Insurance group Prudential and Google Cloud have forged a strategic partnership to enhance health and financial inclusion for communities across Asia and Africa.
Under the alliance, Prudential will leverage Google Cloud's data analytics capabilities, secure and sustainable infrastructure, and the broader Google ecosystem, to accelerate its digital transformation and to enhance user engagement of its health and wealth platform, Pulse.
"Through this strategic partnership, we will leverage new technology solutions to make the Pulse platform more intelligent and engaging with the aim of reaching out to more people across Asia and Africa, in particular those who cannot easily access health and financial information and services,” said Solmaz Altin, managing director, Strategic Business Group at Prudential.
Pulse is part of the insurer's multi-channel strategy to make healthcare more accessible and increase financial inclusion. The app provides users with access to services such as health risk assessment and online doctor consultation to help them better manage their health needs, as well as digital wealth tools to make financial decisions simpler. Pulse is available in 17 markets and 11 languages.
“Across our markets, people are living longer, but not necessarily healthier and better. Harnessing technology, we want to empower people to live well for longer by making it easier for them to take care of their health and plan for their financial futures,” said Altin.
Prudential has more than 530,000 agents across its 23 markets in Asia and Africa and over 170 bancassurance partners with access to circa 27,600 bank branches, serving more than 19 million customers.
For Google Cloud, this latest partnership presents an opportunity to collaborate with a leading insurance provider to make protection, health and savings solutions simpler and more accessible across Asia and Africa.
Prudential expects to benefit from Google's suite of data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools such as Kubeflow, Looker, BigQuery and Vertex AI, to enhance customer interactions and to provide more personalised, accurate healthcare information and education to Pulse app users.
In the longer term, Prudential will look to adopt Google's AI across a broader digital strategy to make accessing insurance simpler, to drive greater efficiency, and to increase agent productivity. For example, through technology such as advanced analytics and AI, Prudential aims to use data to help its agents better understand the needs of their customers. It is also looking to improve customer experience, by digitising the entire claims process, making submission, assessment, and approval more seamless and efficient.
Prudential and Google Cloud has an existing relationship, which started in 2019. The insurance group has been using Google Maps in the Pulse application, and further projects with Google Health, Document AI and Fitbit are being explored to enhance efficiency, functionality and user engagement.
"Our aim is to help our enterprise customers use technology to deliver outstanding experiences for their customers," said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. "Prudential is a significant partner of ours and a leading insurer that has been protecting lives for nearly 175 years globally. Our work together will make it easier for people to safeguard their health and protect their finances for the long term with digital tools that are accessible."
