NTT DATA AI for Insurance Converts Complex Workflows into Governed, Repeatable AI‑Delivered Services

• Service-as-Software solution, powered by the NTT DATA AIVista platform, helps insurers improve productivity, decision quality and risk management across underwriting, claims and customer service through governed AI with enterprise-grade governance and human oversight.
• Solution combines NTT DATA’s recognized AI expertise with decades of insurance domain experience supporting large carriers worldwide.

NTT DATA, a global leader in AI, digital business and technology services, today announced NTT DATA AI for Insurance, an AI-native agentic solution that converts complex core insurance workflows into governed, repeatable services. Built for highly regulated insurance environments, the Service-as-Software solution combines configurable AI agents, insurance-specific data models, workflow orchestration and enterprise-grade governance to maintain auditability, regulatory guardrails and human oversight.

NTT DATA AI for Insurance helps carriers modernize underwriting, claims, customer service and other core insurance workflows while improving productivity across the enterprise. Powered by NTT DATA AIVista, the company's AI-native product platform, the solution combines a prebuilt insurance foundation with flexible configuration and targeted customization, enabling rapid deployment while adapting to each carrier's products, processes, operating model and regulatory requirements.

The solution is designed for open integration with existing carrier systems and enterprise technology environments, enabling insurers to deploy AI capabilities without core system lock-in. Its model-routing capabilities also help carriers avoid lock-in to any single foundation model.

“Insurance is built on human judgment that understands risk, prices fairly and stands behind promises when it matters most,” said Bruno Abril, Global Lead, Insurance Industry, NTT DATA, Inc. “AI strengthens the ability of insurers to meet that responsibility, and NTT DATA AI for Insurance supports human expertise with intelligent systems that work within a governed operating layer for enterprise-scale transformation. The result is that insurers can move from AI-enabled workflows to AI-delivered operations, at enterprise scale and with the governance that regulators and boards demand.”

Carriers need agentic AI built for insurance operations

Carriers are under pressure to increase underwriting capacity, accelerate claims and service workflow processing, reduce loss ratios and improve risk selection while meeting rising governance expectations. NTT DATA’s 2026 Global AI Report: A Playbook for AI Leaders in Insurance found that two-thirds of insurers want to use AI in front-office interactions, while 86% support AI use in back- and mid-office workflows, yet most have not industrialized agentic AI across their core operations. NTT DATA AI for Insurance is purpose-built to close that gap.

"The insurance industry is generating more data than ever before, but better outcomes depend on how effectively that information is translated into action," said Prashant Hinge, Chief Information Officer at MSIG USA. "AI can help insurers identify high-risk claims sooner, improve consistency throughout the claims process, and equip claims professionals with the insights they need to make faster, more informed decisions."

NTT DATA AI for Insurance provides a comprehensive agentic architecture that includes:

• Specialized models and agents purpose-trained on carrier and domain-specific data to improve reliability, accuracy and cost-effectiveness.
• Specialized guardrails that embed governance into every AI agent decision and support deterministic, auditable outcomes that help carriers meet regulatory and internal governance requirements.
• AI-native knowledge base and proprietary insurance data genome that embed agents into the systems, data and processes carriers already use, while providing the context agents need to interpret submissions, policies, claims and regulatory requirements.
• Prebuilt and configurable AI agents that enable 3X faster deployment into underwriting, claims, service and other insurance workflows.
• Cognitive and event-driven agent orchestration that coordinates AI agents, people, systems and processes around each carrier’s operating requirements.

NTT DATA is named as a leader in HFS Horizons: Agentic Services, 2026 Research Report as well as ISG Provider LensTM – Insurance Services – Strategic Capabilities (Insurance GenAI and Agentic AI Services). Worldwide, the company serves 10 of the world’s 25 top insurers, operates 16 delivery centers with insurance expertise and employs more than 12,000 insurance specialists.
Visit our website to learn more about NTT DATA AI for Insurance, access industry resources and meet some of our insurance experts. To learn more about the science and innovation behind our Service as Software platform for insurance, read our blog.

About NTT DATA

NTT DATA is a $30+ billion business and technology services leader, serving 75% of the Fortune Global 100. We are committed to accelerating client success and positively impacting society through responsible innovation. We are one of the world’s leading AI and digital infrastructure providers, with unmatched capabilities in enterprise-scale AI, cloud, security, connectivity, data centers and application services. Our consulting and industry solutions help organizations and society move confidently and sustainably into the digital future. As a Global Top Employer, we have experts in more than 70 countries. We also offer clients access to a robust ecosystem of innovation centers as well as established and start-up partners. NTT DATA is part of NTT Group, which invests over $3 billion each year in R&D.

our website to learn more about NTT DATA AI for Insurance, access industry resources and meet some of our insurance experts. To learn more about the science and innovation behind our Service as Software platform for insurance, read our blog.

ICICI Lombard Marks 25 Years with 25 Breakthrough Insurance Innovations

• Marks 25 Years of Keeping Promises with 25 customer-first innovative solutions
• New offerings across health, motor, home, travel and commercial insurance

ICICI Lombard General Insurance, India’s largest private general insurance company, today unveiled 25 Innovative solutions across multiple lines of business as part of its Silver Jubilee celebrations. The company has surpassed its earlier record of 14 new launches on one single day and is now launching 25 innovations on one day, with 5 industry-firsts. These solutions exemplify our customer first approach, uniting a customer centric mindset with the power of new age technologies like AI, across the insurance lifecycle.

Over the last 25 years, ICICI Lombard has evolved alongside the changing needs of customers, continually expanding the role of insurance beyond financial protection. Having served over 500 million customers* and settled more than 60 million claims*, the company is now shaping the next phase of protection through innovations that help customers not only recover from risks but increasingly anticipate and manage them.

Sanjeev Mantri, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Lombard, said - For 25 years, the ethos of ICICI Lombard has been simple - to stand by our customers for promises we have made and innovate for every promise of tomorrow.

On the momentous occasion of our Silver Jubilee, I would like to express our gratitude to our entire ecosystem of stakeholders – customers, partners, employees, shareholders and Regulators for their trust and support. On this landmark day, we decided to renew our promises to our customers and as part of our celebrations, have launched 25 innovative solutions. These offerings will enable us to service diverse needs of our customers and help in making insurance more personalised, meaningful and future-ready.

