By Katya Naidu
The Indian insurance industry is making rapid digital strides 鈥 from piloting artificial intelligence (AI) processes that detect a smoker via video to settling death claims without consumers walking into an office, and much more. Yet, when it comes to selling an insurance policy to a person, it鈥檚 a human being that seems to be doing a better job, explained Mahesh Balasubramaniam, managing director of Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company. Kotak Life, which has end-to-end digital processes such as AI-led hyper-personalisation for customers and agency tools, is still doubling down on physical branches. It plans to add 70 more branches by the end of the year to hit a target of 400.鈥淚 don’t think we are at a stage where all our products are consumed completely digitally. Secondly, our business model, especially in life insurance, is still phygital when it comes to selling, right?鈥 says Balasubramaniam. 鈥業nsurance is sold, not bought鈥 A few 鈥榮imple鈥 insurance products like motor or two-wheeler insurance have migrated to an end-to-end digital model, but life insurance products need a human touch. 鈥淎 pure term policy can still be sold digitally. Whereas our investment products, whether it is ULIPs or traditional plans, require an advisory approach where we are engaged with the customer by physically meeting the customer and giving them solid financia…