Start-in 2016: much more than an innovation contest

In January 2016, 23,000 AXA employees competed to imagine tomorrow’s solutions for our customers. In June 2016, after a three-day hackathon, the four Start-in 2016 awardees presented the prototypes resulting from their intense work. But this is only the beginning for them…

This year’s Start-in, AXA’s participative innovation program, again generated a great deal of interest from AXA employees around the world, who showed a strong commitment to coming up with ideas on how AXA can accelerate on retirement & connected homes.

Each and every proposed idea was assessed to measure its potential and considered for further exploration. The four teams with the most promising ideas then had three days to transform their ideas into something more concrete. The prototypes they built are only the first step toward the final objective: implementation.

Implementation: where do we stand?

Since the beginning of the Start-in initiative, four ideas have already been publicly launched and six are expected to be implemented in the coming months.

Are You OK? (Start-in 2014)

This system provides simple, smart monitoring of the daily living activities of elderly people, using only the sensors built into smartphones, so that their families can make sure they are safe and sound.
A first version of the app was launched in Japan in April 2016. Based on customer feedback, a new version is under development and will focus on displaying and monitoring health data.

AXA Drones (Start-in 2015)

Drones fly over inaccessible damaged areas to gather images or videos, which are immediately sent to remote claims adjusters so they can update clients on the loss, trigger communication and potentially advance payments to clients. Using drones can therefore increase trust and transparency and improve the customer experience.
Drone-based claims handling was tested in France and Belgium, in collaboration with partners.

AXA Voice (Start-in 2015)

This application-based solution enables our deaf customers to stay in direct contact with AXA Assistance.
The app was launched in Italy in December 2015, in partnership with Pedius.

Protection for the sharing economy (Start-in 2015)

The idea is to sell a new insurance product to professionals hired through online marketplace platforms specializing in connected home repair. AXA will provide usage-based insurance against losses for each work engagement obtained via the platform.
The project, now called Il Mio Supereroe, was launched in Italy in April 2016.