Following the successful 2024 launch of Sanlam Studio’s AI Coach, the venture-building business within the Sanlam Fintech cluster is upgrading the platform to include medical health solutions such as medical aid, primary care and gap cover. The latest upgrade will narrow the service gap even further and improve access to quality medical care for millions of South Africans through AI Coach’s established real-time, factual information and support model.
According to Sanlam Studios COO, Andre Fredericks, “bringing medical health solutions into our AI Coach offering is an intuitive move towards helping our clients obtain optimal financial wellbeing. Ongoing research, as well as extensive interactions with Sanlam’s growing client base, has unearthed a clear need for integrated support that not only addresses day-to-day money management but also the financial strain created by healthcare costs.
“To meet this need in a way that is efficient and consistent, we’ve turned to generative AI, which has enabled us to provide tailored factual information at scale. With this new level of functionality, our clients can make informed decisions in areas of their lives that have a direct impact on their financial standing,” says Fredericks.
Clients using AI Coach now have access to Sanlam’s complete health offering, covering traditional medical aid, primary care and gap cover products. This offering allows clients to craft a medical aid plan that suits their unique needs, leading to significant cost savings.
Also available through AI Coach’s latest release is primary care cover, which includes medical aid provisions for day-to-day GP visits within a broad network, and gap cover, which accounts for most financial shortfall between the fees charged by private healthcare providers and the amount reimbursed by the medical aid scheme.
With medical expenses directly impacting aspects such as budgets, savings and debt levels, having the right level of access to quality healthcare can mean the difference between long-term financial security and economic vulnerability.
Data security remains tops priority
The importance of cybersecurity and data privacy has been a crucial part of AI Coach and continues to be. According to Fredericks, “this new level of functionality will essentially enable the convergence of key personal financial data with health data. We view the safeguarding of this personal information as non-negotiable”.
AI Coach leverages privacy mechanisms which ensures that personal identifiers, including medical details are anonymised before being processed by large language models, without losing the context required to provide meaningful, personalised support.
“This balance between security and user experience allows clients to confidently engage with the platform, knowing their personal health and financial information remains protected, while still benefiting from proactive insights that strengthen both their medical care journey and overall financial resilience,” explains Fredericks.
A fast track to financial access
As Tshepo Mogotsi, Head of Communications at Sanlam Fintech, concludes: “Although Sanlam Fintech is less than three years old, we are proud to already be pioneering such novel digital solutions, and remain committed to continually reimagining what is possible for the people and communities we serve.
Ultimately, this aligns with the Group’s ambition to enable South Africans to live with confidence, every day. Our Sanlam Fintech cluster was developed with the understanding that technology is the way to achieve this affordably and with the greatest reach. We believe that initiatives like this new rollout of our AI Coach functionality get us ever closer to that ultimate goal for our continent and beyond.”
