We are reimagining the life insurance and annuities space by adopting a data-centric, API-first approach: Pawan Choudhary, CTO, Zinnia

As GCCs evolve into strategic hubs for innovation and digital transformation, Zinnia is harnessing its full potential to lead the modernisation of the insurance and financial services sector. With a mission to simplify insurance and empower stakeholders through technology, the company is adopting AI, blockchain, and cloud-native architectures to drive operational excellence and customer-centric solutions. In this exclusive interview, Pawan Choudhary, Chief Technology Officer at Zinnia, shares insights into how Zinnia’s GCC in India is contributing to its global technology strategy, delivering cutting-edge solutions, and shaping a resilient, future-ready organisation.

Zinnia is emerging as a tech-driven leader in the GCC. What is your overarching technology vision for the company over the next 3–5 years?

At Zinnia, our mission is to simplify insurance and empower consumers, advisers, and providers to make long-term financial decisions with greater clarity, speed, and confidence. Over the next three to five years, we aim to become the preferred partner for new insurance product launches and for driving technological modernisation across the industry. We intend to realise this through innovative software solutions and data-led insights that support strategic decisions and deliver seamless, intuitive experiences.

We are reimagining the life insurance and annuities space by adopting a data-centric, API-first approach—developing modern digital infrastructure that makes insurance simpler, faster, more transparent, and accessible to all.

How is Zinnia leveraging emerging technologies like AI, IoT, or cloud computing to drive operational efficiency or product innovation?

Zinnia is strategically leveraging emerging technologies to maintain a competitive advantage. We use AI intrinsically—both to optimise our internal operations and in the development of products for our clients. Our infrastructure is built on AWS Cloud, which ensures scalability, security, and cost-effectiveness—critical qualities in today’s dynamic landscape.

AI is revolutionising our workflows, supporting decision-making, and enabling personalised customer engagement. For example, our AI-powered call centre has increased representative productivity by 70% while significantly reducing operational complexity. Our engineers also use AI-based productivity tools to cut software development timelines by up to 50%.

Data analytics play a central role in identifying consumer trends, while automation simplifies operations, allowing our teams to focus on high-impact initiatives. Furthermore, we’ve implemented blockchain-ledger technology for policy transfers, enhancing transaction transparency and creating smarter, more personalised insurance journeys.

In the context of the GCC’s growing digital economy, what unique technology challenges and opportunities do you see for companies in this region?

For Zinnia India, one of the key challenges lies in ensuring our local technological innovations remain closely aligned with North American standards, strategic goals, and regulatory frameworks, particularly within the life and annuities sector. As both technology and customer expectations evolve at pace, maintaining agility and synchronisation across global teams is paramount.

However, a significant opportunity exists in leveraging India’s rich talent pool in AI, analytics, and cloud engineering to foster innovation on a global scale. At Zinnia, we are making strategic investments in AI-led platforms and secure, scalable architectures to lead the transformation of the insurance and financial services sectors.

Can you walk us through a recent digital transformation initiative at Zinnia—what was the goal, what technologies were used, and what impact did it have?

One of our flagship initiatives is our AI-driven in-house call centre, developed to enhance productivity and minimise manual effort. By deploying machine learning algorithms to assist representatives during customer interactions, we have enabled quicker, more accurate responses.

This transformation resulted in a 70% boost in productivity, faster resolution times, and a markedly improved customer experience. Crucially, it also allowed us to scale our operations efficiently without expanding our overheads—clearly illustrating the business value of intelligent automation.

Cybersecurity is a growing concern globally. How is Zinnia staying ahead of threats, and what does your approach to secure innovation look like?

Cybersecurity is a top priority at Zinnia. We follow a robust, multi-layered security framework that includes firewalls, intrusion detection systems, regular audits, and comprehensive employee training. Security is embedded throughout the innovation lifecycle, ensuring that all new products are secure by design.

We continuously monitor the evolving threat landscape and share intelligence with clients to strengthen proactive defence strategies. Our DevSecOps approach integrates security from the earliest stages of development, reinforced by regular threat modelling and penetration testing. As we adopt AI and blockchain technologies, we remain steadfast in our commitment to building secure, transparent systems that protect personal data and institutional trust.

Talent acquisition in tech is competitive. How does Zinnia attract and retain top technology talent, and what kind of culture are you building within your teams?

At Zinnia, our people are our greatest asset. We attract and retain top-tier technology professionals by offering them the opportunity to work on impactful, cutting-edge projects that shape the future of insurance and financial services. We actively recruit from leading technology firms and highlight our culture of innovation, empowerment, and continuous development.

Our work environment promotes experimentation and cross-functional collaboration, underpinned by agile methodologies and the latest tools. This ensures that our teams remain challenged, appreciated, and fully engaged. In addition, we offer competitive remuneration, comprehensive benefits, and clearly defined career progression opportunities.

Finally, how do you ensure that technology decisions align with Zinnia’s broader business goals and long-term sustainability efforts?

At Zinnia, technology is never viewed in isolation—it is intrinsically linked to our strategic vision and sustainability ambitions. We ensure this alignment through a rigorous planning process that involves cross-functional collaboration and input from key stakeholders.

By tracking key performance indicators and assessing the impact of our technology investments, we ensure they contribute meaningfully to both commercial outcomes and environmental goals. We adopt a long-term perspective, investing in technologies that enhance efficiency, resilience, and environmental responsibility. This integrated approach ensures our innovation drives both sustainable growth and long-term value.