On May 9, Waterdrop Inc. celebrated its tenth anniversary of founding. Shen Peng, Founder and CEO of Waterdrop Inc., issued an internal letter reviewing the company's progress over the past decade in critical illness assistance, insurance protection, and pharmaceutical innovation, while outlining its future development strategy. He stated that Waterdrop must evolve from a "technology company using AI" to an "AI-native technology company," embarking on a new journey with "AI-native drive" and "international exploration" as its dual pillars. The company also held its tenth-anniversary celebration event on the same day. During the event, Shen Peng reflected on the entrepreneurial journey with employees, thanked all Waterdrop staff for their hard work, and invited everyone to join the AI wave for the next, even better decade.
Reflecting on the entrepreneurial journey of the past ten years, Shen Peng said, "The birth, growth, and evolution of Waterdrop have always been rooted in societal necessities and adhered to long-term value. Waterdrop's past decade has coincided with the nation's transition from rapid growth to high-quality development, with continuous improvements in social operational efficiency and the continuous fulfillment of people's needs for a better life. We have progressed in sync with the tides of the times."
Waterdrop Insurance has evolved from initially "making it easier for people who previously had no access to insurance to buy insurance" to "enabling those who were previously uninsured to obtain coverage." This transformation is driven by technological advancements. Waterdrop has promoted innovation on the supply side with its self-developed "Water Guardian large model," covering more "marginal users" such as individuals with pre-existing conditions, mothers and infants, and the elderly. In collaboration with over a hundred insurance companies, it has launched 2,379 cost-effective insurance products, cumulatively serving over 100 million insurance customers.
Waterdrop's social value has also gained recognition from various sectors of society. Waterdrop Charity has been designated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs as a personal fundraising network service platform, having helped 3.68 million critically ill patients and gathered 72.3 billion yuan in charitable donations. Yifan Pharmaceutical has experienced rapid growth in the CRO and clinical recruitment fields, cumulatively recruiting 14,555 patients for clinical trials and completing 1,611 clinical trial projects. The "Jinqing Assistance" medical insurance anti-poverty project, jointly launched by Waterdrop and the Jinyun County Medical Insurance Bureau, was successfully selected as a global best poverty reduction case in 2025. To date, "Jinqing Assistance" has precisely assisted 746 individuals, with a total assistance amount of 16.6192 million yuan.
In terms of AI exploration, Waterdrop has established an independent capability system centered on "Water Guardian AI," self-developed the "Waterdrop Water Guardian large model," and launched multiple AI products such as AI sales assistance tools, the AI customer service "Baoxiao Hui," and the AI underwriting expert "KEYI," achieving industry efficiency improvements. Additionally, Waterdrop introduced the Water Guardian AI Assistant ClawSquare, enabling AI Agents with different functions to communicate autonomously and collaborate to complete tasks. This capability is gradually extending to insurance and healthcare scenarios.
Shen Peng summarized Waterdrop's ten-year journey as follows: "The starting point of Waterdrop has never changed—the core proposition we aim to solve is the optimal solution concerning the three elements of goodwill, trust, and efficiency." Regarding the development of the next decade, he said, "All in AI is not just a strategic choice but a necessity for survival and development." He believes that only sustainable business practices can deliver longer-term protection, and all of this is inseparable from AI-driven initiatives. The AI revolution is the first time in human history that top-tier capabilities are empowered to every ordinary individual at an extremely low cost and on an extremely broad scale. In the current era of vigorous AI development, the sectors Waterdrop deeply engages in are also facing a historic opportunity for exponential value amplification.
In the future, Waterdrop will leverage its domestic AI core capabilities, use the Greater Bay Area as a bridgehead to radiate influence across Southeast Asia, export the mature "AI + protection" model, and build a global intelligent protection network. Simultaneously, extending into health technology, it will deepen its involvement in the broader health field, including new drug research and development and patient recruitment, creating a full closed-loop of "assistance-protection-health services" and upgrading its mission of "protecting hundreds of millions of families" to safeguarding the health and well-being of all humanity.
The full text of the internal letter is as follows:
Waterdrop's Ten Years: Upholding Integrity and Cultivating Innovation — A Letter to All Employees on Waterdrop Inc.'s Tenth Anniversary
Hello everyone!
Today, we collectively welcome the tenth anniversary of Waterdrop Inc. Ten years ago, our nine-person entrepreneurial team gathered in a "borrowed" office at Wangjing SOHO, marking the beginning of our entrepreneurial journey. Over a decade, how did a single drop of water surge into an ocean? The answer is engraved in every step we have taken side by side, flows in the hopeful gazes of hundreds of millions of families regaining hope, and solidifies into Waterdrop's unique mission and glory.
Looking back to the spring of 2016, with a simple original intention, we chose "Waterdrop" among many names, firmly believing that drops accumulate to form a sea. At the beginning of our venture, we established the mission of "protecting hundreds of millions of families"—it served as a spiritual anchor during low points, a behavioral boundary during highlights, and the fundamental force driving Waterdrop through cycles and always moving forward.
