From enriching customer interactions to empowering agents – Gen AI’s impact on life insurance & Kotak Life
By Kirti Patil, Joint President – IT & CTO, Kotak Life.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has developed into a transformative force, fundamentally altering the way we think, work, live, and interact. From enhancing decision-making processes to automating complex tasks, AI’s impact extends far beyond specific industries, touching nearly every aspect of modern life. As AI advances, it is becoming increasingly integral to almost every aspect of human endeavor, ushering in a new era of possibilities and innovations.
Be it exploring outer space, addressing climate change, creating new vaccines, and more, AI holds the promise of driving significant advancements across various fields and revolutionise things in a whole new way.
Impact of AI on the Life Insurance Industry
When it comes to life insurance, AI is bringing about multiple transformations in several impactful ways. From enhancing productivity & efficiency to continuous innovation of products and value-added propositions that are more personalised to customers’ needs, AI is opening new doors of opportunities for Insurers.
Innovation – a priority for us at Kotak Life
At Kotak Life, staying up-to-date with technology and innovation is a priority. Back when Gen AI had still not found its roots, we at Kotak Life have been using Data Analytics and AI/ML for several use cases:
Conversational AI – offering many services to our customers through website chatbots and WhatsApp assistants
Computer vision for identifying and preventing fraud
OCR for document detection or content identification
AI algorithms for liveness checks
Predictive models for fraud detection, Risk assessment, and Underwriting
Internal chatbots for employees
Nudges for our agents and Front line sales
Intelligent automation for instant servicing, faster Claims processing
In the technology function too, we have been using AI in IT Ops, Cyber Security, and Quality Assurance. Our endeavour has always been to maximise the benefits of technology in our organisation.
My take on AI/Gen AI
If you ask me frankly, I feel AI is here to stay. Technology has matured significantly over the decades Now. And Gen AI will certainly transform life insurance but it is still a work in progress. The recent advancements in Generative AI (Gen AI) promise a much more significant transformation. I believe it is the next big thing that can contribute to positively changing the life insurance experience.
Empowering Agents, Enriching Customer Interactions: Gen AI can be a powerful tool for life insurance agents as well. It can analyse customer data and suggest personalised product recommendations, allowing agents to have more meaningful conversations with their clients.
Bridging the Knowledge Gap: The world of life insurance can be complex and overwhelming for many. Gen AI can bridge this gap by simplifying information and personalising content for each customer.
Beyond the Surface: Gen AI’s impact goes beyond customer-facing interactions. It can also optimise internal operations for insurance companies. AI can analyse vast amounts of data to streamline IT processes and identify potential cybersecurity threats, making the entire system more efficient and Secure.
While Gen AI offers a glimpse into a future with a more accessible and personalised life insurance experience, it’s important to remember that this technology is still under development. Challenges around data privacy, ensuring fair and unbiased algorithms and the human element of trust in financial decisions need to be addressed before Gen AI can reach its full potential. And it has to become affordable as well.
However, the potential benefits are undeniable and I believe it is only a matter of time before the life insurance industry begins actively adopting this powerful technology.
