Building insurtech bridges for Bharat: When local innovation meets digital trust

India’s insurtech roadmap is about enabling trust and usability through technology that is deeply localized and digital-first, empowering agents and customers alike. It is a blend of vernacular interfaces, mobile technology, AI assistance, and seamless digital workflows that brings coverage into reach for Bharat’s vast and varied population, making insurance simpler, smarter, and truly inclusive. 

Ish Babbar, Co-founder and CTO, InsuranceDekho, joined Shivani Muthanna, Senior Director - Strategic Partnerships & Content, YourStory, at TechSparks 2025 for a compelling fireside chat on ‘Local, digital, inclusive: Bridging the insurance gulf for Bharat’. Babbar covered a range of topics, including AI-driven innovations, digitization of agent channels, microinsurance and more. 

Rural India’s insurance landscape

From a Tier II to Tier IV city perspective, Babbar revealed that the customer base was as large as 90 crore Indians. These individuals are unlikely to follow a Do it Yourself (DIY) approach when purchasing insurance. Typically, they rely on trusted advisors to guide them. Therefore, advisors must be equipped with the right set of tools to help recommend policies that suit customers. This is when the real transformation begins. Enabling these advisors is critical. With more than six lakh villages across India, rethinking the way insurance is distributed becomes essential. 

Babbar opined that the insurance sector needs to design for the way insurance advisors sell to customers. In today’s largely digital world, there must be a shift to a phygital model, where discovery, engagement, and trust are seamlessly integrated. At critical moments, especially during claims, customers should be assured that the promise of insurance is one that truly holds. 

Bridging the trust and access gap

For an intermediary selling insurance through advisors, the first step, says Babbar, is onboarding advisors effectively. It is not only essential that they are given a clear understanding of insurance products, but that they are equipped with skills to use the selling platform effectively. 

For a “new-to-insurance” advisor, the first sales typically come from their immediate circle: family, friends and close acquaintances, typically around 100-150 people. These customers trust their advisors, which makes it doubly important that the advisor recommends the most suitable product for each individual. When offering a platform with around 740 products, advisors need digital tools to help them identify the right product for every individual’s needs. Training and continuous learning play a major role. AI-driven innovations can further enhance the journey, offering personalized nudges to help advisors understand the product and customer better. 

Babbar also believes that the vision for insurance needs to be bigger. InsuranceDekho has a network of two lakh agents. However, he spotlighted the need to grow faster, saying “Is two lakhs a good number? I would say, not at all. Putting intermediaries together, the number would be somewhere between 8 to 9 lakh penetration, which is just 4%. So, there is more we can do. We should be looking at 100x this number to serve everyone”. 

Microinsurance: the answer to accessibility?

For Babbar, the first priority is ensuring that a diverse range of products is made available and accessible at the last mile. In Tier II and Tier IV cities, affordability plays a crucial role. While offerings keep evolving, including sachet and microinsurance products, the key lies in how quickly they can be made available across villages and smaller towns. Of equal importance is maintaining a strong pulse to understand on-ground realities and requirements. 

InsuranceDekho’s advisor network across the country has given the company deep insight into these localized needs. By working closely with insurers, the company provides feedback to support product customization. This collaborative approach ensures new products are launched based on real customer needs, helping the ecosystem evolve. 

AI: the new digital backbone of insurance

For a first-time insurance buyer, the advisor continues to play a critical role, Babbar noted. However, there is a significant digital layer working behind the scenes, ensuring that advisors can leverage advanced AI-powered technologies to match products in real time. 

For instance, a customer from a village in Karnataka reveals they are diabetic. The AI system instantly sifts through more than 300 available plans to identify the right fit for this profile, considering the age, health factors and lifestyle of the customer. If the same customer decides to switch from an individual to family plan, the advisor can make the adjustment on the spot without external assistance - this real-time intelligence operates seamlessly, bringing agility and speed to the process.

“AI is a true disruptor, offering immense potential to solve complex use cases and drive operational efficiencies. If you design your journeys with an AI-first mindset, the outcomes and user experiences will be fundamentally different and more powerful compared to building first and then trying to apply AI later,” Babbar said. 

Language is another key aspect. With over 22 major languages spoken across India, a strong vernacular interface is crucial to support customers. Babbar revealed that while product discovery continues to be led by advisors, it is heavily powered by sophisticated, real-time technology. 

Chatbots: empowering agents to serve customers

InsuranceDekho uses an AI-powered chatbot technology to assist internal insurance advisors, and indirectly, its customers. Babbar revealed that while the adoption of the chatbot has been significant, it was born out of necessity. During advisor training sessions, the company noticed many were struggling to choose the right product from a wide catalogue. Their reliance on domain experts was quite high, causing delays in responses. 

InsuranceDekho rolled out 2 versions of the chatbot. The first wasn’t even for agent partners; it was designed for internal teams like call center staff. Even there, the support process relied heavily on backend experts suggesting responses instead of quick, automated recommendations.

As the platform matured, the company built a version specifically for advisors—giving them a conversational tool that could provide real-time answers. The AI chatbot, known as Health Chat Genie Pro, can instantly filter through multiple plans to highlight the most suitable ones.

This unstructured query handling has made a remarkable difference. Advisors now have the confidence to present multiple suitable options to their customers, rather than just one. As a result, adoption has grown rapidly, and most advisors today rely on the chatbot to identify the right product and close sales more effectively. 

A tech-first mindset 

Babbar’s advice to entrepreneurs and technologists building solutions is to be clear about the bets they were taking. These bets are the difference between success and failure.

“You must always keep your north star or ultimate goal in mind. When we started building InsuranceDekho, we were very clear that everything would revolve around technology. The focus wasn’t on selling and forgetting. Insurance is a business that involves selling, servicing, renewing and cross-selling. All the systems and pillars we created were built with this mindset,” Babbar said.