Inside Convin’s Closed-Door Executive Event: What Insurance Leaders Really Think About AI in Pre-Sales
On 11th December, 2025, Convin hosted its first closed-door executive event in Mumbai at Courtyard by Marriott, bringing together CXOs and senior leaders from across the insurance ecosystem.
The evening was intentionally designed to be off-the-record and candid. No slide-heavy presentations. No product pitches. Just honest conversations about how AI is reshaping insurance pre-sales, customer engagement, and productivity on the ground.
Opening note: Why this conversation now
The evening began with a keynote by Ashish (Founder & CEO, Convin), who set the context for why pre-sales has emerged as one of the most fragile and high-impact functions in insurance today.
Ashish highlighted three realities shaping the industry:
- Lead costs are rising while informed demand remains limited
- Customer patience is shrinking, shaped by fast, digital-first experiences elsewhere
- Sales and service teams are under increasing P&L pressure, stretched thinner each quarter
As he put it, much of today’s pre-sales work is not selling at all.
“A lot of pre-sales today is calendar management and logistics, not meaningful selling. That’s where opportunity is getting lost.”
This framed the central question for the evening: can AI fundamentally change how pre-sales works without breaking trust?
A candid panel across the funnel
The panel brought together leadership voices from different parts of the insurance value chain:
- Gaurav Roy, EVP & Chief of Emerging Businesses, SBI Life
- Shammi Kapoor, SVP & Head of Operations, Customer Service & Health Claims, Magma General Insurance
- Gaurav Saxena, Chief Distribution Officer, Aditya Birla Life Insurance
From the sales lens: time lost before value is created
Gaurav Roy spoke about how pre-sales has evolved over the last decade, driven by digital interfaces, messaging platforms, and real-time engagement. While technology has reduced friction, inefficiencies remain.
“Pre-sales isn’t failing because teams aren’t working hard. It’s failing because too much time is spent reaching the right moment instead of having the right conversation.”
He emphasized that personalization at scale is becoming possible, but only when outreach is context-aware rather than static.
From the customer experience lens: Trust breaks early
From a CX standpoint, Shammi Kapoor highlighted a recurring pattern seen through complaints, NPS feedback, and service interactions.
“You often end up selling what you want to sell, not what the customer is actually looking for. That’s where journeys start breaking.”
He pointed out that insurance complexity is unavoidable, but technology can bridge the gap by summarizing, guiding, and aligning products to customer intent.
“Customers don’t remember your CRM stages. They remember whether they felt guided or whether they had to keep following up.”
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From the distribution lens: Productivity is the real pressure point
Gaurav Saxena brought the distribution and P&L perspective into focus, especially in life insurance, where value unfolds over years.
He noted that organizations continue to struggle with agent productivity despite training, incentives, and process improvements.
“The question is not whether AI replaces humans. The real question is whether AI can help humans become more productive.”
For him, AI’s promise lies in augmentation, not replacement, especially in helping carriers scale sustainably over long horizons.
Fireside chat: Does AI understand prospects better than humans?
The fireside discussion took the conversation deeper into a question many insurance teams are actively grappling with:
Predictive pre-sales: Does AI understand prospects better than humans?
The panelist acknowledged real concerns around hallucinations, governance, compliance, and ethical use. At the same time, there was agreement that adoption will happen through controlled, specific use cases rather than sweeping transformations.
“Predictive pre-sales isn’t about automation for scale. It’s about understanding when to engage, when to wait, and when to bring a human in.”
Risk, return, and trust emerged as equally important lenses when evaluating AI-led outreach.
Looking ahead: The next 24 months
When asked to make forward-looking predictions, the panel resisted hype and emphasized pragmatism.
“The next two years won’t be about big AI bets. They’ll be about small, focused use cases that quietly change how work gets done.”
Pre-sales stood out as the function most ready for change, where orchestration, timing, and decision-making matter more than volume alone.
As one insight neatly captured:
“Selling isn’t a call. It’s a journey. And journeys need orchestration, not just more follow-ups.”
Looking ahead
Thank you to all the leaders who joined us and contributed with openness, realism, and depth.
This closed-door dinner was the first of many conversations we hope to host with insurance leaders who are shaping the future of sales, customer experience, and AI adoption.
More insights to follow soon.
Warm regards, Team Convin