Ping An Insurance

As a leading traditional insurer, Ping An faced the challenge of transforming its legacy business model to compete in a digital-first environment. The company needed to improve claims settlement efficiency, unify fragmented customer experiences across multiple products and subsidiaries, and automate operations at scale.

Ping An invested US$7 billion in R&D over a decade, building homegrown AI capabilities including facial recognition, voiceprint, microexpression biometrics, natural language processing, and speech analytics. It launched a unified 'magic gate' customer portal, deployed AI-powered claims inspection services enabling agents to reach accident scenes within 5-10 minutes, and built Ping An Cloud to serve thousands of external customers.

Ping An grew revenue by nearly 250% between 2013 and 2017. The company reached over 510 million internet customers and 180 million retail finance customers. Its 510 Ultra-Speed On-Site inspection service covers 95% of claims with agents arriving within 5-10 minutes, and Good Doctor handles 500,000 online medical consultations per day.

• Massive, sustained R&D investment (US$7B over a decade with $15B more planned) in proprietary AI is a prerequisite for true digital transformation at scale.
• Redirecting customer journeys from core insurance products into adjacent lifestyle ecosystems (health, autos, housing) dramatically expands addressable market.
• Offering free services to acquire users and then converting them to paying customers — a strategy borrowed from internet giants — proved highly effective for a traditional insurer.