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PBPartners was built on the idea of taking insurance to Bharat. Five years later, what has changed more dramatically: the customer, the advisor, or the technology that connects the two?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I think our belief that technology can play a very important role, even in offline distribution, has become much stronger than it was on day one.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve seen that if advisors are given the right platform, the right tools, the right technology and the right ecosystem, they adopt it far more readily than we initially imagined. Everything we\u2019ve done over the last five years has only strengthened our belief that there is still much more that can be done, and it has to be built on creating a seamless ecosystem for advisors.<\/p>\n Scale has also reinforced that belief. In our first year, we had around 50,000 to 70,000 partners. Today, we add roughly the same number every year and have grown to over five lakh partners. Out of these, nearly 90,000 to 100,000 partners are active every month, using our platform to serve their customers.<\/p>\n The other belief that has become even stronger is that insurance is ultimately a solution. It is neither just a product nor simply a service. Because it is intangible, it relies heavily on trust.<\/p>\n If advisors have that trust and are supported by the right ecosystem, it makes their job much easier when they are sitting in front of customers. Whether it is during the purchase journey or while servicing a policy later, if we are able to support both advisors and customers at every stage, we can continue to scale this ecosystem.<\/p>\n For us, the three pillars remain the same: distribution depth, technology depth and trust. Our conviction in all three has only grown stronger.\u00a0<\/p>\n As you mentioned, your network now includes over five lakh partners. What has been the biggest contributor to this growth?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I believe it is a combination of three things: the technology we\u2019ve built, the trust we\u2019ve earned and the human presence we\u2019ve established on the ground for both our partners and their customers.<\/p>\n It is easy to assume that if you build a good technology platform or offer higher payouts, advisors will automatically join. That is not how it works. Trust is critical.<\/p>\n That trust comes from two places. One is the people who work closely with advisors, training and supporting them on the ground. The other is how the platform performs when advisors use it.<\/p>\n Technology also plays a very important role in building that trust. For example, if an advisor is sitting with a customer to purchase travel or motor insurance, the transaction has to be seamless. If it is not, the customer immediately begins to question the advisor\u2019s credibility. They may wonder whether the platform is reliable and whether claims will be handled smoothly later.<\/p>\n The platform has to perform consistently across every stage, whether it is transactions, claims or payouts. Advisors expect transparency, timely payouts and accuracy. All of these experiences are enabled by technology.<\/p>\n Ultimately, trust is built through both the technology you create and the people who represent your organisation.\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019ve spent years talking about digitisation, yet your model continues to invest in local advisors and Experience Centres. Has the industry realised that the future of insurance lies in combining human relationships with digital capabilities?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Think about what an advisor really is. An advisor is like a trusted friend. Whether you are buying health insurance, life insurance or even motor insurance, you need someone who understands your needs and empathises with your situation.<\/p>\n Today, platforms like Google or ChatGPT can help you compare options and arrive at possible choices. But you still need someone from your professional or social network to reassure you that you are making the right decision. That final reassurance is where the human relationship adds value in insurance.<\/p>\n Technology is there to make advisors more efficient. It helps them provide information faster and deliver better service in a seamless manner. But human interaction remains essential, both for customers and advisors. Advisors also need to trust the ecosystem they are working with.<\/p>\n Our Experience Centres are located across state capitals and many Tier II cities. These centres are not just physical offices. They allow advisors to experience our entire ecosystem firsthand and build confidence that PB Partners is here not just for today, but for the long term.<\/p>\n Our Experience Centres operate on a hub-and-spoke model. For example, an Experience Centre in Mysore does not only serve Mysore. It also supports advisors from nearby towns within roughly a 100-kilometre radius. Advisors come there for training, to understand our technology and to experience how the platform works.<\/p>\n It is a combination of human engagement and technology. Technology supports the three critical pillars of insurance: buying, servicing and payouts. But human interaction continues to play an equally important role.