Bridging ideas: Deloitte and Alibaba Cloud co-host GenAI Exploration Lab, exploring insurance use cases with practitioners from nearly 30 insurers in HK

Hong Kong, China – 23 June 2025

Last week, Deloitte and Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, co-hosted a GenAI Exploration Lab, bringing together over 60 practitioners from nearly 30 insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, and the regulator in Hong Kong from across the insurance industry to reimagine their daily business with generative AI (GenAI). The event offered an interactive platform for participants to exchange ideas with global and local experts as well as peers. It also marks the beginning of our partnership to support the insurance industry's acceleration for GenAI adoption. Together, the participants explored innovative use cases for Hong Kong’s insurance industry, covering distribution, operations, finance, IT, and beyond.

“GenAI is the hottest trend impacting financial institutions globally. A strategic shift is underway, from technology catch-up to competitive differentiation with GenAI. Many insurance companies have started exploring GenAI use cases beyond IT functions, focusing on areas of the business that are uniquely critical to their success,” said Deloitte China Insurance Leader Joanna Wong. “We are excited to co-host this exploration lab with Alibaba Cloud, fostering industry collaboration and translating GenAI’s potential into transformative opportunities for Hong Kong’s insurance industry.”

According to Deloitte's latest report The State of Generative AI, with previous transformational technologies, the initial excitement and hype about GenAI has gradually given way to a mindset of positive pragmatism.

“Generative AI adoption in insurance is advancing rapidly, with certain functions demonstrating clear, scalable applications and measurable ROI,” said Mukul Ahuja, Deloitte’s Global Generative AI Leader for Insurance. “Across the insurance value chain—from underwriting and claims to distribution, customer service and finance — we’re witnessing transformative use cases driving significant operational and financial impact worldwide.”

Annie Wang, General Manager of Hong Kong, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, said, “GenAI is reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace, and the insurance sector stands at a pivotal moment of transformation. At Alibaba Cloud, we are committed to supporting businesses with advanced AI technologies and scalable cloud solutions to unlock tangible value. This collaboration with Deloitte underscores our shared mission to bridge innovation with practicality, helping insurers navigate challenges and accelerating their GenAI journeys. Together, we’re not just exploring use cases but building a foundation for future-ready growth."

In Hong Kong, a recent research by the Hong Kong Institute of Monetary and Financial Research (HKIMR) shows that 75% of surveyed financial institutions have implemented or are piloting GenAI use cases and exploring investment areas. However, the primary implementations remain largely internal and non-customer-facing applications.

"In Hong Kong, several GenAI applications have attracted strong interests across the insurance sector, including contact center assistance for agents, customer service chatbot and agentic automation for operations. However, its adoption may be hindered by concerns over model accuracy, data governance and talent constraints. This is why GenAI adoption is significantly higher among larger institutions, while smaller firms face greater challenges due to limited resources," said Ben Woo, Deloitte China Insurance Digital Partner.

Also, regulatory uncertainty and risk management have become major concerns. Trust in GenAI is still moderate for most organizations. However, with improved customization, accuracy, and governance, GenAI adoption is becoming more established.

Annie Wang concluded, "Although the technology seems magical, there is no magic wand for GenAI adoption, deployment, integration, and value creation. Alibaba Cloud and Deloitte share the vision to support insurers in effectively harnessing GenAI, ensuring ethical use and proper governance, and helping them become the Insurer of the Future."

Practitioners from across Hong Kong's insurance sector came together for a group photo during the GenAI Exploration Lab, co-hosted by Deloitte and Alibaba Cloud.

About Deloitte China

Deloitte China provides integrated professional services, with our long-term commitment to be a leading contributor to China’s reform, opening-up and economic development. We are a globally connected firm with deep roots locally, owned by our partners in China. With over 20,000 professionals across 31 Chinese cities, we provide our clients with a one-stop shop offering world-leading audit, tax and consulting services.

We serve with integrity, uphold quality and strive to innovate. With our professional excellence, insight across industries, and intelligent technology solutions, we help clients and partners from many sectors seize opportunities, tackle challenges and attain world-class, high-quality development goals.

The Deloitte brand originated in 1845, and its name in Chinese (德勤) denotes integrity, diligence and excellence. Deloitte's global professional network of member firms now spans more than 150 countries and territories. Through our mission to make an impact that matters, we help reinforce public trust in capital markets, enable clients to transform and thrive, empower talents to be future-ready, and lead the way toward a stronger economy, a more equitable society and a sustainable world.

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About Alibaba Cloud

Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com) is the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. It offers a complete suite of cloud services to customers worldwide, including elastic computing, database, storage, network virtualization services, large-scale computing, security, big data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) services. Alibaba has been named the leading IaaS provider in Asia Pacific by revenue in U.S. dollars since 2018, according to Gartner. It has also maintained its position as one of the world’s leading public cloud IaaS service providers since 2018, according to IDC.

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