What happens when an insurer thinks like a tech company

What happens when an insurer stops thinking like an insurer? You get two-minute policy issuance, AI-powered health kiosks, and a wellness ecosystem that tracks your steps, recommends your diet, and rewards you for staying active. You get insurance that feels less like a safety net and more like a smart, always-on life companion.

That is exactly the transformation underway at Aviva India. Under the technology leadership of Gyanendra Singh, Chief Technology Officer, the company is dismantling legacy thinking and rebuilding insurance around one simple idea: technology should remove friction, not create it.

Some edited excerpts from an interview:

Aviva India has been accelerating its digital transformation journey in recent years. Which technology-led initiatives have delivered the most tangible impact on customer experience, operational efficiency, and business growth?

At Aviva India, our focus has been on making insurance simpler, faster, more accessible, and eliminate miss selling, powered by our health and wellness ecosystem.

One of our most impactful initiatives has been the transformation of customer onboarding. By leveraging India’s digital public infrastructure and integrating services such as e-KYC and other ecosystem partners, we have significantly reduced the time taken to issue policies. What once took days or even weeks can now be completed in minutes for many customer segments.

Another important initiative is of Over-the-Counter (OTC) platform and Bharat serries products, which enables customers to purchase insurance with zero documentation and receive policies in as little as two minutes. This has been particularly effective in expanding access to insurance in semi-urban and rural markets.

Beyond improving customer experience, these initiatives have increased straight-through processing, reduced operational costs, and helped us scale distribution more efficiently. For us, digital transformation is not just about technology adoption; it is about removing friction from the customer journey.

AI has made a significant impact across industries. What are some of the key AI use cases Aviva has explored, and what has been the impact?
We see AI as an enabler that helps us serve customers better while making our operations more efficient.
One example is our AI-enabled Digital Kiosks, which can provide a quick health assessment through a simple face scan. This creates a more engaging customer interaction and helps start meaningful conversations around health, wellness, and financial protection.

We are also using AI to improve underwriting through intelligent document processing and automated data extraction. This reduces manual effort and speeds up decision-making for customers.

Another area of focus is wellness. Through our Wellness 360 ecosystem, customers can access AI-powered features such as diet recommendations, health insights, and wellness tracking. Our objective is to build a more continuous relationship with customers rather than interacting only during policy purchase or claim settlement.

Looking ahead, we are evaluating AI-powered voice technologies and other customer engagement solutions that can provide personalized support at scale.

As technology investments increase across the industry, how does Aviva evaluate and prioritise emerging technologies to ensure they generate measurable business value?
We start with the business problem rather than the technology itself.

Every investment is evaluated against a few simple questions: Does it improve customer experience? Does it reduce operational friction? Can it scale? And can we measure its impact?

For example, our investments in digital onboarding and OTC platforms were driven by a clear objective—to reduce policy issuance time and make insurance more accessible. Similarly, our wellness initiatives were prioritized because they help increase customer engagement and strengthen long-term relationships.

We closely track business outcomes such as turnaround time, straight-through processing rates, customer acquisition costs, customer retention, and operational efficiency. If a technology cannot demonstrate measurable value against these metrics, it does not move beyond experimentation.

Cybersecurity and data privacy have become critical boardroom priorities for financial services organisations. How is Aviva strengthening digital trust while balancing innovation, regulatory compliance, and customer expectations?
Trust is the foundation of the insurance business. Customers share some of their most sensitive personal and financial information with us, and protecting that trust is non-negotiable.

At Aviva India, we follow a security-by-design approach, which means cybersecurity and privacy considerations are built into every technology initiative from the outset rather than being added later.

We continuously invest in threat monitoring, vulnerability management, data protection, and employee awareness to strengthen our cyber resilience.

At the same time, innovation and security must go hand in hand. As we adopt cloud, AI, and other emerging technologies, we ensure that they operate within strong governance frameworks and regulatory requirements. Our objective is simple: deliver innovative digital experiences without compromising security, privacy, or compliance.

Ultimately, digital trust is not just a technology issue—it is a business imperative that influences customer confidence, brand reputation, and long-term growth.

Cloud, automation, and AI are reshaping enterprise operating models. How do you see these technologies transforming the way insurance products are designed, underwritten, serviced, and distributed over the next three to five years?
The insurance industry is moving from a one-size-fits-all approach to a far more personalized and proactive model.

AI and data analytics will help insurers design products that better reflect individual customer needs and lifestyles. We are already seeing the shift from protection-only products toward solutions that actively encourage healthier financial and physical habits.

For example, Aviva Smart Vitals rewards customers for staying active by allowing them to enhance their life cover through regular physical activity. We believe this is the direction the industry is heading—using technology to promote prevention and wellness, not just provide protection after an event occurs.

In underwriting, AI-powered document processing and decision engines will significantly reduce turnaround times and improve straight-through processing. In servicing, automation and intelligent assistants will make customer interactions faster and more seamless. Distribution will become increasingly digital and embedded into broader ecosystems, allowing customers to access insurance at the point of need.

Cloud will provide the foundation for this transformation by enabling insurers to innovate faster, scale efficiently, and respond quickly to changing customer expectations. Over the next few years, the biggest shift will be from reactive insurance to predictive and preventive insurance.

Looking ahead, what will distinguish the leading insurance companies of 2030, and where does Aviva India see the biggest opportunities to leverage technology as a competitive differentiator?
By 2030, the most successful insurers will not be those that simply pay claims efficiently; they will be the ones that help customers avoid risks in the first place.

Technology is enabling a shift from a reactive model—where insurers step in after an event occurs—to a proactive model that helps customers lead healthier, safer, and more financially secure lives. The winners will be organizations that can combine data, AI, and human expertise to provide personalized guidance throughout a customer’s life journey.

At Aviva India, we see significant opportunities in three areas.

First, using AI to simplify customer journeys, underwriting, and servicing, making insurance easier and more accessible.

Second, building a stronger wellness ecosystem that connects protection, prevention, health, and financial well-being. We believe insurance should become a daily value proposition rather than a product customers think about once a year.

Third, empowering our employees and advisors with AI-enabled tools so they can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time helping customers make informed decisions.

While technology will continue to transform the industry, trust will remain the ultimate differentiator. The insurers that combine digital innovation with transparency, empathy, and customer-centricity will be the ones that lead the market in 2030.