\u00a0<\/p>\n AI is changing customer interactions across financial services. In insurance distribution, where do you see AI creating the biggest value, and where do you think human advisors will continue to have an edge?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n If you look at it from an organisational perspective, AI has significantly improved our speed to market.<\/p>\n When we started five years ago, AI was not as advanced as it is today. Today, AI allows us to launch new offerings for advisors much faster.<\/p>\n For example, if integrating a new insurance plan onto our platform earlier took two weeks, it can now be done in two or three days. Similarly, if adding a new motor insurance feature earlier took four weeks, it can now be completed in five or six days.<\/p>\n Our ability to build and roll out features for our partners has improved dramatically. AI has also enabled much better personalisation for both our advisors and their end customers.<\/p>\n That said, AI does not replace relationships. It makes advisors more capable of serving customers, but human expertise and human relationships will continue to play a very important role.<\/p>\n Insurance is a solution. You are not delivering something tangible today. You are making a promise that you will stand by the customer when they need you in the future. It is a unique category because you are essentially promising future service rather than delivering an immediate product.<\/p>\n That is why trust is so important. You are asking people to believe that when they need you, you will be there for them. AI can certainly improve precision, speed and consistency, but the human element remains indispensable.\u00a0<\/p>\n Customer acquisition is becoming more expensive across the financial services sector. How does a local advisor-led model compare with purely digital acquisition in terms of trust, retention, and long-term value?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I think they\u2019re fundamentally two different models. Digital acquisition is primarily about information dissemination. It helps you reach consumers at scale, but it comes with its own acquisition costs through branding, SEO, and other digital channels. An advisor-led model works differently. Advisors acquire customers through their professional and social networks. Naturally, the scale is different, and so are the conversion dynamics. Financial decisions are built on trust, not impulse. That\u2019s why you can\u2019t directly compare digital acquisition with advisor-led acquisition. Digital channels give you scale, but they come at a certain cost. Advisor-led models don\u2019t provide the same level of scale from an individual advisor\u2019s perspective, but the cost structures are not very different.<\/p>\n Both models have an important role to play. Digital channels are extremely effective for creating awareness and disseminating information. Advisors play a critical role in helping customers make the final purchase decision.<\/p>\n Ultimately, it\u2019s not just about acquisition costs or scale. It\u2019s about building long-term customer relationships and earning trust. Both models complement each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n In insurance, trust is often tested during critical moments rather than routine transactions. How does PB Partners ensure it earns that trust with its partners over the long term?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n If you look at our tagline, it says, \u2018Ek Rishta Bharose Ka\u2019. That reflects what we stand for. Trust is something people experience. It\u2019s like visiting a restaurant. You don\u2019t know whether the food or service is good until you\u2019ve experienced it yourself.<\/p>\n The same applies here.<\/p>\n There are situations where something may go wrong during a transaction. There may be a payout calculation error, a claim-related issue, or a gap between what was promised and what was delivered.<\/p>\n In such situations, we’ve always tried to give our partners the benefit of the doubt.<\/p>\n Those moments become the real test of what you stand for. Trust isn\u2019t built when everything goes perfectly. It is built when challenges arise and you respond fairly.<\/p>\n That approach has created strong word-of-mouth within the advisor community. Partners know that if PB Partners has committed to something, we\u2019ll honour that commitment, even if we\u2019ve made a mistake.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve also invested heavily in helping our partners increase their earnings.<\/p>\n For example, if someone starts by selling motor insurance, we work closely with them to help them expand into other categories such as health insurance, life insurance, or commercial vehicle insurance.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve never positioned ourselves as just a platform where partners come, transact, and leave.<\/p>\n We actively train them, engage with them, and help them grow their business.<\/p>\n I believe those two things \u2013 standing by our partners during difficult situations and helping them earn more \u2013 have played a significant role in building long-term trust and credibility.<\/p>\n Ultimately, if someone genuinely wants the best for you, you\u2019re naturally inclined to trust them. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve been trying to build with our partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n Everyone wants to expand into Tier 2 and Tier 3 India, but many brands still approach these markets with a metro mindset. What\u2019s one assumption companies continue to get wrong about consumers in Bharat?