LIC must bridge tech gap with private peers, says DFS secretary Nagaraju

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) needs to accelerate its digital transformation despite being an early adopter of technology, department of financial services (DFS) secretary M. Nagaraju said on Wednesday at the launch of the insurer’s two new mobile apps.

Nagaraju said he was “a little surprised” to learn that LIC was among the first companies in India to adopt mainframe systems. “If this is the case, we should consider why we have lagged behind in technology adoption in recent years. LIC is the dominant player in the insurance industry and everything it does sets the benchmark,” he said, adding that the company bears the responsibility of contributing to India’s goal of building a modern, inclusive and secure future.

The insurance company has launched MyLIC, a customer-facing app, and Super Sales Saathi, designed for brokers. The applications aim to offer a seamless, secure and fully integrated digital insurance ecosystem with features such as instant premium payments, policy tracking, paperless loans, e-KYC and artificial intelligence-supported sales tools for agencies.

‘Faster execution required’

Nagaraju welcomed the move but pressed for faster implementation. “Everyone thinks that the private sector is easy, convenient and responsive… but government organizations, including LIC, also provide this,” he said, encouraging LIC to match startups with private players that are reshaping customers’ expectations. He emphasized that insurers need to be digitally agile and strong, and warned that without a digitally responsive architecture they risk losing traction among younger consumers.

Nagaraju said a key gap is the underuse of data. Urging LIC to “leverage existing data more effectively”, he said: “You have huge data… we have not used that data.”

India’s low insurance penetration remains another concern and Nagaraju emphasized the need for awareness and youth-focused products to address this situation. “The younger generation is very important. It is very important to teach them to protect themselves and save money in the long term,” he said. Nagaraju also advocated multilingual access to expand access. “Everything we do should be in multiple languages ​​… so even adults with a high school education can understand,” he said.

While LIC’s apps promise improved customer experience and agent productivity, Nagaraju said trust and simplicity must remain central. He also stated that leadership depth is critical for the future of LIC and said: “One of the important measures of a CEO’s success is the legacy he leaves behind in HR.”

“LIC stands for trust,” Nagaraju said, adding that the insurer must build on this foundation as it modernizes to support India’s long-term financial needs.