The technological transformation has slowly and steadily paved its way into the Insurance sector and has started to disrupt it gradually. I have mentioned continuously some of the most astonishing technological innovations that involve AI and machine learning and other latest innovations. But, when we talk about InsurTech, then it is one of those sectors which got a bit delayed to see the light of technical advancement. Nevertheless, Insurtech is still witnessing an enormous number of innovations some of which are already in use while some of them are underway. Innovation in insurance is happening, and the next decade will see a transformation in how the entire industry operates.

Here are some of the most significant insurance innovations in InsurTech:

1. Drones

Drones are a quite popular unmanned aerial vehicle in the aviation industry. It is equipped with many technological benefits that caught the eye of Insurance companies about five years ago. InsurTech companies started experimenting with Drones and found its application in claim adjustment, and large-scale surveying because of its small size and effortless manoeuvring.

Reasons why it is helpful for insurance companies:

• Roof damage inspections: Drones are useful for rooftop damage inspection which is touted to be one of the most dangerous and difficult inspections. In cases of fire accident or crazily high rooftops, the difficulty level is even more. Rather than sending an army of men to inspect the notoriously dangerous roofs, an adjuster can use a drone equipped camera and take the pictures of the entire rooftop without actually visiting the location physically.

• Large spaces: Drones can also be used for inspecting extensively large areas like warehouses and farmlands.

• Integration with other technologies: The images that are taken by drones can be integrated with AI-based applications and other technologies to assess the damage and repair costs.

2. Smart Homes

Insurance companies have understood the importance of technological tools that not only safeguard the customers but also reduce the total number of claims. This thought has given rise to several partnerships between insurance companies and smart home technology companies. For example, Insurance firm Allstate and farmers have developed applications for Amazon echo that helps to analyse the insurance coverage.

A well-connected home is a win-win for both the consumer as well as the insurers. Digital sensors around the house provide the resident with real-time alerts. So, damage can be minimised and sometimes eliminated resulting in insurers paying lower costs and customers having lesser premiums. Also, the smart homes allow greater data collection points that can be used to create the consumer profile based on his habits leading to an accurate underwriting and affordable coverage.

3. Quantum Computing

While AI has a significant influence on the Insurance industry it is still restricted by barriers posed by binary computing. Quantum computing is the answer to those challenges, and it is changing the entire dynamics on how insurance companies carry out complex calculations. Insurtech companies are creating, and testing solutions around this approach and its effects will soon be visible.

4. Smart Contracts

A smart contract is an electronic document that is capable of executing itself based on a set of agreed pre-defined conditions and clauses. Non-adherence to any of the requirements results in penalties as in a traditional legal document. It is an intelligent way to create and process policies online with strangers without the involvement of a third party. Japanese insurance company Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Nichido together with NTT data has already started to test blockchain technology for defining policies for sea-based business exchanges.

5. Telematics Insurance

Telematic insurance car products are similar to black boxes. A telematics device equipped with GPS, SIM, motion sensors and an analytic software is installed in a car to determine the driving patterns of the driver. The telematics box collects and processes all this data and send this to the insurance companies. With the help of this data, the insurance companies create tailored insurance plans for their insurants. This service prevents companies from using the “one size fit all” approach and help to create a more sophisticated and specific insurance plan.

The insurance sector is on its way of digital transformation and customers are also expecting the same from their insurance providers. IoT, wearables are some of the other innovations that are in the nascent stages of development, but soon we can expect them to become a major part of InsurTech innovations.

Why Netflix Broke Itself: Was It Success Rewritten Through Platform Engineering?

By : Sampada

Published on Nov 13, 2024

App development Platform Engineering

Let’s take a trip back in time—2008. Netflix was nothing like the media juggernaut it is today. Back then, they were a DVD-rental-by-mail service trying to go digital. But here’s the kicker: they hit a major pitfall. The internet was booming, and people were binge-watching shows like never before, but Netflix’s infrastructure couldn’t handle the load. Their single, massive system—what techies call a “monolith”—was creaking under pressure. Slow load times and buffering wheels plagued the experience, a nightmare for any platform or app development company trying to scale

That’s when Netflix decided to do something wild—they broke their monolith into smaller pieces. It was microservices, the tech equivalent of turning one giant pizza into bite-sized slices. Instead of one colossal system doing everything from streaming to recommendations, each piece of Netflix’s architecture became a specialist—one service handled streaming, another handled recommendations, another managed user data, and so on.

