Introduction
Our client is AIA, a leading life insurance provider, partnered with RISE to drive innovation and digital transformation across its operations. Through the AIA x RISE Accelerator, the company collaborated with startups to address challenges in customer engagement, agent productivity, and digital adoption, focusing on identifying innovative solutions and implementing pilot projects to enhance efficiency and business growth.
Over the eight-month program, the initiative facilitated deep collaboration between AIA executives and high-potential startups, resulting in multiple pilot projects focused on automation, AI-driven decision-making, and customer experience enhancements. The program not only introduced cutting-edge solutions but also paved the way for long-term innovation strategies within AIA.
Challenges
AIA identified key challenges across various departments:
Agent Recruitment & Productivity: Difficulty in attracting new agents, activating inactive agents, and improving lead conversion.
Digital Transformation: Need for scalable eKYC solutions, better lead management, and faster product configuration.
Customer Engagement & Retention: Low conversion of ALive app users to paying customers and need for improved personalized recommendations.
Operational Efficiency: Inefficient underwriting processes, lack of automation in claims processing, and slow decision-making frameworks.
Data Utilization: Challenges in collecting, labeling, and leveraging customer data to improve business decisions and risk assessment.
Startup Collaboration & Innovation Mindset: Complex procurement and IT processes made it difficult for AIA to collaborate effectively with startups, limiting opportunities for quick experimentation and deployment of new solutions.
Consulting Approach
Our approach systematically identified, tested, and implemented innovative solutions for AIA. By engaging leadership and startups, we accelerated digital transformation and operational efficiency. This enabled rapid experimentation, validation, and scaling of successful initiatives.
1. Problem Statement Identification
Collaborated with 15 Heads of Departments (HODs) to identify 50+ problem statements aligned with business needs.
Conducted one-on-one sessions to refine and prioritize key areas for innovation, ensuring relevance and strategic alignment.
Defined key metrics for measuring the success of the pilot projects.
2. Startup Scouting & Selection
Received 150+ startup applications from RISE’s global innovation ecosystem and online applications.
Shortlisted 40+ high-potential startups, leading to 7 finalists for pilot implementation.
Conducted 15 private pitching sessions between AIA executives and startup founders to identify business synergies.
Focused on selecting startups with proven solutions that aligned with AIA’s problem statements and operational requirements.
3. Pilot Implementation
Launched 7 startup pilots across different business units to test innovative solutions over a three-month period.
Focused on automation, digital engagement, financial planning, and AI-driven solutions to address key operational and customer pain points.
Implemented pilots in real-world environments to measure effectiveness and scalability.
4. Demo Day & Post-Pilot Discussions
Hosted a Demo Day with 2,000+ attendees, including AIA staff, agents, partners, and international stakeholders.
Achieved an 80% NPS Score from AIA sponsors and champions, reflecting strong engagement and satisfaction.
Initiated 4 post-pilot discussions, exceeding the expected number of continued engagements.
Collected feedback for future program improvements, focusing on streamlining procurement, enhancing cross-department collaboration, and enabling faster decision-making for innovation projects.
Results and Impact
The AIA x RISE Accelerator delivered tangible business results for successful startup pilots and key business outcomes:
Successful Startup Pilots
Vonder – Gamified Micro-Learning for Agents
Created an interactive training platform to engage agents with gamified learning.
300 registered users, with 100 completing all challenges.
Users were 60% more likely to apply for agent training after completing all tasks.
Recommendation: Integrate Vonder into agent onboarding programs to enhance participation.
Vulcan – AI-Powered Data Labeling with Social Impact
Engaged 187 people with disabilities to label 1,000 medical documents.
Achieved 90% data labeling accuracy, demonstrating efficiency and scalability.
Plans to expand to voice data labeling for AIA Call Center operations.
Recommendation: Scale initiative to additional datasets and integrate API for seamless workflow.
Lightwork – Low-Code RPA for Underwriting Automation
Automated the underwriting process by extracting data from multiple sources.
Achieved 95% accuracy in printed text extraction and 100% accuracy in web data retrieval.
Identified improvement areas for handwritten character recognition.
Recommendation: Further refine AI model for handwritten data processing and expand automation scope.
GoalsMapper – Financial Planning Tool for Agents
Provided digital financial planning tools to 50 agents, generating 192 client profiles.
User satisfaction rated 9.7/10, though complexity limited adoption among general agents.
Recommendation: Focus on MDRT and experienced agents for best adoption outcomes.
Tetherfi – Secure Remote Work Solution for Telesales
Enabled work-from-home compliance for telesales staff.
Prevented an estimated 5,000 data breaches.
High user satisfaction, with seamless work-from-home experience.
Recommendation: Expand implementation for wider telesales teams.
Smarten – AI & IoT Hybrid Workspace Management
Piloted across 50 employees in AIA’s corporate office.
43% of users checked in daily via the system, optimizing workspace efficiency.
Provided new data insights for future office space planning.
Recommendation: Leverage insights for smarter workspace optimization strategies.
Key Business Outcomes
Enhanced Digital Capabilities: Adoption of automation, AI, and fintech solutions to streamline operations.
Stronger Agent Engagement: Increased agent participation through gamified training and better lead management.
Operational Efficiency Gains: Faster underwriting, automated compliance, and improved hybrid work management.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Improved data labeling processes, enabling more accurate risk assessment and analytics.
Long-Term Innovation Roadmap: AIA established a foundation for continuous collaboration with startups, paving the way for more disruptive innovations.
Cultural Transformation: Fostered an innovation mindset across AIA, encouraging departments to experiment and embrace new technologies.
Conclusion
The AIA x RISE Accelerator successfully demonstrated how corporate-startup collaboration can drive meaningful impact in the insurance industry. By systematically identifying problem statements, engaging with innovative startups, and implementing pilot solutions, AIA accelerated its digital transformation journey.
With multiple post-pilot discussions underway, AIA is positioned to further scale these innovations and solidify its leadership in the evolving insurance landscape. The program not only delivered immediate business value but also established a scalable model for continuous innovation, ensuring that AIA remains at the forefront of industry transformation. Looking ahead, AIA aims to expand its collaboration framework, improve procurement and IT integration for startups, and foster cross-departmental innovation projects. With these strategic enhancements, the AIA x RISE Accelerator is set to become a cornerstone of AIA’s long-term innovation strategy.
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