Key highlights from the 25 innovations are as follows:

Next Gen Products

• Elevate Her: A life-stage-based modular Women Care product that integrates OPD, wellness, maternity, preventive care and women-cancer related financial protection into a single solution. For the first time in the industry, it offers four customised plans to support women across different life stages with a seamless transition as their needs evolve.
• Paw Care: A comprehensive pet insurance plan covering veterinary expenses, emergencies, illnesses, accidents, surgeries and routine care for pets. Features include long term coverage and RFID tag based discounts.
• Complete Home Protect: A modular lifestyle protection solution for homeowners, covering interiors, jewellery, art, collectibles, and furnishings. Offers cashless home assistance services, policy tenure options up to 30 years, fixed capital appreciation annually, and additional living expenses if the home becomes inhabitable.

Elevating Service Experience

• Digital Branch @Sidddhivinayak (Industry First): India’s first digital insurance branch in a metro transit environment, enabling policy purchase, renewals, claims registration, online KYC, document submission and digital servicing.
• Motor Service Assure (Industry First): A time-assured roadside assistance service with a 30-minute service commitment, 24x7, across 15 cities in India.
• Motor Sahayak: Premium service offering immediate assistance during vehicle emergencies, including legal facilitation and reimbursement of defence-related expenses.
• Specialised Service Desk: Personalised service desks for senior citizens and preferred customer groups with priority access and faster assistance.

AI-led Innovations

• Voice AI (Industry First): Conversational platform supporting natural voice interactions in Hindi & English, available 24x7, completing policy purchase and payment journeys.
• Personalised Travel Planner (Industry First): AI-powered trip planner in the IL TakeCare app, generating curated itineraries with embedded insurance offerings.
• Smart Health Underwriting (Industry First): AI-powered underwriting delivering faster, seamless, self-guided digital journeys with real-time evaluations.

As ICICI Lombard enters its next chapter, these innovations reaffirm a promise that has remained constant for 25 years, to be there for customers, wherever they are and protect everything they value.

About ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

ICICI Lombard is the leading private general insurance company in the country. The Company offers a comprehensive and well-diversified range of products through multiple distribution channels, including motor, health, crop, fire, personal accident, marine, engineering, and liability insurance. With a legacy of over 25 years, ICICI Lombard is committed to customer centricity with its brand philosophy of ‘Nibhaye Vaade’. The company has issued over 39.2 million policies, over 3.4 million claims processed and has a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of ₹ 306.18 billion for the year ended March 31, 2026. ICICI Lombard has 341 branches and 15,008 employees, as on March 31, 2026.
ICICI Lombard has been a pioneer in the industry, being the first large-scale insurance company in India to migrate its entire core systems to the cloud. With a strong focus on being digitally-led and agile, the company has introduced multiple AI-powered insurance solutions. The company’s flagship insurance and wellness app, IL TakeCare, which has received over 22 million downloads, also offers the industry’s first Face Scan feature. The company has won several prestigious awards including Insurance Asia, ICC Emerging Asia Insurance, ET BFSI Exceller, ET Corporate Excellence, Golden Peacock, FICCI Insurance, Assocham, Stevie Asia Pacific, and National CSR.
For more details log on to https://www.icicilombard.com/.
For details, contact:

ICICI Lombard GIC Ltd. Rima Mane rima.mane@icicilombard.com Tel: +91 99877 87103

Adfactors PR Nilisha Gandhat nilisha.gandhat@adfactorspr.com Tel: +91 70211 12940

