5-Star Insurance Innovations, Products and Leaders in Asia-Pacific

That move from slower, transactional interactions to instant, transparent digital service is reflected in IB's 5-Star Insurance Innovators 2025 survey findings:

Innovation turned into measurable gains: The winning firms reduced manual work and applied AI, which saves time and reduces risk, as the results show:

Targeted tech spend delivers results: Most winners invested 11% to 30% of their 2024 budgets in technology, while a smaller group committed 50% or more to fuel major transformation.

Innovation spans all company sizes: Award winners included boutique firms with fewer than 10 employees to major enterprises with over 500, with a near-even distribution showing that scale is no barrier to leadership.

Uniyal says the common denominator is technology: "Innovation in the insurance sector is primarily fuelled by the convergence of AI, data modernisation and customer-centric digital platforms. At HCLTech, we identify agentic automation, cloud-native architectures and intelligent underwriting as pivotal."

Brady adds that innovation is also being shaped by regulatory reform, tighter margins and the drag of outdated systems. "Stricter frameworks are encouraging brokers to rethink how they engage with clients and ensure advice models are not only compliant but genuinely client-centric," he says. "Many insurers and brokers, particularly larger networks and corporate firms, are still working on outdated platforms that make meaningful changes either technically difficult or cost prohibitive."

In 2024, Elders Insurance launched the Elders Insurance Agency Technology Modernisation (EIATM) project, a nationwide program to replace outdated systems, modernise workplaces and boost service capabilities. The initiative aimed to create a more flexible, resilient environment for staff across more than 160 agency locations, including rural and remote areas.

A new virtual desktop environment was introduced to:

The team addressed the unique connectivity challenges of remote offices. Field visits to each site allowed them to assess operational needs and tailor deployment strategies, avoiding a one-size-fits-all rollout.

Agility was key. When technical challenges arose, the team adapted cloud infrastructure strategies and resolved issues in hours rather than weeks, without sacrificing security or performance. Staff training included comprehensive resources and step-by-step guidance so employees at every skill level could transition with confidence.

A network of over 200 change champions from agencies and the head office acted as a bridge between new systems and daily operations. They translated technical changes into practical, easy-to-follow steps and offered peer-to-peer support.

This network helped shift the organisation's culture towards one where innovation is owned locally, and improvements are driven by the people using the systems daily.

The sector is at a critical juncture, with technology, regulation and customer demands pushing change at pace.

Across the Asia-Pacific, market forces are intersecting in ways that demand:

Digital adoption, AI, climate risk and heightened competition are driving product design, distribution and the very definition of value.

According to PwC's Insurance Reimagined 2025 research, five forces will steer the industry's trajectory in the years ahead.

The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer found trust in financial services has slipped to just 64% globally, while the insurance protection gap is estimated to balloon to an estimated US$1.86 trillion in 2025, almost half of it in the Asia-Pacific region.

Customers expect more than protection. They want solutions embedded in their daily lives, delivered through seamless, digital journeys. That heightened demand for speed and transparency is driving a fundamental rethink of client engagement models.

Insurers are expanding beyond traditional channels, partnering with gig-economy groups, e-tailers and other affinity markets to deliver fully digital, embedded insurance. Growing consumer demand means more revenue is expected to shift from conventional distribution to these platform-based models.

IoT, big data, solar and robotics are driving a US$3.2 trillion market in 2025, nine times larger than in 2020, creating new risks and opportunities for insurers ready to move quickly.

In August 2024, IQumulate Premium Funding launched Project 350 to address a significant operational challenge: the slow, manual process of producing and validating premium funding quotes in highly regulated markets. The goal was to automate nearly half of the 15,300 quotes generated each year, cutting turnaround from hours to minutes.

The IQEdge portal was enhanced with:

The result is a quoting process that delivers complete, compliant responses in seconds, freeing staff to focus on higher-value customer and broker engagement.

Project 350 replaced fragmented manual steps with a single, integrated system for secure data storage, advanced querying, workflow automation and smart data validation.

