Waterdrop Inc. Included in Harvard Business School Case Collection for AI-Driven Insurance and Healthcare
Waterdrop Inc. (NYSE: WDH) has been recognized by Harvard Business School (HBS) with the inclusion of its business innovation case, Waterdrop: AI-Powered Insurance and Healthcare, in the prestigious HBS Case Collection. Developed by Professor Li Qi from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), this case explores how Waterdrop leverages advanced AI to drive innovation and strategic change in insurance and healthcare.
Waterdrop's approach balances social impact with commercial success by building a diversified health protection ecosystem and improving operational efficiency. This model serves as a practical example of a “China solution” for the global insurtech industry.
Harvard Business School Case Collection: A Gold Standard
The HBS Case Collection is a globally respected resource that highlights exemplary business practices across industries. It covers areas such as strategic management, organizational behavior, and digital transformation. Waterdrop CEO Shen Peng emphasized that the recognition affirms the company's dedication to applying technology for social good. Since its founding, Waterdrop has supported families facing medical challenges through its crowdfunding platform and promoted health insurance awareness, now advancing the insurance and healthcare ecosystem with AI.
AI Across Business Lines: Delivering Measurable Impact
Waterdrop stands out as a leading insurtech and healthcare platform in China, offering a comprehensive ecosystem that includes:
- Waterdrop Medical Crowdfunding
- Waterdrop Insurance Marketplace
- E-Find Patient Recruitment
- Waterdrop Financial
- Lugo Visa
With an annual R&D investment near 300 million yuan (~US$42 million) and over 100 technology patents, Waterdrop has built a robust AI application framework supporting insurance scenarios.
On its Medical Crowdfunding platform, a new campaign starts every 53 seconds. To date, 475 million people have supported more than 3.47 million patients, earning government recognition as an official online personal help-seeking service in mainland China.
The Insurance Marketplace offers over 1,000 inclusive products designed for seniors, expectant mothers, and those with pre-existing conditions. It has served 38,000 families, maintaining customer satisfaction above 95%. E-Find Patient Recruitment boosts patient enrollment efficiency by 45%, partnering with 80% of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies and increasing strategically aligned projects by over 30%.
Waterdrop Financial continues its expansion in Hong Kong, leveraging a strong sales network to offer competitive insurance products and services.
AI Drives Growth and Efficiency
Applying advanced AI models, Waterdrop saw a nearly 120% increase in net profit attributable to shareholders in 2024. The company plans to intensify its "All in AI" strategy in 2025, embedding AI across all business lines to fuel growth.
The proprietary Waterdrop Guardian AI Insurance Expert supports end-to-end processes including sales assistance, underwriting, customer service, and quality control. Featuring multimodal interaction capabilities like voice and text, this AI agent autonomously manages consultations for casualty and medical insurance products, engaging users for up to 50 minutes per session with an average response time of just 2 seconds—outperforming entry-level human agents.
Customer service benefits from Baoxiaohui, an AI-powered virtual assistant handling policy inquiries, management, and product questions 24/7. Equipped with large language model (LLM) capabilities, Baoxiaohui detects user emotions and aims to reduce case escalations by 50% while improving service efficiency by the same margin.
Additionally, Waterdrop’s AI-driven quality inspection spans all communication channels, including voice and enterprise chat records, cutting manual review costs by over 50% while ensuring full coverage.
Setting a New Standard for AI in Insurance and Healthcare
Waterdrop’s inclusion in the HBS Case Collection highlights the practical value of its AI-powered business model. The company demonstrates how technology-driven efficiency and growth can be converted into sustainable systems that provide real value to users.
For professionals in healthcare and insurance, Waterdrop's example offers a clear look at how AI integration across services can enhance operational performance, improve customer experiences, and support social impact.
To explore more about AI applications in insurance and healthcare, consider checking out comprehensive AI training resources such as Complete AI Training's latest courses.
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