*Consolidated data till March 31, 2026, basis Annual Reports of the Company
``````html
Press Release:
ICICI Lombard launches 25 Innovations on its 25th Anniversary!

• Marks 25 Years of Keeping Promises with 25 customer-first innovative solutions
• New offerings across health, motor, home, travel and commercial insurance

Mumbai, 03 August 2026: ICICI Lombard General Insurance, India’s largest private general insurance company, today unveiled 25 Innovative solutions across multiple lines of business as part of its Silver Jubilee celebrations. The company has surpassed its earlier record of 14 new launches on one single day and is now launching 25 innovations on one day, with 5 industry-firsts. These solutions exemplify our customer first approach, uniting a customer centric mindset with the power of new age technologies like AI, across the insurance lifecycle.
Over the last 25 years, ICICI Lombard has evolved alongside the changing needs of customers, continually expanding the role of insurance beyond financial protection. Having served over 500 million customers* and settled more than 60 million claims*, the company is now shaping the next phase of protection through innovations that help customers not only recover from risks but increasingly anticipate and manage them.
Speaking on the occasion, Sanjeev Mantri, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Lombard, said:
"For 25 years, the ethos of ICICI Lombard has been simple - to stand by our customers for promises we have made and innovate for every promise of tomorrow.
On the momentous occasion of our Silver Jubilee, I would like to express our gratitude to our entire ecosystem of stakeholders – customers, partners, employees, shareholders and Regulators for their trust and support. On this landmark day, we decided to renew our promises to our customers and as part of our celebrations, have launched 25 innovative solutions. These offerings will enable us to service diverse needs of our customers and help in making insurance more personalised, meaningful and future-ready.”
Key highlights from the 25 innovations are as follows:
Next Gen Products

• Elevate Her: A life-stage-based modular Women Care product that integrates OPD, wellness, maternity, preventive care and women-cancer related financial protection into a single solution. For the first time in the industry, it offers four customised plans to support women across different life stages with a seamless transition as their needs evolve.
• Paw Care: A comprehensive pet insurance plan covering veterinary expenses, emergencies, illnesses, accidents, surgeries and routine care for pets. Features include long term coverage and RFID tag based discounts.
• Complete Home Protect: A modular lifestyle protection solution for homeowners, covering interiors, jewellery, art, collectibles, and furnishings. Offers cashless home assistance services, policy tenure options up to 30 years, fixed capital appreciation annually, and additional living expenses if the home becomes inhabitable.

Elevating Service Experience

• Digital Branch @Sidddhivinayak (Industry First): India’s first digital insurance branch in a metro transit environment, enabling policy purchase, renewals, claims registration, online KYC, document submission and digital servicing.
• Motor Service Assure (Industry First): A time-assured roadside assistance service with a 30-minute service commitment, 24x7, across 15 cities in India.
• Motor Sahayak: Premium service offering immediate assistance during vehicle emergencies, including legal facilitation and reimbursement of defence-related expenses.
• Specialised Service Desk: Personalised service desks for senior citizens and preferred customer groups with priority access and faster assistance.

AI-led Innovations

• Voice AI (Industry First): Conversational platform supporting natural voice interactions in Hindi & English, available 24x7, completing policy purchase and payment journeys.
• Personalised Travel Planner (Industry First): AI-powered trip planner in the IL TakeCare app, generating curated itineraries with embedded insurance offerings.
• Smart Health Underwriting (Industry First): AI-powered underwriting delivering faster, seamless, self-guided digital journeys with real-time evaluations.

As ICICI Lombard enters its next chapter, these innovations reaffirm a promise that has remained constant for 25 years, to be there for customers, wherever they are and protect everything they value.
The complete list of launches is provided in the attached product briefing document.
#ICICILombard #Technology #IndustryFirst #SanjeevMantri #Innovation
About ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited
ICICI Lombard is the leading private general insurance company in the country. The Company offers a comprehensive and well-diversified range of products through multiple distribution channels, including motor, health, crop, fire, personal accident, marine, engineering, and liability insurance. With a legacy of over 25 years, ICICI Lombard is committed to customer centricity with its brand philosophy of ‘Nibhaye Vaade’. The company has issued over 39.2 million policies, over 3.4 million claims processed and has a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of ₹ 306.18 billion for the year ended March 31, 2026. ICICI Lombard has 341 branches and 15,008 employees, as on March 31, 2026.
ICICI Lombard has been a pioneer in the industry, being the first large-scale insurance company in India to migrate its entire core systems to the cloud. With a strong focus on being digitally-led and agile, the company has introduced multiple AI-powered insurance solutions. The company’s flagship insurance and wellness app, IL TakeCare, which has received over 22 million downloads, also offers the industry’s first Face Scan feature. The company has won several prestigious awards including Insurance Asia, ICC Emerging Asia Insurance, ET BFSI Exceller, ET Corporate Excellence, Golden Peacock, FICCI Insurance, Assocham, Stevie Asia Pacific, and National CSR.
For more details log on to https://www.icicilombard.com/.
*Consolidated data till March 31, 2026, basis Annual Reports of the Company

Satellite Technology Helps Detect ₹217 Crore Fake Crop Insurance Claims in Maharashtra

Representative Image

Authorities in Maharashtra uncovered a massive irregularity in crop insurance claims worth nearly ₹217 crore by using satellite imagery to verify farmland data, reported Lokmat, a Marathi-language publication. Lokmat published its report on February 13, 2026, highlighting how satellite checks exposed fraudulent banana crop insurance claims in Jalgaon district. Below are key details - 

Key Details

• Location: Jalgaon district, Maharashtra
• Scheme: Weather-based fruit crop insurance for the Ambiya Bahar season (2025–26)
• Discovery: Claims were filed for about 44,041 hectares supposedly under banana cultivation. Satellite checks revealed no banana crops on those lands.
• Trigger: An unusual surge in insurance applications for banana crops prompted the probe in February 2026.
• Significance: This was the first large-scale satellite-based verification of crop insurance in the state, exposing fraudulent claims and saving public funds.

Why It Matters

• Transparency: Satellite monitoring adds a strong layer of accountability to agricultural insurance schemes.
• Prevention of fraud: Detecting false claims helps ensure that genuine farmers benefit.
• Policy impact: This case may push for wider adoption of remote sensing and geospatial technology in crop insurance across India.

The Satellite Technology 

Satellite imagery is a powerful tool for detecting fraud in crop insurance because it provides objective, time-stamped evidence of what is actually growing on the land. Here’s how techniques like NDVI analysis and seasonal crop mapping are applied:

NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index)

• Principle: NDVI measures plant health by comparing how vegetation reflects near-infrared (NIR) light versus absorbing red light.
• Formula: (NIR - RED) / (NIR + RED)
• Interpretation:
  • Values close to +1 → healthy, dense vegetation.
  • Values near 0 → stressed plants or sparse vegetation.
