AI for Insurance Challenge × Tasco
In Vietnam, insurance is still a piece of paper you can lose. Change that by 15 October.
The question
How might we make insurance in Vietnam something people are glad to hold — easy to buy, easy to carry, easy to claim?
10 teams
present live at demo day on 22 October
Up to US$100,000
investment considered for teams that come through the pilot
4 weeks
of pilot with the business owners who would run it
You don't need a finished product to apply. You need a point of view and three weeks.
The challenge
Compulsory motor insurance is something nearly every driver in Vietnam has to carry. It is mandated and priced by regulation, so every provider offers the same cover at the same price — and when a product is regulated into sameness, the experience around it stops improving.
It's still paper
Lose the paper and, in every way that matters, you've lost the policy.
People buy it because they must
A compliance purchase, with no relationship before or after the sale.
Few know what they're covered for
Most people find out the difference at the worst possible moment.
You have to carry it, or pay
If you can't produce it when you're stopped, you're fined.
Every product looks the same
Same cover and the same regulated price, right across the market.
Claiming means a call and some hope
Support runs through hotlines, and nobody can see where a claim stands.
One hard constraint
No premium discounts, cashback or disguised price incentives. The point is a better experience, not a bought outcome. Everything else is open.
This is not a hypothetical enterprise partner
Tasco is one of Vietnam's major multi-sector groups, listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange. If you've driven through a toll gate in Vietnam, you've already used something they built.
The group operates across the entire life of a vehicle and its owner: automotive distribution and retail, electronic toll collection through VETC, insurance, roadside assistance, after-sales service, vehicle care and charging infrastructure. Its nationwide network of showrooms and service centres carries Geely and Lynk & Co, with Mitsui as a strategic shareholder in Tasco Auto.
Insurance sits inside that ecosystem rather than beside it. That's why Tasco can see the customer's whole journey — the car, the road, the service centre, the claim — instead of just the policy.
- Automotive retail
- Electronic tolling (VETC)
- Insurance
- Roadside assistance
- After-sales & vehicle care
- Charging infrastructure
- HNX: HUT
- VETC
- Geely
- Lynk & Co
- Mitsui
Why Tasco is doing this at all
Tasco's ambition is to change what insurance feels like for people in Vietnam: protection that's simple to buy, impossible to lose, clear to understand, and straightforward to claim. Millions of drivers currently hold a product they're required to have and nobody has made worth wanting.
That's the thing you'd be building. Not a feature — the experience itself.
Who can apply
Judged on the solution, not the company. One person with a prototype and a software house with a product in market apply the same way.
- Solo builder
- Student team
- Early-stage startup
- Late-stage startup
- Unicorn
- ISV / software house
- Systems integrator
- Enterprise team
- Agency
No cash prize. A buyer instead.
Most pilots die for one reason: the people in the room couldn't buy anything. This challenge fixes that part first.
The people reviewing your work can say yes
Tasco's leadership and the business owners who run its insurance operation set the brief, sit at demo day and choose what moves forward. The budget is allocated.
A partner that has already done this
In September 2026, Tasco led an investment round into BonBon, a startup it first met through its own innovation programme, with GenAI Fund investing alongside.
Investment of up to US$100,000
Teams that come through the pilot can be considered for investment, on top of the commercial relationship. Offered at the partners' discretion, after due diligence.
Directions to build from
Eight places the experience breaks, in the order a customer meets them. Take one, combine several, or make a better case for your own.
BuyingGetting covered should take minutes, not a call-back
- 01
Frictionless purchase and renewal
Buy, renew and pay without a queue, a call-back, or a form you fill in twice.
- 02
Understand before you buy
Explain cover in plain language, so people know what they're getting.
- 03
The right cover for the right person
Use consented data to fit protection to one driver, not an average one.
CarryingThe policy should be there when it's needed
- 04
Proof in your pocket
Digital, instantly verifiable, impossible to lose or leave at home.
- 05
Help that arrives first
Renewal reminders and useful prompts that come before the problem does.
- 06
Answers at the moment of need
Support through chat, voice or in-app, without a hotline queue.
ClaimingThe worst day should be the simplest part
- 07
Guided claims
Tell people what's covered, what's needed, and where their claim stands.
- 08
Faster assessment
Close the gap between filing and resolution.
- +
Something else entirely
Combine directions, or bring one nobody has thought of.
Why efficiency matters here
Every piece of friction in this journey costs someone money, and that cost ends up inside the price of protection. Make the end-to-end process genuinely more efficient — and richer in first-party data that customers have agreed to share — and something better becomes possible: insurance that costs less, fits the individual more closely, and is actually worth holding.
That's the prize. Not a slicker app — a better deal for the person buying it.
Use cases in this challenge
The business problems Tasco has published for this challenge. Open one to read its goal, requirements, budget and timeline.
- Budget
- To be determined
ClosedClosed on 15 Oct 2026
View use case
23:59 ICT
Timeline
Three weeks, six fixed dates. The build period opens the same day as applications.
Start on day one
The build period opens on 23 September — the same day applications do. The written brief, FAQ and submission template are published from day one. The 7 October briefing is a mid-point deep dive with Tasco, not the starting gun. Teams that wait for it lose two of their three weeks.
