Mukul Jain: Redefining Insurance Through Technology and Trust

Mukul Jain: Redefining Insurance Through Technology and Trust

Mukul Jain joined Axis Max Life Insurance in February 2023 as Chief Technology Officer, taking responsibility for the organization’s entire technology ecosystem. His scope spans Product Engineering, Architecture, IT Services, Security, UI/UX, Automation, and the Testing Center of Excellence. With over 24 years of experience across technology, financial services, and insurance, including more than 16 years as a CIO or Regional CIO, Jain has consistently focused on aligning technology with business strategy and customer outcomes.

“I have always been drawn to problem-solving and fascinated by how technology can simplify complexity and drive impact,” he says.

A Career Across Borders and Platforms

Jain’s career has taken him across India and Asia, giving him a broad perspective on the insurance sector and technology-driven transformation. He began as the founding CIO of Pramerica Life Insurance in India, where he was instrumental in establishing the company’s initial technology framework. This early experience in a greenfield environment allowed him to design systems that were scalable, flexible, and customer-centric from the outset.

He then moved to Prudential Financial, serving as Vice President and Head of Technology for Asia (excluding Japan). Based in Singapore, he oversaw initiatives in Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. In these roles, he led multiple digital and technological projects across diverse regulatory and market environments, gaining experience in adapting platforms and processes to local needs while maintaining global standards.

After returning to India, Jain took on the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at TATA AIA Life Insurance, leading Technology, Digital, Analytics, and Business Solutions. Here, he further honed his expertise in orchestrating large-scale digital transformation projects and implementing advanced business solutions to enhance operational efficiency and customer engagement.

“Over the years, I have had the opportunity to architect and implement several industry-first initiatives,” he notes. “These include the ‘Insurance in a Box’ concept, modern new business and underwriting platforms, direct-to-customer systems, cloud adoption, API management, DevOps practices, and core system modernization.”

The Insurance Challenge

Despite significant growth in the urban insurance market, Jain sees a clear gap in coverage for smaller towns and rural India.

“While we’ve made strong progress in urban India, the real challenge lies in serving ‘Bharat’ — the underpenetrated Tier 3 and Tier 4 towns,” he says.

He emphasizes that bridging this gap requires more than distribution; it requires designing solutions that are affordable, simple to understand, and digitally accessible. Initiatives such as Bima Sugam, Bima Vistar, and Bima Vahak from the IRDAI are pivotal to achieving the broader objective of “Insurance for All by 2047.” Jain believes that collaboration across the industry, combined with innovation, is essential to reach these underserved segments and ensure protection for a wider population.

Data, Digital, and Customer Focus

For Jain, the future of insurance is rooted in data-driven insights and seamless digital experiences. He believes that customer data represents an untapped reservoir of potential that can transform both service delivery and product design.

“Insurance companies are sitting on a goldmine of customer data. The real differentiator lies in how effectively they can transform this data into actionable insights and deliver personalized, contextual experiences,” he says.

At Axis Max Life, this approach is reinforced through the “Orange Chair” principle. Every meeting room has a symbolic seat representing the customer, ensuring that decision-making always takes into account the end-user perspective. This customer-centric philosophy guides the company through both routine operations and complex risk scenarios, maintaining a balance between innovation, reliability, and trust.

Innovation Anchored in Trust

Driving transformation in a trust-sensitive industry requires both vision and careful execution. Jain believes that innovation must be paired with resilience and a culture of empowerment. He encourages cross-functional collaboration and a fail-fast, learn-faster mindset, enabling teams to experiment, iterate, and scale solutions quickly. Hackathons and internal innovation challenges are a key part of his strategy to crowdsource ideas and implement them across the organization.

“Ultimately, building an innovation culture is about trust, trusting people to take ownership, make decisions, and drive change,” he explains.

Looking Ahead

Mukul Jain’s experience in domestic and international markets, combined with his expertise in core system modernization, cloud adoption, and analytics-driven customer engagement, positions him to drive Axis Max Life into the next phase of growth. By modernizing technology platforms, leveraging data for actionable insights, and focusing on underserved markets, he continues to align technology with the fundamental promise of insurance: protecting customers and their families in life’s most critical moments.

“Insurance is fundamentally a promise, one that assures customers and their families of support in life’s most critical moments,” Jain reflects.

At the intersection of innovation, data, and trust, Mukul Jain is helping shape the future of insurance in India, ensuring that the industry grows in reach, efficiency, and relevance while keeping the customer at the center of every decision.