Innovation in Product Development

Mpesa just got an insurance license, and it's about to shake up the insurance industry like never before! Imagine a world where you can buy insurance as easily as you buy airtime. Here’s what’s coming: "Press 1 for Life Insurance" – Soon, insurance will be just a few clicks away on Mpesa. Car insurance, life insurance... Insurtech is here to make insurance purchasing as casual as sending Ksh 50 to your favorite cousin. Underwriting with AI – Thanks to algorithms, Mpesa might soon know more about your risk profile than you do. Instead of high-premium mystery quotes, expect insurance plans that understand your needs – from the cautious commuter to the "I swear I'll be safe" adrenaline junkie. The Rise of Flexible Plans – Get ready for insurance that can match your life’s rhythm. Mpesa could start offering policies that adjust based on whether you’re bungee jumping on weekends or just trying to navigate Nairobi traffic on a Monday. Embedded Insurance Everywhere – In the not-so-distant future, you might get life coverage when you buy a smartphone or health insurance with your gym membership. Your “Welcome to Mpesa” starter pack might just come with insurance, too. So buckle up; insurance in Kenya is about to become as easy as buying groceries. Just don’t be surprised if you start seeing push notifications from Mpesa reminding you to update your “adventure insurance” before your next weekend getaway! With M-Pesa obtaining an insurance license, banks and insurance companies in Kenya face a shift in the competitive landscape. Here are the implications: Increased Competition: M-Pesa can undercut traditional insurers with lower premiums and faster onboarding, particularly targeting low- to middle-income individuals and small businesses who are typically underserved by traditional insurers. Enhanced Customer Reach: M-Pesa's reach gives it a significant advantage, especially in remote and underserved areas where insurance penetration is low. Banks and traditional insurers may need to expand their digital outreach to stay competitive. New Product Innovations: With M-Pesa's tech capabilities, it could drive more innovative, user-friendly, and flexible insurance products—such as microinsurance, which may be bundled with other mobile-based financial services. This pushes traditional providers to innovate as well. Increased Financial Inclusion: For the financial sector, especially banks, M-Pesa’s entry could be beneficial in terms of financial inclusion, as more individuals who may not have previously accessed financial products like insurance are now introduced to it. This could create cross-selling opportunities if banks can partner effectively with M-Pesa. Pressure on Cost and Efficiency: M-Pesa’s digital platform allows for efficient, low-cost operations, which may put pressure on traditional providers to reduce their overheads and improve efficiency. Traditional banks and insurers to stay competitive?🤔

𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯-𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥? Yes. Without thinking twice, yes! The world was not designed for women. Not in the cars we drive. Not in the phones we hold. Not even in the way we plan cities. For decades, the gold-standard crash-test dummy was modelled on a 5′9″, 171-lb male body. The global average woman, at about 5′3″ and 137 lb, is far smaller - yet safety tests still rely on male defaults, putting women at greater risk in real-world crashes. This means that:  1. Women are 17% more likely to die and  2. 47% more likely to be seriously injured in a crash     All because the ergonomics weren’t designed with them in mind. Also, as per the WEF report, it’s shocking but only 5% of R&D funding in the healthcare sector is spent on women’s health needs globally, despite women making up 50% of the population. From medicines to AI, a lot of products and services were tested and trained on males.  It’s a pattern in how the world is built. Male is the default. Products, systems, and policies that are less safe, less effective, and less accessible for women. In India, women didn’t have equal property rights until the Hindu Succession Act of 1956, and it was only in 2005 that daughters were given equal inheritance rights as sons.   Globally, women are expected to control $5 trillion in assets in the near future. For the first time in history, women are becoming primary decision-makers for major financial choices. And yet, most products and services still treat women as an afterthought. Women influence over 80% of global consumer spending, yet while they’ve been relentlessly marketed to, they’ve rarely been truly designed for. Femtech is often misunderstood as “women-only” products. But in reality, it’s about intentional design for women’s needs, whether that’s a wealth management app tailored for first-time female investors, healthcare platforms reimagining maternal care, or everyday products built for different body types and lifestyles. This harsh reality points to a larger opportunity: • Move beyond token pink packaging and actually solve for women’s lived realities. • Build personalised, curated experiences that reflect women’s independence and decision-making power. • Rethink how we design, from finance to transport to healthcare.    As Caroline Criado Perez wrote in the book Invisible Women: “When we exclude half of humanity from the design process, we also lose half of the potential solutions.” The question lingers: Will the next decade of innovation still make women adapt to the world, or will we finally design a world that adapts to women? Video Source: World Economic Forum #Innovation #Startup #Women 

