How have your leadership experiences, in both global and local roles, shaped your approach as AXA – Global Healthcare’s Chief Executive Officer?

Throughout my 30-year career at AXA, working my way up to become CEO of AXA – Global Healthcare, I’ve learned the importance of adapting my leadership style to different cultures. 

Whether you’re in Europe, Latin America or Asia, how you interact with people and make decisions can vary greatly. With teams in many different countries that we operate in, I aim to create a set of values that blend each team’s culture and foster a good company culture. Understanding and embracing your employees’ cultural differences is essential to managing a global workforce successfully.

Understanding and embracing your employees’ cultural differences is essential to managing a global workforce successfully

In terms of leadership, I’ve been using my personal life experience to help shape the mindset that we want to embed in our day-to-day behaviours at AXA. Having the right people with the right mindset in the right environment is the key and this helps us to grow as a company.

The healthcare industry never pauses, and there are constantly new innovations and changes in the market. It’s highly competitive, so I try to ensure as CEO I’m leading the business to not just focus on the short-term goals because, whilst they too are important, our long-term strategy is what will contribute to evidential and sustainable success. Recognising underlying trends and challenges is essential, and in a competitive industry such as healthcare it’s more important than ever to be flexible and think about how our everyday decisions will impact our long-term goals.  

Congratulations on the launch of AXA – Global Healthcare’s new all-in-one app. What are some of the main features of the app and how will they improve the international health and wellbeing space?

Our new all-in-one app marks an exciting chapter here at AXA – Global Healthcare as mental health and preventative wellness become a critical focus for us. We’re focused on putting our customers’ needs and wellbeing first and our app offers greater accessibility, efficiency, and convenience, ensuring customers can manage their healthcare needs anytime, anywhere.

Some of the key features include integrated access to policy documents, claims and virtual care services, as well as benefiting from personalised wellbeing services, which have been carefully curated to support people’s health and wellness, no matter where they are in the world.

The app provides access to a whole range of healthcare services, including teleconsultations with doctors 24/7,  second medical opinion, and even mental health counselling. These give more control to customers to manage their health and wellbeing wherever they are and whenever is convenient for them.

2024 was a busy year for AXA – Global Healthcare, having also announced the launch of its new, customisable product, Global Health Adapt. In what way does Global Health Adapt meet the changing needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their employees?

We designed Global Health Adapt to be a fully customisable product that caters to the individual needs of SMEs with globally based workforces. 

It can be challenging for SME business owners running their companies in an ever-changing market, balancing local operations alongside the wellbeing of international employees, so we created a solution with their specific needs in mind. 

The comprehensive, modular healthcare coverage provided by Global Health Adapt moulds to the evolving needs of SMEs and their employees, with the ability to adapt healthcare packages to the specific needs of their workforce. The flexibility of this product reassures business owners that their employees will be well cared for, no matter where they are in the world. 

We’ve also combined our latest innovations into our new product, including both our new all-in-one app  and our healthcare payment card, which we launched earlier this year. 

The healthcare payment card has been designed to make payments a lot easier and simplify the claims process for our customers and their clients. When clients choose the Outpatient module, their employees can pay for  eligible outpatient treatment using the healthcare payment card with just a tap of their mobile device and without using their own funds or filling in any claims forms. No pre-pay. No pre-loading. No pre-authorisation.

The causes behind expats’ mental health struggles are varied, but we’ve found a common theme of difficulty adjusting to a new business culture, language barriers, and loneliness as significant issues facing expats

A recent AXA – Global Healthcare report found that expats were struggling with mental health at work. Why do you think this is and how important is it that employers keep employee wellbeing at the top of their priorities? 

It’s a concerning trend to discover that a large portion of expat employees are struggling with their mental health at work, and the need to provide effective mental health support is becoming increasingly important for companies to ensure they’re creating a healthy working environment.

The causes behind expats’ mental health struggles are varied, but across the board we’ve found a common theme of difficulty adjusting to a new business culture, language barriers, and loneliness as significant issues facing expats on overseas assignments. Add on top the usual work stresses, and it becomes clear why expats are struggling with their mental wellbeing.

Businesses must take this matter seriously and arm their managers with 
the right skills to offer mental health support to the people they manage. 

What’s further, these managers must have access to resources which will allow them to manage their own wellbeing. With these steps in place, businesses can ensure they are nurturing a resilient, inclusive and compassionate workforce.

What digital advancements do you predict will have the most influence on the industry in the future?

The complexity of accessing healthcare has been a major pain point for customers, and technological advancements have helped make it more accessible than ever before. Patients can now access virtual care from the comfort of their own homes, receive real-time health information from wearable devices, and manage their health records online.

Technological innovation will continue to grow within the industry, but the focus will be on delivering personalised digital services to improve customer experiences and streamline processes. 

Looking ahead, artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to be one of the most transformative developments and revolutionise processes across the  industry. The use of AI technology will continue to grow as it can be used to automate processes, improve underwriting accuracy, and streamline claims processing. From chatbots which offer 24/7 support to more advanced offerings such as AI-assisted diagnosis, innovation in AI will continue to accelerate. 

Another major advancement is personalised digital healthcare, driven by data analytics and machine learning. Insurers and healthcare providers are leveraging vast amounts of patient data to deliver tailored treatment plans, predictive risk assessments, and customised insurance offerings, enhancing both preventative care and overall customer experience.

Using technology to enhance human experience with tasks such as translation automation, claims handling, and accessing healthcare helps to speed up processes and reduce the admin burden

The international private medical insurance (IPMI) industry must lean into the influence of AI technology and keep up the pace with digital advancements, and maintain a clear focus on technology selection and adoption. This will ensure all advancements are focused on the customer experience, ultimately driving success in an ever-increasing digital world. 

How will AXA – Global Healthcare utilise these developments in line with its company vision?

As providers of global healthcare insurance, we’re actively encouraging innovation by identifying pain points and using technology to simplify and enhance the customer experience so they can access high-quality healthcare.

Take our app as an example of this. The AXA – Global Healthcare app integrates healthcare, insurance, and personalised wellbeing features, to help members effortlessly manage their health journey. The app combines essential health insurance services, such as access to key policy documents and claims management, with virtual care services and bespoke wellbeing features.

At AXA – Global Healthcare we strive to protect people’s life journeys, supporting them to access and navigate quality healthcare wherever they are in the world. Using technology to enhance human experience with tasks such as translation automation, claims handling, and accessing healthcare helps to speed up processes and reduce the admin burden.

Furthermore, our increased focus on medtech advancements supports our move into the preventative health and wellness space, helping our customers take control of their healthcare journeys and thrive without limitations.