Dr. Ana Villanueva (CMO MAPFRE Re) speaks about the future of the Insurance Sector in 2024

In the current global scenario, where digitalization permeates all aspects of modern life, the insurance sector is no exception. In a recent interview conducted in Madrid, Samplemed spoke with Dr. Ana Villanueva, Chief Medical Officer of MAPFRE Re, about the challenges and opportunities in the sector for 2024 and beyond.

Of note, Dr. Villanueva mentions the dynamic and exciting nature of the insurance market, often underestimated.

“I am aware that people may think that working with insurance is not interesting, but in fact, it is, and we are facing new challenges from different perspectives.”
— Dr. Ana Villanueva, CMO MAPFRE Re

Challenges for 2025

Dr. Villanueva emphasizes that the transformation the sector is undergoing is driven by scientific advancements, changes in legislation, and, most significantly, by digitalization.

“Scientific advancements provide us with a different perspective and help us see certain medical risk conditions that are important not only for Life Insurance but also for Health Insurance.”
— Dr. Ana Villanueva, CMO MAPFRE Re

One of the main challenges mentioned during the interview with the expert in the international underwriting market was the need to adapt to legal changes, such as new regulations affecting issues like discrimination and transgender rights, directly impacting the products offered, such as unisex life insurance premiums. However, Dr. Villanueva highlights that these changes also represent opportunities for innovation and the creation of new products, opening up new risk perspectives.

“Legal legislation requires us to comply with many changes, but we can turn them into new opportunities in the market. So there is an opening to produce new products and have a different risk perspective.”
— Dr. Ana Villanueva, CMO MAPFRE Re

The Power of Digitization

Digitization has emerged as a transformative force in the insurance sector. The doctor explains how technology is enabling significant improvements in customer experience, faster and more accurate decision-making, and even the possibility of providing online underwriting decisions. This aspect, often seen as conservative, is now adopting new processes and becoming more agile and efficient.

“Digitization has helped us provide better information, a better customer experience, faster decisions, more accuracy, more transparency, more business, because we are selling better and faster. Now we can provide the entire underwriting process online!”
— Dr. Ana Villanueva, CMO MAPFRE Re

A concrete example was presented with the partnership between MAPFRE Re and Samplemed, an innovative online underwriting tool initially developed for the Brazilian market and now expanding worldwide. 

Regarding how the partnership between Samplemed and MAPFRE Re collaborates in transforming the challenges related to digitization and the future of the company, Dr. Villanueva highlights:

“Samplemed has been providing services to MAPFRE Re in Brazil for a long time. And we are very happy, we are doing well. We have giants in Europe and the Americas. We are expanding into new markets, and this is helping us provide better services. So, I encourage all insurers to be aware of these new tools and how they work, which contributes to making the insurance industry a better product for residents.”
— Dr. Ana Villanueva, CMO MAPFRE Re

This collaboration demonstrates how insurers are actively seeking digital solutions to improve their services and expand into new markets. However, along with the opportunities offered by digitization, come ethical and practical challenges.

The Future with AI

Villanueva shared MAPFRE Re’s plans to integrate artificial intelligence into its services, emphasizing the need to address transparency, ethics, and responsibility issues when implementing this emerging technology. Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly relevant in the life and health insurance market due to its ability to process large volumes of data quickly and efficiently, identify patterns, and make decisions based on complex algorithms. AI can analyze medical and health data to assess risks more accurately and efficiently than traditional methods, including medical histories, test results, lifestyle, and other relevant factors. Based on the information collected, AI implementation will help insurers develop more personalized and tailored insurance products to meet the individual needs of policyholders.

“MAPFRE Re is involved in introducing artificial intelligence into business. So, this is our next step, seeing how artificial intelligence can work for us, and not the other way around. Still, artificial intelligence requires human care, and that’s the good part. We are really interested in introducing this into our services and seeing how we can help our customers and our internal business.”
— Dr. Ana Villanueva, CMO MAPFRE Re

Regarding ethical issues, insurers are responsible for ensuring that AI systems are accurate, reliable, and secure, which can be achieved by conducting regular audits, monitoring algorithm performance, and correcting identified errors. Insurers should also be transparent about how AI algorithms are used in their underwriting, pricing, and decision-making processes, so that policyholders understand how their information is collected, used, and protected. The integration of artificial intelligence into the Life and Health Insurance market offers many benefits but also presents challenges that must be addressed responsibly.

In conclusion, the interview highlighted the dynamic and exciting nature of the insurance sector in 2024. While facing significant challenges such as legislative and ethical changes, the sector is also full of opportunities for innovation and growth, driven by digitization and the adoption of emerging technologies.

You can check out the interview at the link below: Experts | Interview with Ana Villanueva, Chief Medical Officer at MAPFRE RE (youtube.com)