Emergence of MZ Generation and Expansion of Non-Face-to-Face
Shortage of Talent to Lead Digital Transformation
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] The insurance industry is fiercely competing to recruit digital experts. Even if they are not well-versed in insurance, external personnel with expertise in digital technology are being brought in to accelerate digital transformation from a new perspective. The emergence of the digitally savvy MZ (Millennial + Z) generation and the impact of COVID-19 have created a sense of urgency that delayed digital innovation could lead to obsolescence.
According to the insurance industry on the 18th, Samsung Life Insurance appointed Executive Director Hong Seon-gi on the 7th to work in the digital division. Director Hong previously served as the lead partner for financial cloud technology at Amazon Web Services Korea. As a financial cloud expert, he is expected to play a role in strengthening Samsung Life’s digital strategy.
Samsung Life is aiming to become a ‘2024 Digital Intelligent Company’ and is promoting digital planning, new technology adoption, data innovation, and system operations centered around its Digital Innovation Office.
They are also engaging in digital research and development (R&D) through their Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center and the Business Data Analytics (BDA) Center related to big data. Earlier this year, they introduced a digital diagnostic service that allows simple insurance underwriting within five minutes through a non-face-to-face process.
AI-based customer services are also expanding. They are diversifying customer services by utilizing inference and prediction functions in 'DdaBot,' a conversational AI chatbot developed with in-house technology. Recently, they have been developing an 'AI Virtual Counselor' that handles customer requests in place of call center agents.
Mirae Asset Life Insurance also recruited Kim Byung-yoon, president of the Innovation Promotion Team at Mirae Asset Securities and an ‘IT expert,’ as an IT executive last month. President Kim graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Computational Statistics and has served as head of the Cyber Team at Mirae Asset Securities, vice president of the IT Business Division, and CEO of Mirae Asset Fund Service and Mirae Asset Capital.
Although the official appointment has not yet been made, President Kim is expected to oversee digital transformation efforts at Mirae Asset Life Insurance. In March, Mirae Asset Life spun off its sales organization into Mirae Asset Financial Services and is accelerating digital transformation. They have expanded the sales channels for their core product, variable insurance, to online platforms and introduced a Smart Care service that allows variable insurance policyholders to easily manage investment information.
Shinhan Life, which will launch next month, recently strengthened its digital division through organizational restructuring. Within the Digital Innovation Group, they organized four teams responsible for planning, innovation, big data, and healthcare business to systematize the organization. Shinhan Life plans to provide all insurance services via mobile phones 24/7 and intends to make and implement decisions centered on digital, value, and data.
Kakao Pay, which recently received preliminary approval to establish a digital non-life insurance company, has begun hiring around 300 employees within the year. It is known that more than 100 of these hires will be IT personnel specializing in insurance.
Kakao Non-Life Insurance is expected to focus on acquiring customers through mini-insurance (small-amount short-term insurance) such as travel insurance and pet insurance at its launch. This is because it can leverage Kakao’s lifestyle platform services based on KakaoTalk.
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