An insurer grows by carrying its obligations

In 2020 I supported a six-district expansion study that used a count of treatment episodes as though it described distinct potential customers. The research account contained fourteen thousand episodes involving ten thousand adults. Repeated use of care had become repeated people in the commercial interpretation I endorsed. Neither count established demand for our product, affordability or underwriting suitability. I withdrew that inference and recommended a smaller, two-district discovery programme before a wider commitment. The error was mine as an operating sponsor, even though a detailed research document contained the distinction the summary had lost.

I became CEO of Merqavni Health Assurance in April 2021 and joined its board as an executive director at the same time. Eight executives report to me in a 580-person enterprise with twenty-two branches. FY 2025–26 gross written premium was ₹960 crore, and the board-approved annual operating-expense plan is ₹124 crore. Those measures describe different things. CFO Saira Vezqlani and chief actuary Devika Qerqlavi retain their financial and actuarial responsibilities. I am accountable for the enterprise recommendation and its execution, while ensuring that professional conclusions are heard in their own terms rather than absorbed into a confident CEO summary.

My later decisions have included withholding a dividend recommendation built around a bank-balance headline and preserving assisted policy service alongside a digital route. Both required a less convenient account of what the insurer remained responsible for. A balance in the bank was not a conclusion about distributable profit, capital or future claims. A person completing a digital demonstration did not establish that every policyholder could rely on that channel. I would consider another insurance leadership mandate and, after the relevant preparation and assessment, one compatible outside contribution. My existing director service is executive, not independent. The perspective I would bring is a willingness to revise the attractive headline before it becomes the board’s only account of the choice.

Current focus

Enterprise decisions that keep policyholder obligations, professional judgement and service access visible.

Conversations I welcome

An insurance CEO mandate and one assessed outside contribution compatible with current executive and director duties.