  • Values below 0 → bare soil, water, or non-vegetated surfaces.
• Application in fraud detection: If insurance claims say banana crops are present, but NDVI values show bare soil or non-vegetation, authorities can flag false claims.

Seasonal Crop Mapping

• Method: Multi-spectral satellite images are collected over time to track crop growth stages.
• Crop signatures: Each crop has a unique spectral and temporal growth pattern (e.g., banana vs. wheat).
• Verification: By comparing claimed crop type with actual spectral signatures, mismatches can be detected.
• Example: In Jalgaon, satellite mapping showed no banana growth cycles across 44,041 hectares, despite claims.

AI & Deep Learning Enhancements

• Yield prediction: Models trained on historical weather, soil, and crop data can forecast expected yields.
• Claim validation: If reported yields or crop presence deviate sharply from satellite-based predictions, fraud is suspected.

Why It Works

• Scalable: Covers large areas quickly, unlike manual surveys.
• Tamper-proof: Satellite data is time-stamped and independent.
• Cost-effective: Prevents massive financial losses by catching fraudulent claims early.

This combination of NDVI analysis, spectral crop mapping, and AI-driven yield prediction is transforming crop insurance verification in India, making fraud detection faster and more reliable.

Best Health Insurance for Single Individuals in Their 20s and 30s

When you are single in your 20s or 30s, health insurance can feel unnecessary. You have no dependents, few liabilities, and you may be healthy. Still, a sudden illness, injury, or planned surgery can lead to hospitalisation costs that strain savings.

A simple health insurance or mediclaim policy helps manage these expenses. This guide explains how to choose the best health insurance for a single adult in India.

Why Single Adults Should Choose an Individual Policy

When you live on your own, you handle expenses alone. A short hospital stay may affect rent, EMIs, or savings. Employer cover can be helpful, but it can change when you switch jobs. Many people keep their employer cover and add individual health insurance, depending on budget, so they have a steadier layer of protection.

What to Compare Before Choosing

For a single buyer, the best health insurance in India is usually the one that matches your city, your budget, and your comfort with the policy rules. Premium is essential, but the fine print can decide how much you pay from your pocket later.

Quick comparison of key features

Feature	What it means	Why it matters
Sum insured	Maximum cover in a policy year, as per terms	Helps manage larger hospital bills
Network hospitals	Places where cashless may be available	Can reduce the need for a full upfront payment
Room rent rules	Limits on room category or charges	May impact the final payable amount
Waiting periods	Time before some conditions are covered	Important even for young buyers
Co-payment or sub-limits (if any)	Your share or caps on treatments	Affects out-of-pocket spending

If two options look similar, the best health insurance is often the one with more precise wording and fewer restrictive limits that can surprise you.

Sum Insured and Deductibles: Keep it Balanced

Choosing the sum insured is not only about picking the highest number. A very low sum insured may feel affordable, but it may not feel adequate if hospital costs in your city are high. A very high sum insured may not fit a starter budget.

A simple approach is to look at typical private hospital costs where you live, your emergency savings, and any employer cover you already have. If you already have a base plan through work, the best health insurance for you may be a top-up or super top-up, but only after you understand the deductible and when the additional cover starts.

Add-ons: Pay Only for What You Understand

Add-ons can increase the premium, so treat them as optional tools, not defaults. Depending on the product, you may see options like consumables cover, higher room eligibility, or a daily cash benefit. For many single buyers, a simple base plan with only the add-ons that match their lifestyle and budget can feel easier to manage.

Terms worth reading before you buy

• Pre-existing disease definition and related waiting period
• Room rent conditions and how they influence billing
• Sub-limits, if any, for specific procedures or treatments
• Exclusions such as non-medical items and personal comfort expenses
• Claim steps for cashless and reimbursement, including required documents
• Renewal rules and how premiums may change with age or product changes

Spending a little time here can make your plan more straightforward to use later.

Bottom line

For single individuals in their 20s and 30s, health insurance can act as a financial buffer while careers and lifestyles evolve. Compare benefits calmly, read the essential terms, and choose a cover you can renew comfortably. With this approach, the best health insurance becomes a simple, informed choice rather than a rushed purchase.

FM Expands India Presence with New Mumbai Office, Strengthening Risk & Reinsurance Ecosystem

FM, one of the world’s leading commercial property insurers, today announced the opening of its new office in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, further deepening the company’s commitment to the country’s growing risk management and (re)insurance ecosystem. The move reinforces FM’s belief in India’s rising role in shaping global standards of enterprise resilience, engineering excellence, and sustainable growth.

FM commemorated the launch with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by FM leadership, alongside key brokers, partners, and clients from across the region.

India represents a critical focus area in FM’s strategy to support its clients. The new FMIC Mumbai reinsurance sales office highlights FM’s long-term investment in India’s enterprise risk landscape, providing additional local presence. The Mumbai team will collaborate closely with brokers and partners to enhance risk understanding and management practices.

Our growing operations in India reflect both a global and local commitment. By combining world-class expertise with on-the-ground engagement, we aim to deliver lasting value for our clients and contribute to India’s resilience journey, said Greg Duncan, regional head (South Asia).

In addition to expanding its footprint of the FMIC reinsurance sales office in Mumbai, FM is also investing in innovation and technology development in India. FM recently opened a global capability centre in Bengaluru as part of its expansion in India, a hub for research, analytics, and engineering excellence, further strengthening FM’s global capabilities while supporting India’s growing talent ecosystem.

India’s evolving economy and the increasing complexity of risks, ranging from climate volatility and supply-chain fragility to cyber-physical exposures, are placing resilience at the centre of boardroom discussions, added Srini Krishnamurthy, senior vice president, FM operations India. FM’s mission is to help Indian businesses become more resilient, support the country’s continued growth through engineering excellence and data-driven insights, and establish strong local partnerships.

About FM

Established nearly two centuries ago, FM is a leading mutual insurance group whose capital, scientific research capability and engineering expertise are solely dedicated to property risk management and the resilience of its policyholder-owners. These owners, who share the belief that the majority of property loss is preventable, represent many of the world’s largest organizations, including one of every four Fortune 500 companies. They work with FM to better understand the hazards that can impact their business continuity to make cost-effective risk management decisions, combining property loss prevention with insurance protection.

ForaySoft and ES Search Develop Insurance-Specific Automation Tools for Claims and Risk Operations

Hyderabad headquartered ForaySoft, a global consulting and systems integration firm, has announced a joint development initiative with US based ES Search Consultants to deliver modular technology components for insurers.

