Will Gen-Z Ever Buy Insurance the Way Their Parents Did?

Episode 2 of CXO Strategy Exchange with Mr. Mohit Rochlani, CIO, Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd. and Mr. Cyrus Daruwala

In this episode of CXO Strategy Exchange, we dive into the intersection of business strategy, distribution scale, and digital transformation with Mr. Mohit Rochlani, Chief Information Officer at Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance (SUD Life).

A joint venture between Bank of India, Union Bank of India, and Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Holdings, SUD Life has built one of the most expansive insurance distribution footprints in the country reaching customers across virtually every pin code in India through 15,000–16,000 touchpoints spanning rural and urban markets.

This conversation goes beyond technology. It’s about how technology becomes a strategic lever when led by someone who deeply understands operations, distribution, and the business itself.

🔍 What you’ll learn in this episode

The Hybrid Technology Leader Mohit’s journey across operations, distribution, and technology shapes his view that IT is not a support function — it is a business enabler. He explains how real transformation happens when tech leaders think in terms of business outcomes, scale, and agility.

Designing a Future-Ready Tech Stack SUD Life’s approach blends a stable, time-tested core policy administration system with experimental “futuristic” layers for KYC, underwriting, risk management, and seamless digital journeys — creating both reliability and innovation at the same time.

From Vendors to Strategic Partners Mohit shares his philosophy of moving beyond transactional vendor relationships. By aligning technology partners with the organization’s “North Star” and long-term business KPIs, they become co-creators of value — not just service providers.

AI and Automation at Scale From automated underwriting that enables instant policy issuance to multilingual voice bots now handling nearly 60% of customer queries, SUD Life is applying AI to improve speed, accessibility, and customer experience across the value chain.

Regulation as a Transformation Driver The discussion covers the industry’s response to Bima Sugam, the government-backed insurance marketplace, and what it means to operate as a “data fiduciary” under India’s evolving data protection mandates with a strong focus on securing the entire data lifecycle.

Innovation with a Global Lens We also explore the Dai-ichi Innovation Fund, which backs experimental initiatives across markets, with India currently receiving a significant share of these projects due to the scale and diversity of innovation opportunities.

The Road to 2047: Insurance for All The episode closes with a long-term industry vision building enough customer trust and awareness to move insurance from a product that is “sold” to one that is actively “bought,” supporting the broader ambition of “Insurance for All by 2047.