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n One thing that stands out is how deeply consumers and advisors in Bharat have embraced digital technology.<\/p>\n In fact, if you compare usage patterns, web usage is actually higher in Tier 1 cities, while app usage is significantly higher in Tier 2 markets and beyond.<\/p>\n The adoption of digital, especially in insurance, is much stronger than many people assume.<\/p>\n Our advisors love it when our technology works seamlessly, and they\u2019re equally vocal when it doesn\u2019t. That itself shows how comfortable they have become with digital platforms.<\/p>\n I think people often underestimate just how quickly Bharat has adopted technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n As more insurers, fintechs, banks, and digital platforms compete for customers, what will become the biggest differentiator over the next five years: pricing, technology, service, or advisor quality?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n If you ask me, whether it\u2019s the quality of advice, technology, or even pricing, I think all of these can eventually be replicated. With AI accelerating innovation and reducing go-to-market timelines, these aspects are becoming easier for competitors to match. The one area that\u2019s much harder to replicate is service.<\/p>\n How we support our partners and, in turn, their customers will become the real differentiator. Claims, in particular, will play a critical role in creating a lasting impression over the next five years.<\/p>\n Point-of-sale transactions, payouts, pricing, and technology are all important, but the claims experience is the real moment of truth.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when the promise of insurance is truly fulfilled. If claims are settled smoothly and customers feel supported, that\u2019s what they\u2019ll remember. I believe claims servicing will become one of the strongest differentiators in the years ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n Insurance is increasingly being positioned as a means of entrepreneurship, not just financial protection. Do you think this could become one of India\u2019s largest creator-economy-style opportunities, especially in smaller towns?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s an interesting question. Let me answer it by explaining something we do at PBPartners. We organise a lot of local events for our advisors. When the idea was first proposed, I had my reservations because I came from a digital and direct-to-consumer background through Policybazaar. I wondered why we needed so many local engagements. But once we started meeting partners on the ground, I noticed something. Advisors genuinely enjoyed these events. They loved taking photographs, clicking selfies, and celebrating their achievements. It made me realise that insurance is a unique category. It requires technical knowledge, but it’s also a profession built on trust and responsibility.<\/p>\n Over the years, people\u2019s perception of insurance has changed significantly.<\/p>\n Today, when we talk about insurance as financial protection rather than just an investment product, people have started appreciating the role of advisors much more. Insurance is becoming a respected profession. As earnings improve and people recognise the value advisors bring, I believe it can become a major entrepreneurship opportunity.<\/p>\n Today, an insurance advisor can proudly introduce themselves as someone who helps people protect themselves against unforeseen circumstances. That recognition is improving, and so are earning opportunities. To give you some perspective, we process nearly \u20b93 crore in payouts every day across approximately 4,800 to 5,000 advisors. When you look at those numbers, it\u2019s easy to see why insurance can become one of India\u2019s largest entrepreneurship ecosystems. So yes, I absolutely believe it has that potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every few months, the insurance industry finds itself chasing a new buzzword. Today, it is AI. Yet, beneath…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1143812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3094],"tags":[25584,3369,51,3620,3307,25592,310985,8374,25589,3134,25591,25588,25583,25590,3368,25585,25582,20277,839,310984,25586,3322,25587,16,15],"class_list":["post-1143811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-ad-tech","tag-advertising","tag-business","tag-chief-executive-officer","tag-creative-work","tag-customer-experience","tag-dhruv-sarin","tag-digital-marketing","tag-emerging-trends","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-expert-opinions","tag-industry-insights","tag-influencer-marketing","tag-innovative-strategies","tag-marketing","tag-martech","tag-media-news","tag-mena","tag-middle-east","tag-pbpartners","tag-pr-news","tag-startups","tag-technology-trends","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117080844915542136","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1143811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1143812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1143811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1143811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1143811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}