Built to integrate into insurers’ existing stacks, the solutions include:

• Automation modules for intake and triage in claims workflows
• Pre-built risk scoring engines using structured and behavioral data
• Fraud pattern tracking tools designed for integration with SIU workflows

“Together we are developing and delivering AI driven insurance tech tools that can be embedded directly into carriers’ operational systems,” said Mrudula Munagala, President at ES Search Consultants. “These aren’t abstract platforms, they are task-specific utilities designed with underwriters, adjusters, and fraud teams in mind. Through our solutions insurers gain greater efficiency, agility, and customer trust, delivering outcomes that matter in a competitive market." Mrudula adds.

“This move aligns with ForaySoft’s vision of combining deep domain expertise with next-gen AI innovation to serve sectors that are ripe for transformation. We plan to expand our AI Center of Excellence and roll out pilot programs with key insurance clients across India, the US, and the Middle East in 2025.” said, Vasu Babu Vajja, Managing Director of ForaySoft.

ForaySoft, with over 40 experts currently in place, plans are afoot to hire 100 more across engineering and delivery teams.

The company plans to expand its AI Center of Excellence in Hyderabad and roll out pilot programs with key insurance clients across India, the US, and the Middle East in FY 2025-26.

According to a McKinsey Report - Insurers that are AI leaders are already outshining their peers. Reportedly, over the past five years, the insurance sector’s AI leaders have created 6.1 times the Total Shareholder Returns (TSR) of AI laggards (compared with two to three times in most other sectors).

About ForaySoft: Hyderabad based, ForaySoft Founded in 2011 Founded in 2011, is a global technology and consulting firm with over 300 projects delivered across 6 countries. Backed by 3,000+ professionals and 50+ developer teams, the firm helps enterprises modernize operations and implement scalable, industry-specific solutions.

ICICI Lombard Becomes One of The 1st Indian Insurer with Fully Automated AWS Multi-Region DR, Enabled by TCS

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) a global leader in IT services, consulting, and business solutions, has successfully enabled ICICI Lombard to achieve fully automated AWS multi-region Disaster Recovery (DR) switchover. This establishes ICICI Lombard as one of the first insurance companies in India to achieve fully automated multi-region resilience on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud.

The innovative DR solution—designed to ensure business continuity in the face of unexpected disruptions—leverages automation-first, infrastructure-as-code approach. It leverages AWS-native technologies to enable intelligent, automated failover for key systems with minimal downtime or manual effort. With TCS as its growth partner, ICICI Lombard has been operating on AWS Cloud since 2021. To strengthen business continuity and achieve geographical redundancy, TCS helped the insurer establish a robust, scalable and fully automated DR setup.

Girish Nayak, Chief – Technology and Health (Underwriting & Claims), ICICI Lombard, said, “With resilience at the core of our digital operating model, and TCS as our strategic technology partner, we’ve been able to transform our disaster recovery capabilities into a truly agile, automated and cloud-native setup. This not only enhances our readiness for unexpected infrastructure disruptions but also reinforces our commitment to uninterrupted service to our customers. I would like to thank and congratulate TCS for enabling this automated disaster recovery solution by leveraging their cloud expertise in the insurance domain.”

TCS brought on board its deep domain expertise in the insurance industry and used its contextual knowledge of ICICI Lombard’s systems to deliver a best-in-class DR solution. The automation solution was built using highly performant data driven serverless architecture designed for large scale orchestration. This implementation not only improves operational resilience and reduces recovery time but also sets a new industry benchmark for automated disaster recovery in the BFSI sector.

Ujjwal Mathur, President & Country Head – India Business, TCS, said, “This engagement highlights our commitment to helping clients achieve next-generation resilience through cloud-native innovation. This intelligent, automation-led DR solution sets a new benchmark for BFSI organizations by enabling seamless, fast and scalable disaster recovery with zero touch. We are proud to partner with ICICI Lombard to reimagine infrastructure resilience in this digital era.”

TCS has been ICICI Lombard’s strategic IT partner since 2006 and has been managing their datacenter operations since 2013. TCS has been instrumental in seamlessly migrating all the ICICI Lombard applications to public cloud in 2021 and has since been supporting the ICICI Lombard cloud environment. It is now modernizing the insurer’s systems – Project Orion – with TCS BaNCS™ Insurance being deployed as part of the program. TCS is a leading player in the BFSI sector, partnering with top banks, leading insurance firms, prominent capital market entities, major investment banks, and wealth management companies globally.

TCS BaNCS™ for Insurance is a comprehensive offering suite, supporting a range of insurance products and functions, including customer management, product definition, plan management, policy administration, claims management, insurance accounting and reinsurance, along with a digital suite that can be tailored based on persona, among several options

Capri Global Selects Girnar Finserv's InsurTech Platform, Heph, As Its Technology Partner

• Capri anticipates reduced policy issuance time by 80% with multi-insurer product comparison suiting their customer needs

Heph, India's largest Insurance SaaS Platform and a Girnar Finserv Entity has announced its partnership with Capri Global Capital Ltd known by the brand name Capri Loans, one of the leading NBFCs known for its innovative approach to lending and financial services in India. Capri has chosen Heph as its technology partner owing to its comprehensive white-label Insurance SaaS platform tailored to BFSI needs.

Through this collaboration, Capri Loans will seamlessly embed insurance products across its lending ecosystem, including the introduction of a Group Health Insurance product and other insurance product as per the customer requirements and choice. Having integrated Heph’s multi-insurer, multi-channel capabilities, Capri Global will offer customized third party insurance solutions directly within its loan products, driving a new revenue stream while enhancing customer value.

How Capri Loans Benefits from Heph’s Insurtech Solutions:

• Seamless White-Label Integration: Heph’s API-driven, fully customizable platform enables Capri Loans to embed insurance within its existing digital ecosystem to be obtained by customers at their option, ensuring a frictionless experience for customers and sales teams alike.
• Multi-Insurer, Multi-Channel Capability: Capri Loans can now offer a diverse range of insurance products, including custom-created products (Motor, Health, Life, Group), through various distribution channels including Assisted, D2C, and Embedded, enhancing cross-sell opportunities.
• Custom Workflows for Optimized Operations: The platform is tailored to Capri Loan’s operational needs, automating policy issuance, claims processing, and compliance workflows to ensure smooth execution at scale.
• Reduced Policy Issuance Time by 80%: Heph’s advanced automation tools drastically cut down processing time, enabling issuance of policies in minutes rather than days.
• Comprehensive Backend Management: The platform consolidates operations, including policy administration, invoice management, IRDAI compliance, and reporting, ensuring complete regulatory adherence.
• Enterprise-Grade Security: With SOC2 and ISO-certified security protocols, Capri Loans benefits from best-in- class data protection and encryption standards.