But microservices alone weren’t enough. What if one slice of pizza burns? Would the rest of the meal be ruined? Netflix wasn’t about to let a burnt crust take down the whole operation. That’s when they introduced the Circuit Breaker Pattern—just like a home electrical circuit that prevents a total blackout when one fuse blows. Their famous Hystrix tool allowed services to fail without taking down the entire platform.

Fast-forward to today: Netflix isn’t just serving you movie marathons, it’s a digital powerhouse, an icon in platform engineering; it’s deploying new code thousands of times per day without breaking a sweat. They handle 208 million subscribers streaming over 1 billion hours of content every week. Trends in Platform engineering transformed Netflix into an application dev platform with self-service capabilities, supporting app developers and fostering a culture of continuous deployment.

Did Netflix bring order to chaos?

Netflix didn’t just solve its own problem. They blazed the trail for a movement: platform engineering. Now, every company wants a piece of that action. What Netflix did was essentially build an internal platform that developers could innovate without dealing with infrastructure headaches, a dream scenario for any application developer or app development company seeking seamless workflows.

And it’s not just for the big players like Netflix anymore. Across industries, companies are using platform engineering to create Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs)—one-stop shops for mobile application developers to create, test, and deploy apps without waiting on traditional IT. According to Gartner, 80% of organizations will adopt platform engineering by 2025 because it makes everything faster and more efficient, a game-changer for any mobile app developer or development software firm.

All anybody has to do is to make sure the tools are actually connected and working together. To make the most of it. That’s where modern trends like self-service platforms and composable architectures come in. You build, you scale, you innovate.achieving what mobile app dev and web-based development needs And all without breaking a sweat.

Is Mantra Labs Redefining Platform Engineering?

We didn’t just learn from Netflix’s playbook; we’re writing our own chapters in platform engineering. One example of this? Our work with one of India’s leading private-sector general insurance companies.

Their existing DevOps system was like Netflix’s old monolith: complex, clunky, and slowing them down. Multiple teams, diverse workflows, and a lack of standardization were crippling their ability to innovate. Worse yet, they were stuck in a ticket-driven approach, which led to reactive fixes rather than proactive growth. Observability gaps meant they were often solving the wrong problems, without any real insight into what was happening under the hood.

That’s where Mantra Labs stepped in. Mantra Labs brought in the pillars of platform engineering:

Standardization: We unified their workflows, creating a single source of truth for teams across the board.

Customization: Our tailored platform engineering approach addressed the unique demands of their various application development teams.

Traceability: With better observability tools, they could now track their workflows, giving them real-time insights into system health and potential bottlenecks—an essential feature for web and app development and agile software development.

We didn’t just slap a band-aid on the problem; we overhauled their entire infrastructure. By centralizing infrastructure management and removing the ticket-driven chaos, we gave them a self-service platform—where teams could deploy new code without waiting in line. The results? Faster workflows, better adoption of tools, and an infrastructure ready for future growth.

But we didn’t stop there. We solved the critical observability gaps—providing real-time data that helped the insurance giant avoid potential pitfalls before they happened. With our approach, they no longer had to “hope” that things would go right. They could see it happening in real-time which is a major advantage in cross-platform mobile application development and cloud-based web hosting.

The Future of Platform Engineering: What’s Next?

As we look forward, platform engineering will continue to drive innovation, enabling companies to build scalable, resilient systems that adapt to future challenges—whether it’s AI-driven automation or self-healing platforms.

If you’re ready to make the leap into platform engineering, Mantra Labs is here to guide you. Whether you’re aiming for smoother workflows, enhanced observability, or scalable infrastructure, we’ve got the tools and expertise to get you there.

Loading More Posts