AI in insurance is rapidly moving from experimental projects to a core component of underwriting, pricing and claims handling, according to Chris Hewison, partner for the insurance sector at PwC Hong Kong.
Insurance transformation driven by risk and technology
Hewison says the industry is entering a new phase of transformation, spurred by rising climate threats, ageing populations and evolving customer expectations. He notes that innovation is no longer about tweaking existing processes but about reshaping how insurers help people and businesses prepare for an uncertain future.
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With more than 23 years of experience advising insurers across the United Kingdom and Asia, he has worked on audits, regulatory matters, transactions and consulting engagements in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. His background includes supporting insurers through IPOs and collaborating with the Hong Kong Government on the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme.
He points out a clear divide between simply digitising legacy operations and re‑engineering business models around human needs. While mature Western markets often optimise existing systems, dynamic Asian insurers are redesigning products and distribution to reflect that 95 % of Asian consumers are digitally inclined. Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area are leading in cross‑border product design, aided by the Insurance Authority’s Insurtech Sandbox and Open API Framework.
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From risk compensation to resilience
As natural disasters increasingly affect the region—Asia absorbs over 40 % of global catastrophe losses—insurers are becoming “architects of resilience.” He cites AI‑driven catastrophe modelling, parametric products and insurance‑linked securities as emerging tools. Since 2021, Hong Kong has issued roughly US$800 million of ILS across seven catastrophe‑bond transactions, including a recent issuance covering earthquake and typhoon perils in China, Japan and India.
He also highlights a growing protection gap. Swiss Re estimates Asia’s health protection gap reached US$258 billion in 2024, with the combined health and mortality gap at about US$390 billion. Closing this gap requires a shift toward prediction and prevention, not just faster claims processing.
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Leadership during this transformation demands three qualities: accepting uncertainty, taking a systems view that recognises how AI, climate and demographics interact, and thinking exponentially. Trust remains a central theme; PwC research shows 90 % of executives believe customers trust them, yet only 30 % of consumers agree.