Rather than gathering information from multiple sources, staff now work within one platform that filters, validates and returns results almost instantly, all while meeting strict regulatory standards in Australia and New Zealand.

By eliminating repetitive administrative work, the initiative has improved speed, accuracy, and responsiveness, strengthening IQumulate's ability to compete in a market where rapid, reliable quotes are a key driver of broker satisfaction and customer service.

Global insurtech funding climbed to US$1.31 billion in Q1 2025, according to Gallagher Re, driven by US$1.13 billion for property and casualty startups, the highest level since late 2022.

AI-focused ventures accounted for 61.2% of deals (US$710.86 million), underscoring where innovation and investor confidence are concentrated. Funding moderated in Q2 2025 to US$1.09 billion, but AI-oriented offerings still drew 57.1% of deal share, reflecting sustained appetite for technologies with immediate operational impact.

Climate change could drive up to US$183 billion in additional global property premiums by 2040, as insurers respond to rising catastrophe risks and develop new products, models and partnerships to strengthen resilience.

That effort will depend on cross-sector collaboration with regulators, governments and other stakeholders, as well as using their influence as institutional investors to advance climate priorities.

Portfolio Intelligence was introduced in 2024, an AI-powered solution within the Betterview platform that moves insurers from single-property assessments to portfolio-level analysis.

The system combines high-resolution aerial imagery with AI-generated risk scores to give insurers a faster, more comprehensive view of portfolio health, removing the need to pull data from multiple sources.

With this capability, they can identify risk patterns, evaluate performance across regions or agencies and uncover market opportunities, all within one platform.

The project addressed a longstanding industry challenge: the slow, resource-heavy process of stitching together disparate datasets to assess portfolio risk.

By integrating aerial imagery with AI models trained to detect key risk indicators, the platform delivers an instant visualisation of exposure and allows segmentation by geography, agency, or other criteria.

This enables underwriting and claims teams to:

The streamlined interface allows decisions to be made within minutes of data capture, improving responsiveness and resilience.

For carriers in a market defined by rising risk and tighter margins, Portfolio Intelligence offers a way to manage exposure and pursue growth without adding operational complexity.

At Stone Lane Broking & Risk Advisory, Brady says that its self-imposed KPIs are centred around client retention and referral rates. "These generally indicate a broad level of satisfaction and suggest our innovations are making a meaningful difference," he adds. "If clients remain committed and even more so when recommending our firm to others, we generally know we're on the right track."

PwC Australia's Jagga, meanwhile, says customer needs are undeniably shaping the industry's focus. "There's a clear expectation for seamless digital experiences throughout the insurance journey, from origination to renewal to claim," he explains. "Customers are also seeking more value beyond traditional benefits associated with payment of claims, emphasising the importance of trust, transparency and proactive communication from their insurers."

When it comes to measuring innovation success in the sector, Jagga points to a range of indicators:

While those measures track outcomes, Brady believes there's untapped potential in integration tools that help link internal IT systems together. "For brokers especially, the ability to connect CRMs, broking platforms, document storage and communication tools such as emails is invaluable, but often neglected," he adds.

Uniyal highlights a different gap: "Technologies such as edge AI, agentic automation, and cognitive infrastructure are gaining traction but remain underutilised. These technologies offer insurers the capability to scale intelligent operations, enhance fraud detection, and optimise customer journeys."

Building on that, Jagga points to other underused technologies with strong potential:

"The current environment does come with its challenges," he says. "Regulatory compliance, especially around pricing transparency, requires careful navigation."

In an inflationary economic environment, rising living costs and higher premiums have added to revenue pressures and customer retention challenges while also increasing operational costs.

Jagga notes that the increase in natural disasters and complex liability portfolios is also adding volatility to margins.

General manager Dale Gleeson (DG) reflects on the rollout of the project and the role of change champions in driving adoption.

IB: What were the biggest lessons learned during the national rollout, especially in supporting rural offices?

