The Go-Getter Of Insurtech Yashish Dahiya is the chairman and CEO of PolicyBazaar. The platform is trying to solve a two-fold problem
By Shrabona Ghosh •
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Years ago, Yashish Dahiya's father was duped by an insurance agent. Their investments were used in the stock market and eventually the family ended up losing a lot of money. From that day, Yashish decided to solve the problem in the insurance industry.
Today, he is the chairman and CEO of fintech company PolicyBazaar, which is trying to solve a two-fold problem - educating the customers on the dire need for insurance and ensuring that they get a fair deal to solve their unique problems. "Our purpose is to make financial security accessible to every Indian household out there. As a fintech, we simplify insurance processes making them user-driven and empathy-rich. Our job is to constantly innovate and provide clickable solutions that make the customers' insurance experience empowering," said the chairman.
Policybazaar was launched with a team of 14 people. "We realized that both the problem and the opportunity were bigger than we had thought. There was very low protection for the middle class against what we call the 3Ds - death, disease and disability. The society had transitioned from a joint family structure to a nuclear family one, without the financial preparation that this change necessitated. In the joint family system, if an individual passed away there was a larger family structure to take care of his/her family's financial needs. But this wasn't necessarily true for the nuclear families. The most logical solution to this problem was insurance - this is what Policybazaar set out to educate the Indian customer about."
Policybazaar uses real-time data analytics and works backwards all the way from hospitals, car showrooms and work spaces to give the end users exactly what they need. "We help prevent fraudulent practices using Automated Speech Recognition and live video calling. The idea behind all the smart technology is to get the customers the right insurance buying experience."
The company believes in teamwork. At Policybazaar, the management stock is higher than the founders' stocks. "And for me, that's an example of putting the team first. As an athlete, I am very competitive. But as a team leader, I have learnt to put myself second. When you strongly feel for the team, accomplishments are bound to follow for everyone involved."
The company is aligned with the government's goal of making financial security accessible to all Indians. " We have done our jobs with utmost sincerity and honesty, and thankfully the government has supported us in our journey. The IRDAI and Policybazaar share the goal of making financial security accessible to all Indians. So, we have had a great experience working with them. Moreover, India is on a rather exciting path for entrepreneurs. We are leading the way for the world with innovations like UPI, Aadhar and Digi-Health Locker. This is fuelling the homegrown entrepreneurial spirit."
The company is bullish on its expansion plans. "We do have very exciting ideas for PB for the next 15 years, but we wouldn't call them plans. We don't believe in planning life too far; instead we work in shorter spurts of two year plans - that is how Policybazaar has been planned so far. It's almost like we are a new brand every two years, and that's how it will continue to be."
