there have over us, being nimble and agile, so really how may we do better or risk getting disrupted completely?

At Dai-ichi, we have a setup that tries to address this industry-wide problem statement; investing in people by exposing them to cross-functional roles through (global and) internal mobility opportunities, facilitating regulations to knowledge and capabilities, and we even have an internal venturefund for people and teams who dare to dream outside of their regular day-to-day job scopes. It is a deep-rooted challenge, but we hope to address it and make ourselves a bit more future-ready with these different initiatives.

3. What trends and advancements do you see shaping the future of insurance and technology services?

The model answer has to be Generative AI, isn’t it? GenAI has been leaving its mark on every industry ever since it was introduced, so maybe I won’t add to the buzz around it.

Customers’ demands and needs are fast-evolving, and we will need to remain in a constant posture of innovating and learning to remain relevant and continue growing.

I would like to say shifting perceptions and mindsets due to better data quality and know-how. Big data has truly been a game-changer; what used to be the strategy of “trying different things and seeing what works” has now evolved into a more strategic utilization of data with more meaningful outputs. We now have additional insights into customer behaviors, and with looming competition from upstarts like digital distributors (ecosystems, insurtechs, and the like), incumbents now intentionally think and build around the overall customer experience. The availability of these data pools also unlocks the capability of personalization. Tailoring coverages, products, and services is a key lever to pull when it comes to enhancing customers’ satisfaction and loyalties, in turn growing the long-term value (LTV) of each customer.

4. What are some of the best practices for digital transformation in the insurance industry?

This can be quite wide-ranging, but I will share 2 of my favorites; being realistic in your plans and always looking to innovate. Building and executing a realistic plan might seem straightforward enough, but it is tougher than it sounds. A good digital transformation plan needs to be both pragmatic and realistic, but when faced with multiple problem statements and gaps, one might be too overzealous in trying to address everything all at once, which limits the efficacies of the respective initiatives (read: don’t try to do too much all at once).

In today’s VUCA environment, the landscape is constantly in a fluid state with new technologies coming to the fore and fast-evolving business requirements. The only way to address this phenom is to constantly innovate and stay on the cusp of change. By instilling that mindset across your teams and people, the transformative element becomes ingrained deeply into our daily work, and what you will get are squads of people who are essentially always thinking and executing ahead of the curve.

5. What advice would you give to your peers in the insurance space based on your extensive experience?

To borrow a quote from one of my past employers, “It’s always day 1”. I think this is especially true for our industry, where there is just so much baggage and legacy to unpick, and so much that can be done. Resting on our laurels and thinking that our portfolios are secure and insulated from market developments is a sure way to find ourselves disintermediated. Customers’ demands and needs are fast-evolving, and we will need to remain in a constant posture of innovating and learning (think: data, opportunity pools, etc.) to remain relevant and continue growing.