DG: "The importance of early and consistent engagement with the agency network and associated staff. Establishing trust from the outset by being transparent about what they would and wouldn't receive and clearly explaining the rationale behind decisions was essential. Bringing agencies along on the journey was a priority, which is why the program team presented at over eight national conferences. These sessions helped communicate the program's objectives, scope, expected outcomes and timelines while also helping agencies understand the implications for their operations."

IB: How has the change champion network influenced adoption and shifted culture across your agencies?

DG: "Recognising that this initiative was several steps removed from QBE's core business and that many agency teams had limited experience with major technology changes, we needed a grassroots approach. The change champions, now a network of 220 individuals nationwide, have become subject matter experts across states and regions, fostering peer-to-peer support, knowledge sharing and a self-sustaining culture of change and continuous improvement."

IB: How do you see your modernisation efforts helping the company stay responsive as customer expectations and industry pressures evolve?

DG: "The modernised technology architecture and upgraded infrastructure have significantly enhanced agency connectivity and agility. With built-in redundancy and remote access capabilities, agents can now engage with customers seamlessly, whether in the office or on the road. Partnering with our specialist technology partner has also elevated the level of nationwide support available to agency staff, ensuring business continuity even during disruptions."

IB: What surprised your team most during the rollout?

DG: "The most unexpected challenge was the installation of internet service provider infrastructure. High costs and a lack of existing local infrastructure led to delays, rescheduling, and design changes across multiple sites. To overcome these barriers, the program adopted alternative technologies such as Starlink to service remote and difficult-to-reach locations. From a change management perspective, the team implemented a continuous feedback loop with agencies, using surveys to monitor change readiness, measure success and proactively address installation learnings, user feedback and unforeseen complexities. This approach helped refine the rollout and improve the overall experience for agencies."

Head of IT and Project 350 lead, Wai-Lum Tang (WT), shares how the team navigated the complexity of building an AI-driven quoting system that works across industries, locations, and customer systems while delivering results for staff, brokers, and clients.

IB: What were the biggest challenges your team faced while automating the quote process through Project 350?

WT: "We work with trusted individuals and businesses from a broad range of industries across Australia and New Zealand. One of the principles we had when we first went into Project 350 was to ensure that all our customers and brokers benefited from the project. We needed our solution to easily integrate with all our customers' existing systems and deliver fast, reliable quotes every single time. One of the ways we tried to overcome that challenge was to ensure we trained our AI model with close to 1,000 artefacts across every one of our customer bases. That way, when we went live, the model was as informed as it could be to deliver a fast and automated outcome."

IB: How has that automation changed the experience for staff, brokers, and customers?

WT: "As head of IT, our staff, brokers and customers are all my stakeholders. My team's goal is to use technology in the best way possible to ensure that every one of them gets the best experience in their engagement with IQumulate. For our staff, we are spending less time in front of computers doing data entry work because they're using the solution instead. Depending on how many quotes each person generates, that's almost an hour a day each that they can now spend in front of a broker or a customer and not in front of a PC. It's been valuable having this project delivered and a great solution for our customers, brokers, and staff. And if you think about what that extra hour means, it could be extra time in conversation with your customer, listening to them more carefully or refining the quote. There's so much you can do with that additional hour. The ability to deliver that means we can personalise our service and differentiate IQumulate from our competitors. Having more time to deliver really good customer service has also translated to staff engagement. When you have happy staff, you're naturally going to have happy customers."

IB: Regulatory compliance was a key driver of the project. How are you keeping your tech ahead of evolving standards?

WT: "IQumulate has been an accredited Australian Finance Industry Association member under its Code of Practice since the inception of that code in 2022. We're also a compliant member of the Financial Services Federation in Aotearoa, New Zealand, since 2023. In both locations, there are strict regulatory frameworks governing the finance and lending industries. For technology projects, we spend a lot of time evaluating the data security and cybersecurity component and balancing strict systems control with a modern digital experience designed with the customer in mind. You can build a really good system and lock it down, but then it becomes unusable. At the same time, it can't be too open because you need to provide a trusted platform where brokers and customers know their data is being protected."

