Founded in June 2015, Hearti Lab was born out of the realization that there was a void in the corporate and personal insurance sector: the lack of a low-cost, full-featured A.I. platform for insurance management.

To achieve its vision of developing an integrated insurance platform, the company has developed two complementary platforms: HEARTI.IO & SURETY.AI. The former allows insurers to offer their corporate customers employee insurance that is managed by an employee wallet for benefits management, while the latter allows general and life insurers to leverage the latest developments in artificial intelligence to better serve their customer base at all times.

PROBLEM IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY
The technological levels in the insurance industry have remained roughly the same for the past decades.  Insurance consumers enjoy very low switching costs; the market is very fragmented and highly saturated, which means that little power is held by each insurer.

There is a growing prevalence of the internet that has increased transparency and made insurers more accountable to their customers. In addition, the invention of comparison sites means that consumers can easily compare hundreds of insurers, which make switching at the end of the contracts very easy. Insurance in general is very price driven, as there is little difference between the basic insurance policies. Insurers currently therefore have to compete on price. Loyalty is also very low in insurance as there is little differentiation between insurers and their products.

USE CASE – SOMPO INSURANCE (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD
Sompo’s customers are mainly individuals with very different, personalised needs.  Today’s consumers want more control and flexibility according their choices and preferences.

A Bain Research done in 2016 also suggested that 60% of Asia consumers value a platform of services, e.g. if they insure their houses, they would also want to insure its contents.  Consumers are becoming more mobile, and more demanding in terms of the products they purchase.  They would want the right coverage, at the right price, and at the right time.

In view of the industry challenges and consumer demands, Sompo has decided to implement Surety.ai at an enterprise-wide level since Q3 2017.  With Surety.ai, Sompo is able to design on-demand insurance products that empower consumers to insure things anytime, anywhere. Sompo believes that technologies such as artificial intelligence is critical in making on-demand insurance popular with consumers.

Sompo intends to offer such On-Demand Insurance using Artificial Intelligence for:

1. Travel Insurance – to cover selected activities and high value purchases made during the trip
2. Personal Effects Insurance – to cover watches, jewellery or even handbags.
3. Personal Accident coverage for activities – e.g. Triathlon, cycling event etc.

Surety.ai would also enable Sompo to offer personalised insurance with dynamic pricing.  This means that insurance premiums are adjusted based on consumer behaviour, external risk factors (such as weather and natural disasters) and market conditions etc.  This will address the current challenge where insurance products are non-differentiated and “off-the-rack” prices are fixed.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR SURETY.AI?
Closely following the developments in the artificial intelligence and blockchain space, Hearti Lab will be introducing industry-first features to the Surety.ai product in the coming year. One such example is the inclusion of image-detection capabilities that will expedite the underwriting and claims process for personal items insurance as well as a migration of user data onto the blockchain to ensure greater security, efficiency in training AI models and transparency of transactions. Hearti Lab is currently present in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, with plans to expand beyond.