Eima Azim, co-founder of WIIN India on how women in insurance are rewriting the rules of risk and turning a once-silent industry into a story of strength, skill, and ambition.
In a quiet corner of India’s financial corridors, a revolution is taking shape, one built not on noise, but on purpose. It’s called House of Grit, and at its heart lies a movement determined to transform the way women are seen, skilled, and supported in one of the world’s oldest yet least celebrated sectors, insurance.
“You don’t just insure lives; you empower them. And when women lead this mission, trust becomes the new currency.” ~ Eima Azim, Co-founder, WIIN India
The story begins with two co-founders, Soni Srivastava and Eima Azim, veterans of the insurance world with decades of experience between them. From Deutsche Bank to Marsh McLennan, they’ve seen the industry evolve and stagnate. What unites them now is a shared belief that insurance, often misunderstood as a transactional process, is in fact the backbone of the global economy; a system built on trust, risk, and resilience.
The Invisible Backbone of BFSI
‘Insurance,’ Azim explains, “is the neurocircuitry system of the entire BFSI ecosystem.”
It sustains everything from banking and logistics to healthcare, supply chains, and climate sustainability. Yet despite its silent strength, the sector has long remained in the shadows, lacking the glamour of fintech or the visibility of tech giants.
That silence is beginning to break. With ‘Insurance for All’ becoming a national priority and FDI inflows expanding, the sector stands at a historic turning point.
“New players are entering, the ecosystem is growing,” she says. “But growth means nothing if half the talent pool remains under-equipped and underrepresented.”
Why Women? Because Trust Is the Core of Insurance
At the center of this shift stands Women in Insurance (WIIN), the first flagship initiative under the House of Grit Association.
But WIIN is not just another corporate network. It’s a career movement designed to make insurance a career of choice for women, not a temporary stop along their professional path.
“Insurance is a business of trust,” Azim asserts. “Will you buy insurance from someone you don’t trust? Who better than women, the natural nurturers of trust, to lead this industry?”
That single line encapsulates the soul of WIIN’s philosophy. Women, she believes, bring empathy, accountability, and credibility, the very foundations upon which the insurance business rests. Yet the data reveals the paradox: while 60% of women enter the BFSI sector at the entry level, only 16% reach leadership positions.
The reasons are systemic skill gaps, a lack of visible sponsorship, social conditioning, and the persistent confidence deficit that keeps women from applying for roles unless they meet “110% of the criteria,” as Azim notes.
The Three Pillars of Change
To bridge these barriers, House of Grit was built on three transformational pillars that reimagine how women advance through the insurance ecosystem.
1. Skill First
The first pillar aligns with India’s national skilling agenda, building deep, domain-specific expertise in insurance. Beyond customer service or sales, this involves actuarial sciences, risk management, product innovation, compliance, and regulatory acumen, the critical technical layers often missing from women’s career journeys.
2. Visible Sponsorship
True equity demands more than mentorship; it demands visible advocacy. “It’s not enough to open doors,” she says. “Someone has to invite you in.”
Through a dedicated research engine, House of Grit is generating data-driven insights for policymakers, regulatory bodies, and industry boards to make inclusion measurable and actionable, not theoretical.
3. Access to Leadership
Through mentoring circles, research exchanges, and structured programs, WIIN is fostering ecosystems that connect women across experience levels and geographies.
“True diversity isn’t just having women in the room,” Azim adds. “It’s having women from every pin code of India in that room.”
This bottom-up inclusivity ensures that women from smaller towns, not just metro cities, get equal access to skills, exposure, and opportunity.
The WIIN Accelerator: A Career Catalyst
Launching this November, the WIIN Accelerator is a 12-week virtual program designed for women with 5–12 years of experience in insurance and allied sectors. It aims to equip participants with the skills, confidence, and mindset to rise to leadership roles.
The curriculum is divided into three thematic modules:
- Corporate Financial Literacy – understanding business management, operations, and fundraising
- Leadership & Negotiation – strengthening personal voice, influence, and decision-making
- Future of Insurance – developing systems thinking, design thinking, and AI readiness
The program also includes vital learning in personal wealth and emotional health areas, where women professionals are often left behind due to cultural conditioning.
“Insurance will never go out of relevance,” Azim says. “Life will always be precious. But the survivors will be those who know how to pivot.”
AI, Cybersecurity, and the Human Edge
As AI revolutionizes customer service, underwriting, and risk modeling, Azim sees the real challenge not in automation, but in adaptation.
“AI can automate tasks, but not empathy,” she observes. “We’ve moved from a knowledge economy to a relationship economy. Now, asking the right questions matters more than having the right answers.”
Similarly, cybersecurity has become integral to insurance. With new SEBI directives and data protection frameworks emerging, the focus has shifted from regulation to responsibility. “India is ahead in drafting strong data laws,” she acknowledges, “but implementation requires collaboration between industry, institutions, and individuals.”
Turning Understanding into Action
At the heart of House of Grit’s philosophy lies a powerful truth: understanding and acceptance don’t always lead to action.
“Everyone accepts that there’s a gap,” Azim says. “But acceptance isn’t action. We want to be the trusted source that bridges this gap between potential and opportunity.”
Their goal is bold but clear to return every woman participant “back to her CEO as a stronger, more skilled leader.”
Not as a diversity hire. Not as a statistic. But as a commercial asset, someone capable of steering profit, risk, and innovation.
The Real Revolution: From Compliance to Confidence
Azim’s insights go beyond professional development; they are deeply human. She calls it a shift from compliance to confidence a mindset evolution where women don’t just adapt to systems but reshape them.
“You don’t always look for change because of a promotion or a 15% increment. You look for change for your personal growth.”
Her words echo a growing movement within corporate India where purpose, not position, defines leadership.
The Future of Insurance: Empathy Meets Intelligence
The women of WIIN are not just preparing for jobs; they are architecting the future of a sector that touches every household and every life.
By combining technical skill with emotional intelligence, AI with EQ, and policy with purpose, they are turning a once-silent industry into one of India’s most powerful engines of inclusion.
Insurance may be about managing risk, but for these women, it’s about creating resilience.
As Eima Azim concludes, “When women lead with grit, industries don’t just grow, they evolve.”