IB: What's been the biggest unexpected benefit since rolling out Project 350?

WT: "Since going live, we've probably saved close to 40 working days of manual data entry. Another interesting aspect for me is the conversation we're now having with staff, brokers, and customers. They see us as leading with innovation. They believe we can deliver what we promise. I'm really excited by our innovation program and looking forward to delivering even more to all my stakeholders."

CEO Andy Watt (AW) shares how Portfolio Intelligence has shifted insurers from property-level assessments to portfolio-wide strategy, giving them faster, deeper insights into risk, surfacing hidden opportunities and helping reduce costs by tackling issues before they escalate.

IB: How has Portfolio Intelligence changed the way your insurance clients approach risk assessment and portfolio management? What kind of feedback are you hearing from users about its operational impact?

AW: "It has shifted the conversation from individual property risk to portfolio-wide strategy. Instead of piecing together data from multiple sources, insurers now have a single visual view of risk distribution, performance and opportunity. That means they can spot concentrations of risk, evaluate portfolio performance by region or distribution channel and see where growth is possible in minutes instead of weeks. The feedback we're hearing is that it's saving significant time, sharpening underwriting decisions and allowing teams to take more proactive measures. One insurer told us they can now identify underwriting agencies who need additional support, work with them to improve outcomes and lift the overall quality of their portfolio. Others have said it's helping them make faster, more confident decisions during renewal cycles and in post-catastrophe planning. Another powerful impact is simply making portfolio-level customer data accessible to executives and decision-makers. Many insurers, particularly those without sophisticated mapping or dashboard tools, have struggled to answer a basic question: Where are our customers? Traditionally, getting even a static view of this required time-consuming data extracts from analytics teams, often plotted on rudimentary maps with limited value. Now, insurers can instantly visualise customer distribution across a portfolio, giving leadership the clarity they need to respond quickly and allocate resources where they matter most."

IB: What surprised insurers most when they first saw what Portfolio Intelligence could do?

AW: "Two things stood out. The first was speed - the ability to get a clear, portfolio-level risk picture almost instantly, without the manual aggregation that used to slow everything down. The second was the depth of insight. Many expected broad trends but were surprised they could drill from a high-level map straight down to individual properties, complete with AI-powered risk scores and imagery."

IB: Can you share a specific example of how Portfolio Intelligence helped an insurer uncover and act on a previously hidden risk or opportunity across their portfolio?

AW: "One customer used the property concentration map to identify regions with a high density of roofs in poor condition that hadn't previously been flagged as a priority. They were able to drill down to the specific underwriting agencies operating in those areas, work with them to address the underlying issues, and improve roof quality across the portfolio. In another case, an insurer noticed "bare spots" on the map - regions with no existing customers but strong potential. By linking those insights with their distribution network, they could target the right partners and expand into new markets. In both cases, the speed from discovery to action was measured in days, not months."

IB: How do you see AI-powered tools such as Portfolio Intelligence evolving to meet new insurance industry challenges, especially around data integration and faster decision-making?

AW: "As AI continues to learn from our always-expanding library of high-resolution, frequently updated aerial imagery, insurers will gain an even sharper, more current view of their portfolios. That means detecting subtle changes faster and with greater accuracy, whether it's emerging roof degradation, vegetation growth in bushfire zones or development in high-exposure areas. This is more than data. It's a living, visual record of the built environment, analysed by proven AI models. That combination keeps blind spots to a minimum, enables faster, data-backed decisions and gives insurers the confidence to manage risk proactively and capture growth opportunities the moment they emerge. Importantly, it's also about tackling one of the toughest issues in our market: affordability and accessibility. With AI applied at scale, insurers can see which properties need simple fixes like roof repairs, clearing overhanging trees, or cleaning up yards before storm season hits. Proactively helping customers take those steps reduces the severity of claims when disasters strike, which flows through to lower costs and, ultimately, less pressure on premiums."

All show that speed, client focus and operational resilience have become industry standards. Technology and leadership, applied with intent, are delivering faster service, leaner processes and stronger retention.