But what if insurance worked more like Netflix? Netflix tracks your viewing behavior and adapts recommendations instantly. If insurance products adapting the same way, premiums adjusting dynamically to fitness levels, coverage expanding with life stages, benefits rebalancing as goals evolve. McKinsey estimates AI-led personalization could lift insurer revenues by 10–15%, while lowering claims costs through early risk detection. And The technology already exists. Wearables generate 250+ daily data points per user around heart rate, sleep, activity. PwC reports 63% of consumers are willing to share health data if it results in cheaper or more personalized premiums. And Personlaized premiums is not a distant reality. It can be achieved by: 𝟏. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 that allow secure ingestion of health and behavioral data at scale. 𝟐. 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐛𝐨𝐱𝐞𝐬 that encourage innovation while protecting privacy. 𝟑. 𝐀𝐈 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 to ensure transparent pricing and avoid hidden bias. 𝟒. 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 with health-tech, fintech, and wellness players to broaden value delivery. Insurance is likely evolve from a once-in-a-decade purchase to a living product. #DigitalIndia #Fintech #AI #technology #Fintech #AI #technology

25% of B2B companies expect to use outcome-based pricing by 2028. That's a 5x increase from today's 5%, according to Kyle Poyar's latest research.   This will be a painful, but ultimately healthy transition.   Buyers never wanted software in the first place. They wanted solutions. As AI handles more work end-to-end, pricing migrates from inputs (seats, tokens, usage) to outcomes (cases closed, revenue recovered, risk reduced). Less "how much did you use?" More "did it actually work?"   Thought experiment: if code becomes a commodity and features ship instantly, value shifts from building features to guaranteeing execution. You’re not selling software—you’re selling outcome insurance.   Objections are real—attribution is messy, procurement habits are sticky, and buyers hate surprises. But these are solvable with instrumentation, shared definitions of success, and clear guardrails (Manny Medina). Over time, buyers will demand outcome-based pricing because it reduces their risk. Where outcome-based pricing already fits well: AI-enabled services. Services own end-to-end execution, so attribution is clean and incentives align. Mechanical Orchard is a great example—using AI to move mainframe workloads to the cloud, taking ownership of the entire journey. When you own the “last mile,” charging for success becomes straightforward.   AI customer support vendors have also been pioneers of this model. More vendor types are on the horizon.   If you’re a founder, here’s a simple path to test outcomes pricing: • Pick one mission-critical outcome your product directly influences. • Define a verifiable metric, baseline, and observation window with the buyer. • Cap downside (floor) and share upside (tiers/bonus) to build trust. • Instrument attribution now—event logs, holdouts, and third-party validation beat hand-waving later.   Start with one outcome. One customer. One measurable result you can guarantee. We're still early in this shift, but the direction is clear.   For those already experimenting with outcome-based pricing, what's been your biggest surprise? And for those that haven't yet, what's holding you back?

Is your industry ready for the next tech wave? Insurance might not have a choice... Stablecoins, generative AI, risk management technologies... Innovation in financial services is entering a new era, and some players are already pulling ahead ! MunichRE has identified key technologies reshaping the insurance sector. From pricing models to claims management, every part of the value chain is being reimagined. Beyond just AI, its study highlights the real-world impact of these innovations, backed by field-tested insights. Stablecoins are solidifying their position and Simon Taylor argues that they could even become the foundational infrastructure of a new financial system. Faster, programmable, more efficient... in short, far more than just crypto tools. From hype to real-world use cases, Benedict Evans poses critical questions: what if Generative AI is the next big technological leap, just like smartphones once were? Which industries and functions are already experimenting with these tools? Can they leapfrog competitors by moving early? #insurance #insurtech #venturecapital

The latest Ghost Market report from Amboy Street Ventures uncovers a $360 billion gap in women’s and sexual health—a sector ripe for innovation and investment. This report identifies 40 critical unmet needs across areas like menopause, sexual health, healthy aging, menstruation, contraception, LGBTQ health, maternal health, and fertility, highlighting the urgent demand for innovation where the status quo is failing. Despite this vast opportunity, only 0.5% of current venture capital funding is allocated to women’s health, while healthcare at large receives 30%. This disparity underscores the need for increased capital and resources to address the significant gaps in women’s health research and services. Compounding this issue is the longstanding underrepresentation of women in medical research. Historically, clinical trials have predominantly included male subjects. This imbalance has led to significant knowledge gaps regarding women’s health. The Ghost Market outlines the significant market opportunities in women’s health and emphasizes the importance of closing both the investment and data gaps. By fostering inclusive research practices and investing in these underfunded areas, we can unlock better healthcare solutions and drive innovation where it’s needed most. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gj5JxMX7

