3 October 2025

Insights from Dive In Festival 2025: Carolyn Chin on age, AI and the future of insurance

At this year’s Dive In Festival in Singapore, our Group Head of Transformation, Carolyn Chin, took the stage alongside industry peers to discuss the complex intersection of ageism and artificial intelligence in insurance. The session explored how insurance can evolve into a more inclusive, tech-driven industry without leaving people behind.

Preserving experience in an ageing workforce

Carolyn raised a critical point about the risks of an ageing insurance workforce:

“We might end up with fewer people in the workforce who carry deep institutional knowledge. This isn’t something you can learn overnight – it can take years of experience to review risks from different viewpoints.”

She highlighted that while upskilling is important, the value of experience must not be overlooked, especially in handling complex insurance cases.

Reframing the industry for young talent

Speaking on how the industry can better attract young professionals, Carolyn challenged the sector to be more proactive:

“How often can we say we’ve gone to secondary schools, polytechnics, universities to recruit talent into our sector?”

She emphasised the importance of storytelling and positioning insurance as a purpose-led industry:

“If people were told that this industry really is about protecting the people and devices that are important to them, they would look at it very differently.”

Building AI bridges – not barriers

Addressing the issue of ageism in AI adoption, Carolyn warned against broad assumptions about digital literacy:

“We can make broad strokes of generalisations, but in reality, it becomes a question of hiring for learning agility and knowledge retention.”

She shared an example from her team – member with no coding background who successfully built a full analytics dashboard, simply by being given the right support and opportunity:

“These things can be done. The question is whether or not you are prepared to do that.”

Carolyn’s reflections serve as a reminder that the future of insurance lies not only in technology, but in people – across generations, skill levels, and backgrounds.

At bolttech, we’re committed to building a workplace where all voices are valued and empowered to grow with the right tools.

Access the full article on Asia Insurance Review (paywall): https://www.asiainsurancereview.com/Magazine/ReadMagazineArticle/aid/59707