Anuj Tyagi, Joint Managing Director of HDFC ERGO, is facing the challenge of transcending the traditional limitations of insurance interactions and establishing a significant presence in customers’ minds beyond annual transactions. The case explores the context of the insurance industry in India before 2019, spans HDFC ERGO’s history, exploring the impetus for digital transformation with an emphasis on “multi-product” ecosystems, the evolving regulatory landscape, market shifts, and the inception and strategies behind the Control N vertical – the spearhead of HDFC ERGO’s digital innovation. The case delves into HDFC ERGO’s pursuit of expanding its market presence beyond traditional insurance through an ecosystem play and illustrates one of the facets of industry convergence and the rise of digitally-enabled broad firms that span several sectors.

The case focuses on Anuj, a key decision-maker in HDFC ERGO, as he is confronted with the need to enhance customer engagement (mindshare). The case then analyses HDFC ERGO’s assessment of the healthcare and mobility sectors, examining opportunities for ecosystem expansion. This case can be taught independently or paired with its sister case, “From Ping An’s inspiration to HDFC ERGO’s journey: Building an insurance-based ecosystem” (CS-24-009) for a more in-depth analysis of the sequential steps HDFC ERGO took in this transformation. The present case focuses on the “what” and the linked case focuses on the “how”.