Ayush Bagmar, Business Head of Heph, said, “At Heph, we are reimagining the way insurance is distributed by enabling financial institutions to introduce the right insurance products to the right audience. Our partnership with Capri Global furthers this vision. By leveraging Heph’s white-label, full-stack platform, Capri Global can now scale its offerings and drive meaningful engagement through its platform”

Magesh Iyer, Chief Operating Officer at Capri Global Capital Ltd added, “Offering our customers a wide array of insurance solutions that fits their requirement is an important objective for us. We also understand that beyond offering the right solutions, the experience of the same has to be customer oriented. This partnership enables us to reimagine the entire customer journey. Heph’s platform, a one stop shop for all insurance needs will accelerate our growth and help us serve our customers better.”

With Heph as its insurtech partner, Capri Loans is set to unlock new growth opportunities, boost policy issuance speed, and drive significant revenue expansion through insurance cross-sell, potentially increasing revenue The partnership marks a pivotal step in digitizing insurance distribution in the BFSI sector, setting new benchmarks for operational excellence and customer-centric financial solutions.

In An Industry's First, ICICI Lombard Risk Management Gets Patent for An IoT System

ICICI Lombard risk management receives a patent for IoT-enabled System to avert fire-hazards

In an industry-first move, ICICI Lombard to offer this product to SME and Corporate institutions

In recent years, the evolution and development of IoT (Internet of Things) devices have provided exciting capabilities and services to the end user. IoT devices have also been introduced in different areas to prevent unexpected mishaps caused by human error or malfunctioning of devices. One such mishap that can happen due to malfunctioning of devices is a fire disaster. ICICI Lombard, India’s leading private non-life insurance company, has identified this area to innovate an IoT-based device that protects properties from various electrical hazards. The company has been awarded a patent to offer this product to its customers.

This is an industry-first initiative undertaken by ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, and this patented electrical IoT solution is a B2B device geared towards SMEs and corporates. The solution monitors electrical hazards to notify and control if necessary on real time basis. Using this patent, the company aims to strengthen its resources to provide technologically robust and quality customer solutions.

Speaking about the recently approved patent, Sanjay Datta, Chief of Underwriting, Claims and Reinsurance, ICICI Lombard, said, “We have been able to see a high rise in the number of fire incidents in commercial as well as residential buildings, which only goes to show that a lot of infrastructure across our nation, especially in densely populated metros, are vulnerable to fire. However, there is an essential need for advanced technology to plan, manage, monitor, and control electricity delivery to enable a safe and reliable system. Technology has always been a major driving force for us at ICICI Lombard to provide cutting-edge risk solutions to millions of customers."

"With this patent approval of an IoT-based - system, we aim to provide not just insurance covers to our customers but also ensure their safety and prevent hazards. This device will serve as a new-risk solution for customers and having introduced several innovative, tech-enabled insurance solutions in the past years gives ICICI Lombard an edge over his peers.”

Majority of fires in India are caused due to electrical installations. Maximum number of disasters in industries are due to electrical problems such as voltage fluctuations, overheating, and ageing of the material and electrical gadgets. Further, causing huge losses and burdens on small industries. Therefore, the launch of such a solution is more relevant.

At ICICI Lombard we work with customers to develop best in class risk management and mitigation practices. Understanding of risk is fundamental to our business. Today, we have made it a key component of risk management and identified ways to view the risk landscape qualitatively and quantitatively. Our risk management cell has been instrumental in enhancing the overall safety culture for several clients. Risk solutions such as Safety Studies, Risk assessments, Sector wise Solutions, etc. have been developed to create awareness among customers. On the technological front, we have started introducing IoT solutions for key components. We have specifically focused on the problems plaguing the MSME and SME segment and their lack of access to quality risk management services. Accordingly, we have reinvented our offerings to include hard data on the electrical, fire and process safety. It is interesting to see how safety and efficiency go together especially with respect to electrical safety. We are starting to see increased awareness as customers and elevate their risk preparedness.

In the past, ICICI Lombard has developed various technological advancements that have ensured a seamless customer experience. The Company is leveraging natural language processing and robotic process automation technology to automate the quote generation process and policy booking for corporate and SME customers. Under SME segment which is close to 90% of the business sourcing is done through digital solutions. Approximetly 97% of ICICI Lombard’s policies today are issued electronically. With the use of AI-based motor break-in solutions for lapsed policy renewal, drones for motor video surveillance, and agent hiring and on boarding moving digital, the use of AI as well as ML in underwriting and risk management has significantly increased for the Company making it the most tech-enabled companies in the sector.

About ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd

ICICI Lombard is one of the leading general insurance companies and the leading motor insurer in the country. The Company offers a comprehensive and well-diversified range of products through multiple distribution channels, including motor, health, crop, fire, personal accident, marine, engineering, and liability insurance. With a legacy of over 20 years, ICICI Lombard is committed to customer centricity with its brand philosophy of ‘Nibhaaye Vaade'. The Company has issued over 29.3 million policies, settled 2.3 million claims and has a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of ₹185.62 billion for the year ended March 31, 2022. ICICI Lombard has 283 branches and 11,085 employees as on March 31, 2022.

ICICI Lombard has been a pioneer in the industry and migrated its entire core systems 100% to the cloud. With a strong focus on being digital led and agile, it has launched a plethora of tech-driven innovations, including Face Scan and Cal Scan on its signature insurance and wellness App - IL TakeCare, with over 3.0 million downloads. The Company has won several laurels including the 'Emerging Company of the Year at ET Corporate Excellence Awards, 'Best General Insurance Company at Annual Best & Emerging Insurance Company Awards, 'ACEF Asian Leadership' for 'Combatting COVID 19' initiatives, Guinness World Record for its CSR initiatives and many more. The awards are a testament to the trust reposed in the Company by its customers, partners, and other stakeholders. For more details log on to www.icicilombard.com

How Tech Disruption Is Changing Insurance Claims System

Article Authored by Ravi Mathur, Co-Founder & CTO, Insurance Samadhan

The advent of technology has created a new market and opened new avenues for many industries. Over the years, technology has become the backbone of almost every business. Be it education, marketing, or advertising, everyone has reaped the benefits of the technology. 

Talking about the insurance sector, one of the key determinants for prospective clients to decide which company to choose is the claim-settlement ratio, as companies compete to gain market share. Settlement of claims isn't as easy as you might think; the main reason is that insurance companies have to process thousands of claims every day, depending on how many customers they have.

