Technology working in service of people – simple enough as a concept, but in implementation, often we see the reverse. Prior to 2020, many captains of industry would have looked at digitalization with academic objectivity.
The potential was there for all to see, but in the absence of knowledge and experience, people tend to go with what they know. ‘Legacy got us this far, it can take us further still’. And before COVID-19, they weren’t entirely wrong.
Certainly, things could have been more efficient, there might be better ways to get a job done, but why fix what seems to work? As a company whose roots go back more than a century, we know this better than most. But that is also how AIA learned that the risk of being early into new technological innovations is far outweighed by the risk of being last.
The latest phase of our digitalization journey was kicked off in 2019 when as a first step, AIA setup a strong foundation for cloud computing that facilitated and encouraged high levels of collaboration within our team. It was on top of these systems that we started to revamp our customer experience journey, augmenting Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), all with the goal of revolutionizing the most critical pivot to our business, customer .
This external focus on customer centricity was mirrored by an equally rigorous emphasis on enhancing the engagement and overall experience of our internal staff and wealth planners.
For our industry, this was a significant step forward, as traditionally, insurance has been a late bloomer when it comes to technology, resisting change in favour of known legacy systems. It was a war of attrition, and most were in it for the long haul.
The tools to make a difference
In a post COVID-19 landscape, things couldn’t be more different. Robust digitalization strategies became the top priority for companies forced to either operate remotely or stop working all together. But even this is just scratching the surface of what’s possible. For those early to the game, new possibilities emerged to radically change the way we deliver insurance, wealth management and bancassurance.
Among the most promising results from these innovations that we brought to market was AIA’s proprietary MyPoS system. Tested extensively by AIA in multiple markets internationally, and adapted specifically for Sri Lankan requirements, the system is a milestone for the domestic insurance industry. It empowers our wealth planners and bancassurance executives to integrate sales, directly to all core systems, workflow and document management solutions, while providing real-time updated dashboards to management to more effectively monitor and distribute performance across the team.
By adopting Human Centric Design (HCD) principles, AI, advanced analytics tools, this next-generation insure-tech Super App enables agents to generate leads, analyse insights, rapidly process documents online and even issue a policy within 24 hours, all with minimum human interaction. We designed MyPoS to be scalable, making it available in all three languages, across web, iOS and Android, and even included a special offline-mode for when our agents need to move through more remote areas to reach customers.
A real-time revolution in insurance
With AI and machine learning, insurers can improve claims turnaround cycles and fundamentally change the underwriting process. AI also enables insurers to access data faster. Easing our dependency on the human element can lead to more accurate reporting in shorter periods of time. Wealth planners can leverage real-time data about markets, to match products, clients and risk profiles and actively make recommendations capable of reliably securing the best returns for our clients.
Our people, systems and clients have, for the first time, been placed in a uniquely powerful position to learn from each other, and leverage their capabilities to act with unprecedented speed and certainty. Equipped with these tools, and driven by our strong focus on Technology, Digital & Analytics (TDA) we will carry AIA to a position of even greater strength in the next 100 years .