Contraception shouldn’t just be about preventing pregnancy Yet that is what most people think And even what most brands focus on This narrow focus has led to a lack of innovation in contraception, resulting in hormonal disruptions and chemicals that can disturb the vaginal microbiome. The consequences? Infections, irregular cycles, and long-term fertility concerns. So why aren’t contraceptives designed with female health first? It’s not just a question for women, but for the entire healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. Recently I met with Mo Carrier and we discussed her vision for redefining how we view contraception from a female health lens. Reproductive health issues are under-studied and under-funded. In the past 20 years, there’s been a rapid decline in biopharma companies developing new forms of contraception. Between 2017 and 2020, only 20-25 industry-funded clinical trials for contraception were conducted, compared to thousands for other health conditions like cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Currently, only 2% of revenue from birth control pill sales goes back into research and development. This lack of investment means that contraceptive devices and medications have seen little innovation since the introduction of The Pill in 1961. For many women, dissatisfaction with contraception starts in their teenage years, driven by side effects like acne, weight gain, and mood changes. The frustration is compounded by a glaring lack of education and the realization that there’s little being done to address their concerns. It’s time for a change. We need to prioritize research that takes female physiology into account, leading to contraceptive solutions that truly support women’s health. We need to design contraception with female health at the forefront, not as an afterthought. –

⛳ Product Design and Strategy Playbooks (+ Worksheets) (https://lnkd.in/e2SJVWDb), a large repository of research methods, techniques and guides to estimate the impact of a problem, review solutions, test pricing strategies, explore revenue streams, refine and uncover insights, brainstorm and encourage action ethically — with plenty of examples and case studies. One for the bookmarks! The collection is very vast and comprehensive, but what I appreciate about it is fair and ethical recommendations and sources that are included in each section, along with useful questions to raise and pairings to achieve desired outcome. (Just the color contrast really needs some improvement there.) Many companies speak about “validation” of ideas. Yet validation often means merely accepting and confirming existing assumptions. They also speak of using “psychological hooks” to capture customer’s attention. But it’s merely deceptive practices that trick people into actions they don’t really mean to do. Instead, as Hannah Shamji writes, we should diagnose existing behavior without any preconceived notions or affiliations. We shouldn’t really validate — we should research instead. The “validation” techniques can help us get there, but to me they are mostly UX testing methods, not “validation” methods. And: instead of using manipulative “hooks” to capture attention, we can build an honest, respectful, trustworthy relationship with our customers and allow them to build confidence and loyalty with our products. It takes time and patience. That’s a long play, and almost every single time it’s absolutely worth it. PS: I can also wholeheartedly recommend Design Patterns For Trust (https://lnkd.in/etZ7mm2Y), a fantastic (!) catalog of design patterns and strategies to help teams design trustworthy services and experiences, neatly put together by fine folks at Projects by IF. #ux #design

🌟 Reimagining Insurance with Embedded Finance: A Win-Win for Businesses and Customers Imagine buying a product online and seamlessly adding insurance at checkout, or securing car coverage directly through your favorite ride-hailing app. This is the transformative potential of embedded insurance - bringing protection to customers at the right moment, in the right context, without friction. By integrating insurance services into everyday platforms like e-commerce websites, mobile apps, and IoT devices, companies are creating personalized, data-driven solutions that revolutionize how we think about coverage. 🔑 Key Benefits:  - Convenience: Insurance is offered exactly when and where it’s needed.  - Personalization: IoT and telematics enable better risk assessment and tailored pricing.  - Efficiency: Businesses save on infrastructure while gaining faster time-to-market.  - Insights: Advanced data capabilities unlock deeper customer understanding. Embedded insurance isn’t just a feature; it’s a new way to build trust, loyalty, and value in every customer interaction. 💡 What industries do you think will benefit the most from embedded insurance in the next 5 years? Let’s discuss! #EmbeddedInsurance #FinTech #DigitalTransformation #CustomerExperience #InsuranceInnovation