Applications open
23 Sept, 00:00 ICT
Briefing with Tasco's business team
7 Oct, 15:30 ICT · Online
Applications close
15 Oct, 23:59 ICT
Every applicant hears back
16 Oct
Demo day: ten teams present live
22 Oct, 14:00–16:00 ICT
Pilot scoping begins
23 Oct
How selection works
GenAI Fund screens every submission and selects the ten teams who present. Judges and Tasco's team score live on demo day. No submission sits in a queue for a week.
Winning isn't the end of it. Here's the month that follows.
Most programmes stop at the trophy and leave “next steps to be discussed”. Here's the actual month, so you can plan the resourcing before you apply.
23 Oct – 1 Nov
Selection and scoping conversation
Tasco confirms which teams it wants to take forward. You present your solution and your commercial case to the leadership team and the business owners who'd run it. Mutual NDA signed.
- Bring
- The demo and a one-page commercial proposal
- Done when
- Both sides agree to run a pilot
Week 1 · 3–7 Nov
Scope lock
You and Tasco agree the exact boundary: which use case, which users, which systems, which success metrics. Data access and approvals are requested here, not later.
- Bring
- Your integration and data requirements in writing
- Done when
- A one-page scope both sides have signed
Week 2 · 10–14 Nov
Build
You build against Tasco's real context in a sandboxed environment, with an assigned business owner on call.
- Bring
- Engineering time
- Done when
- The core workflow runs end to end on test data
Week 3 · 17–21 Nov
Integrate and checkpoint
Connect the agreed systems and hold a mid-point review. Anything not working by this checkpoint doesn't go into week 4.
- Bring
- A working demo against the agreed metrics
- Done when
- The checkpoint review passes
Week 4 · 24–28 Nov
Test and evaluate
Tasco's own team runs the solution against the week-one metrics, with real operational users where approvals allow. You see the results — not a verdict behind closed doors.
- Bring
- Support and fixes during testing
- Done when
- Results are written up against each metric
By 5 Dec
Tasco decides
One of three outcomes, in writing: scale into a production pilot and commercial terms, extend on a revised scope, or stop, with the reasons. You keep the results either way.
The point of a 90-day format is that “no” arrives fast enough to be useful.
Good to know
Entering a pilot is Tasco's decision, made after demo day. One month is the target for a tightly scoped pilot — a broader scope runs longer, and the scope is agreed jointly in week 1 before anyone commits. Dates flex with the enterprise's calendar.
What to submit
Make it tangible: show what improves for the customer, how it works, and what you'd need to test it for real.
- 1
Problem framing
Who you're helping and which friction you're solving.
- 2
Prototype or design
The proposed experience and how it works. A working prototype is preferred.
- 3
Impact and assumptions
The improvement you expect, and what you're assuming.
- 4
Implementation needs
Data, integrations and enterprise support required.
- 5
Responsible design
Data access, consent and privacy assumptions, and where staff review is needed.
Judged on
- Practical impact
- Credible execution
- Scale potential
- Compliance fit
- Feasibility and time to pilot
- Customer experience
- Operational sustainability
- Implementation clarity
State your data, integration and consent assumptions explicitly. That's not a compliance box — it's part of what makes a proposal credible, and the criteria reward it.
Design requirements
Proposals should avoid premium discounts, cashback, or disguised price incentives; use accurate communications without fabricated urgency; explain data access, consent and privacy assumptions; account for seasonal demand; and identify where staff review is needed.
Detailed requirements are included in the participant brief and discussed during the briefing session.
You won't build this blind
Briefings, workshops and partner resources to help you build something Tasco can evaluate.
Business briefing and open Q&A
Understand the journey and the operating reality behind it, from the people who run it.
Technical and business workshops
Sharpen the solution with mentors and technology partners.
Mentor access
Business and technical guidance through the build window.
Partner credits and tools
Explore resources through partner programmes, including eligible Microsoft for Startups benefits.
Partner credits, tools, pilot entry, investment and any subsequent engagement depend on selection, eligibility, due diligence and the relevant partner's or enterprise's terms. Selected partner workshops may take place in person; schedules go to participants.
The people scoring your work
Laura NguyenCEO and Managing Partner, GenAI Fund
Kai YongPartner, GenAI Fund
Rizwan HazarikaPartner, Positive Moves · Ex-Executive Director, EY
David LowDirector, AI & Machine Learning, Singtel
Julie BulaklakStartup Lead, ASEAN, Microsoft
Hawkins PhamDirector, Head of VNGGames Publishing Platform
Don Manuja KasthuriarachchiHead of AI and Data, Manulife- More judges are announced weekly.
Five things people get wrong about this
You've probably been burned by something that looked like this. Fair. Here's what's actually true.
What people assume
“This is free R&D for Tasco.”
What's actually true
You keep your IP. Mutual NDA before any pilot, and the scope is agreed jointly in week 1 — before you commit engineering time.
What people assume
“I'd never get past procurement.”
What's actually true
There is no RFP here. The people who set the brief and hold the budget are the people reviewing your work — that's the entire format.
What people assume
“I don't know insurance.”
What's actually true
Most strong submissions don't start there. The written brief, the 7 October session and an assigned business owner close that gap. Bring the solution.
What people assume
“Three weeks isn't enough to build anything.”
What's actually true
Build opens 23 September, not 7 October. And nobody's asking for production software — show what works and how it scales.
What people assume
“No cash prize — so what's the upside?”
What's actually true
A named enterprise customer, a market, and investment of up to US$100,000 on the table for teams that come through the pilot.
Questions people ask
You don't need a finished product to apply. You need a point of view and three weeks.