The insurance-claims journey has historically been a pain point for customers. There is a lot of confusion about its handling and settlement. As a result, they have paid in advance for a technical product to protect themselves against risk, and when the "moment of truth" arrives and they wish to recoup a loss, they must figure out a complex, cumbersome, time-consuming, and iterative process. As it is clear that the customer expectations have changed according to the digital world, the insurers also need to up their game in order to stay in the market.

Which disruptive technologies are reshaping insurance operations?

Automation technology, machine learning, and artificial intelligence: AI, machine learning, and robotic process automation (RPA) are some of the most disruptive technologies in the insurance industry. Because of the sheer volume of daily claims under the earlier traditional model of claims processing, insurance companies had difficulty speeding up the process. In the claims data, it's challenging to discern specific patterns that require closer inspection by humans. However, with artificial intelligence, identifying specific claim patterns at random or at scale takes only minutes and deft programming. Moreover, all of this can be achieved without greatly increasing operational expenses or taking up excessive amounts of time.

In the P&C and employee insurance sectors, AI and RPA have increased automation possibilities. As an example, machine learning algorithms are used for fraud detection to detect anomalies that even the most trained human cannot detect.

Big data and analytics: Data is the most valuable asset for every organization. Using big data analytics, for instance, you can accurately predict patterns and enhance your decision-making capabilities, reduce operational costs, improve claims triage, and even spot emerging trends. A long-running problem for the insurance industry has been the claims process. It is cumbersome for insurance companies to verify claims manually, process claims amounts, and segment policyholders before claims are made to avoid undesirable outcomes.

Insurers have been fortunate that data analytics has saved the day, like the proverbial knight in shining armor. With all the data available to insurers today, it has only become easier for them to segment policyholders and provide better products customized to their needs. As a result, some insurance products have been cross-sold and up-sold, as well as customer satisfaction, has been improved. Additionally, Big Data has helped insurance companies process claims more quickly and efficiently.

With the assistance of technology, or, more specifically, the use of blockchain infrastructures and sophisticated software to analyze data, fraudulent insurance claims can more easily be detected. Support offered through technical means not only helps the company with the burden of unnecessary costs but also the customers on whom the liability of accidents/unforeseen incidents has fallen fraudulently. In addition to the numerous benefits of digital transformation resulting in revamped efficacy, ease of management is also one of the major benefits. Furthermore, it also allows a company to render smoother and faster services to their customers, resulting in fewer complaints from them.

There will be a huge amount of disruption in the industry. Even though these shifts cannot happen overnight, a number of them are already getting started, and there is an advantage for first movers. The insurers will be better served by clearly explaining their strategy and adjusting their operating models accordingly. A shift of this magnitude will take years, but insurers can gain a competitive advantage and prepare for 2030 by laying the groundwork now.

Automovill Announces India's First Vehicle Accidental Claims App

Automovill, a full-stack mobility start-up has launched India's First Accidental Claims app for all Insurance agents/brokers across India. The application will help the brand to build an interface with over 1 lakh+ Agents across 20k+Pincodes in India. The app is available for android device and by June-22 it will be launched for the IOS users too.

The app will function as a complete motor insurance platform serving end-to-end connecting agents, car owners and the brand to facilitate any motor claim, simultaneously providing transparency in terms of claims, offerings, cost, and services. An agent can simply sign up and register a claim case from the client, this case would further be summitted with Automovill and upon estimate generation the insurer will process it further. The process and status will be visible to the agent on the app.

Automovill Direct Sales Agents Mobile Application

"The idea behind launching this app is to reduce the claim-cost by bringing in more efficiency to the system for all the stake holders (Insurance companies & Customers). As on date Automovill is the leader in handling Motor claims across India, providing not less than a 40% cost reduction compared to Authorized service providers. We understand the true estimates and can add speed and transparency to the entire system. This makes it easier for agents, and customers to book and facilitate the claim. The app will solve that procedure for everyone,” said Mr. Mridu Mahendra Das, Co-Founder & CEO of Automovill.

The application will be further developed in-house into an advanced AI system to support insurance claim estimation procedure. It will be built on fine AI technology to disrupt the much complex motor insurance claim process. The technology will be used in detecting vehicle damage like dents, and generating estimates of insurance claims. It will handle the further process of sending the estimate and getting approvals from the insurers too, thus reducing any discrepancies.

Currently in the phase -1 Automovill aims at onboarding at least 20k+Agents across the country, and service about 1 lakh+ claims in the ongoing calendar year through this APP.

App link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.autmovill.insurance

About Automovill

Started the operation in 2016 in Bangalore and Guwahati, Automovill’s tech-enabled 360-degree approach enables impeccable customer experience by bringing trust, transparency, and convenience. Since its inception, the platform, co-founded by Mridu Mahendra Das and Chinmay Baruah and joined by Ramana Sambu as Co-Founder and CBO

Headquartered in Bangalore, Automovill now has a presence in 20 cities with direct retail customers in Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Patna, Jaipur and Guwahati.

Providing its service for nearly 4000 cars per month, Automovill has observed a massive 250% growth post-pandemic.

Life Insurance Corporation of India Files for Biggest Indian IPO

With an embedded value of Rs 5.4 trillion, LIC files for the biggest IPO

India’s largest asset manager, LIC files for its IPO

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Country's largest life insurer with a market share of 64.1 percent in terms of premiums, has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for an initial public offering (IPO).

The issue with a face value of Rs 10 each per equity shares will be a comprehensive offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 316,249,885 equity shares by the President of India through the Ministry of Finance, Government of India ("Selling shareholders"). The offer also includes not more than 5% reservation for its eligible employees and not more than 10% for its policyholders.

LIC was created on September 1, 1956, when 245 private life insurance companies in India were merged and nationalised. From its founding till 2000, it was India's only life insurance. Based on its size, market relevance, and domestic and global interconnection, IRDAI classified it as a Domestic Systemically Important Insurer ("D-SII") in September 2020.

Adjusted net worth ("ANW") and Value of in-force business ("VIF") are the components that make up embedded value, with ANW consisting of Free surplus ("FS") and Required capital ("RC"). As of September 30, 2021 the embedded value of LIC is Rs 5.40 trillion.

According to Brand Finance report, LIC’s brand is the third strongest and tenth most valuable worldwide insurance brand. The present worth of earnings tied to a brand's reputation is the value of a brand.

LIC had an asset under management (AUM) of Rs 39.74 trillion as of September 30, 2021, which was more than three times the total AUM of all private life insurers in India, approximately 16.2 times the AUM of the second-largest player in the Indian life insurance industry, and 1.1 times the entire Indian mutual fund industry.

In terms of market share, LIC had the highest gap by life insurance Gross Written Premiums (GWP) in relative to the second-largest life insurer in India as compared to the market leaders in the top seven markets globally in 2020 for the other players and in Fiscal 2021.

The insurance behemoth had a 66.2 percent market share in terms of New Business Premium (or NBP), 74.6 percent in terms of number of individual policies issued, 81.1 percent in terms of number of group policies issued, and a 55 percent market share in terms of individual agents as of September 30, 2021.

The 282.58 million in-force policies under individual business being handled in India as of September 30, 2021, demonstrate the trust in the LIC brand.

In addition, LIC has a sizable market share in health insurance and annuities. In terms of GWP, it had a market share of 46.9% and 53.6 percent in health insurance supplied by life insurance carriers in India for Fiscal 2020 and Fiscal 2021, respectively.

With 32 Individual and 10 group products, LIC caters to a wide range of market segments. Individual products include microinsurance and items specialised to certain market niches, such as women's and children's products.

In India, LIC issued approximately 21 million individual policies in Fiscal 2021, accounting for nearly 75% of new individual policy issuances. The industry's second-largest player, with a 5.9% market share in Fiscal 2021, issued 1.66 million individual policies.

As of September 30, 2021, LIC had 2,048 branch offices and 1,554 satellite offices across India, covering 91 percent of the country's districts. In addition to its life insurance business in India, it has branches in Fiji, Mauritius, and India.

The company has subsidiaries in Bahrain (with operations in Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates), Bangladesh, Nepal, Singapore, and Sri Lanka in the life insurance industry.

LIC's total income increased by 9.00 percent to Rs. 703,732.43 crore in fiscal 2021, compared to Rs. 645,640.91 crore in fiscal 2020, owing to higher net earned premiums and investment income, while net profits increased by 9.73 percent from Rs. 2710.48 crore in FY20 to Rs. 2974.14 crore in FY21. Total income for the six months ended September 2021 was Rs 336,972.92 crore, with profit after tax of Rs 1,504.01 crore.

The Indian life insurance industry generated a total premium value of Rs. 6.2 trillion in fiscal 2021, up from Rs. 5.7 trillion in fiscal 2020. The industry's total premium climbed at an 11 percent compound annual growth rate(CAGR) in the five years leading up to Fiscal 2021. CRISIL, a credit rating agency, forecasts a 14-15 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the following five years, taking the total to Rs. 12.4 trillion by Fiscal 2026.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, Axis Capital Limited, BofA Securities India Limited, Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited, JM Financial Limited, J.P. Morgan India Private Limited, Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Private Limited, ICICI Securities Limited, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Private Limited and SBI Capital Markets Limited are the book running lead managers to the issue.

Term Life Insurance: 5 Reasons That Make It A Must Buy

Life is short, and one can never predict what the future holds. And to ensure that your family is financially secure even after you are gone, opting for term life insurance makes for a great idea. It is a plan that helps you prepare for any unforeseen circumstances that the future may bring. As one of the most cost-effective methods to financially secure your loved ones’ future, term insurance policy has become very popular in India. It is so because it is highly affordable, and yet your beneficiaries stay financially protected due to its extensive coverage.

For instance, if you are not around anymore, your family may suffer both emotionally as well as financially. But with a financial security net that term insurance policy provides, your family will be able to mourning peace devoid of any worries about finances and making ends meet.

Now that you have somewhat understood the gist of what is life insurance and its purpose, you need to understand that there are different plans. All insurance companies work for the betterment of their clients. Hence, they try to incorporate newer plans that will suit individual needs.

But before you dive into the directive of the term life insurance plans, you should know the reasons for buying a standard term insurance policy:

1. Low Premium

As there is no investment element in the insured amount of term life insurance plans, the premiums are much lower than any other insurance plan. You may have to pay only about one percent of your annual income to get a life cover. Besides, the premium of the term insurance policy is less than that of the other insurance policies. For instance, a plan of 1 crore would have a premium of only Rs 7 400 per annum.

2. High Flexibility

One of the chief advantages of a term life insurance plan is the flexibility it offers. You have the option to buy term plans, both online and offline. And many insurance providers also allow you to change and customize the term insurance policy as and when required.

In some cases, the term plans may allow for the degree of coverage to increase throughout the tenure. It can happen when you get married or have children. Then, the coverage can be increased as per your suitability.

3. Lower Claim Rejections

It would be best if you remember to disclose facts about your health condition, finances, habits, and others before buying any term life insurance plan. As per the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), no insurer can claim that there has been non-disclosure of facts after two years of the policy becoming effective. Thus, making term plans one of the safest choices for securing your family’s future as there’s little chance of getting a claim rejected.

4. Rider Options

The rider on options is the additional benefits that come with term life insurance plans and enhance the total coverage. Generally, these come with a nominal fee and should be taken only if required. Some of these add-ons that can be taken with your term insurance policy are critical illness, death due to accidents, partial or permanent disability, and others.

Thus, before you opt for term insurance, it is vital that you check your family history. For instance, you opt for a standard term life insurance plan without the critical illness rider and without taking into account the family history of diabetes. Later on in life, you may have to face expensive medical expenditures if you develop the illness.

Also, it would help if you opted for a rider only when you genuinely require it. Make sure to go through the offer document carefully before opting for a rider.

5. Tax Benefits

Under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act of 1961, the premiums paid on term life insurance plans are tax-deductible up to a limit of Rs 1.5 lakh per annum. Apart from that,the death benefit is also fully tax-exempt in some cases under Section 80D.

However, it may vary based on certain factors. It is essential to renew policies before the expiry as the premiums on lapsed plans may not always be eligible for tax deductions.

These are a few reasons that make a term life insurance plan a must-have. You can opt for a term insurance policy,either offline or online. You can opt for reliable insurers like Max Life Insurance. To understand the policies in detail, you can visit their website. And in case you face any trouble in understanding, you can contact them!

Sources: https://www.irdai.gov.in/admincms/cms/LayoutPages_Print.aspx?page=PageNo117