Over the past decade, this drop of water has traversed countless anxious hospital corridors, converged into a torrent of 72.3 billion yuan in charitable funds, reigniting hope for 3.68 million families. From the initial intention of alleviating urgent needs, it has grown into a solid reliance protecting over 100 million insurance users. Throughout this decade, every step Waterdrop has taken has been in sync with the times and aligned with its original intention.
We have personally experienced China's economy transitioning from rapid growth to high-quality development and witnessed the internet shifting from the first half of traffic competition to the second half of value creation and compliance deepening. The birth, growth, and evolution of Waterdrop have always been rooted in societal necessities and adhered to long-term value, anchoring direction during the era's transformation: using technology as the boat and goodwill as the rudder to protect the health and dignity of ordinary people.
I. Ten Years: Using Technology as the Boat, Carrying Goodwill Across Mountains and Seas
Waterdrop's story never began under the spotlight but was born from the anxiety and hope beside hospital beds. An electric shock injury in the fifth grade of elementary school allowed me to understand the weight of "living" in the ward. The helpless pain of a colleague's mother suffering from cancer during my Meituan period planted the entrepreneurial obsession: to provide warm services, allowing ordinary people to be seen and helped during critical illnesses. This original intention is Waterdrop's purest starting point.
Through a decade of cultivation, we have centered on users, oriented towards value, used technology to break barriers, and turned "inclusive protection" from a slogan into reality.
Insurance Protection: When Waterdrop Insurance was first established, we used the internet to make it "easier" for people who previously had no access to insurance to buy insurance. Over the past decade, thanks to technological assistance, we can accurately match user needs, "enabling those who were previously uninsured to obtain coverage." We promote innovation on the supply side with our self-developed "Water Guardian large model," covering more "marginal users" such as individuals with pre-existing conditions, mothers and infants, and the elderly. In collaboration with over a hundred insurance companies, we have launched 2,379 cost-effective insurance products, cumulatively serving over 100 million insurance customers, with service satisfaction consistently maintained above 95%. Shenlan Insurance has become a benchmark for insurance education for tens of millions of users, making protection more transparent and understandable.
Critical Illness Assistance: The initial launch of Waterdrop Charity aimed to provide faster emergency assistance through the internet. Over the past decade, the power of goodwill has exceeded our imagination. Now, with technological support, we can ensure that every act of kindness accurately reaches those in need. We adhere to openness and transparency, lead industry standards, pioneer measures such as fundraising while withdrawing, dedicated fund management, and rapid disbursement, waive service fees for the "Five Guarantees" and special hardship groups, making goodwill more efficient and reassuring. Collaborating with local civil affairs and medical insurance authorities on innovative assistance, the "Jinqing Assistance" model was rated as a global best poverty reduction case, becoming an important supplementary force in the multi-level medical security system. In 2024, Waterdrop Charity became one of the first personal fundraising network service platforms designated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Today, fundraising services cover 548 cities nationwide. Though mountains and seas are far, technology ensures goodwill reaches its destination.
Pharmaceutical Services: Yifan Pharmaceutical has experienced rapid growth in the CRO and clinical recruitment fields, cumulatively recruiting 14,555 patients for clinical trials and completing 1,611 clinical trial projects. It applies large model technology to scenarios such as health management, health education, and digital humans, creating new links in medical service.
International Exploration: Waterdrop Financial has built a competitive insurance product and service system in Hong Kong, achieving rapid scale expansion. Lukang Wuyou provides full-process services including identity planning, corporate出海, children's education, and medical services, rising to second place in the industry within a year and establishing a branch in Macau. Waterdrop Charity is expanding to more regions globally, allowing China's inclusive protection model to benefit more people.
Over the past decade, we have built a full lifecycle health service system of "pre-event protection + post-event assistance," proving through practice that technology for goodwill is not a slogan but the foundation for sustainable protection. Sixteen consecutive quarters of profitability, cash reserves exceeding 30 billion, and over 100 million insurance users... these numbers are not the end but the foundation for fulfilling our promises.
II. AI-Native: From "Using AI" to Possessing "AI Thinking"
As the tides of the times surge, traffic红利 peak, and human-driven growth reaches its limits, only technological innovation can open new spaces. How will we protect more families in the next decade? The answer is resolute and clear: All in AI, using technology to protect more families, and reconstructing安心保障 with AI.
In the future, the insurance industry requires not just efficiency improvements but a fundamental expansion of service boundaries—a value reconstruction centered on users. The core lever for this reconstruction is AI. Therefore, we must evolve from a "technology company using AI" to an "AI-native technology company." "AI-native" requires us not to limit ourselves to using AI tools but to possess AI thinking. The former is tool replacement, while the latter is value重塑.
AI thinking means re-examining the underlying logic of the business—AI should not be a department or a tool within the company but a "nervous system"贯穿 product design, sales, underwriting, service, and claims processing. This is an organizational cognition issue, not merely a technical deployment issue.
Why can Waterdrop succeed in becoming an AI-native company? I would like to explain using the classic strategic思维 from Chinese传统文化 regarding the conditions for success, which emphasizes the协调统一 of "timeliness, geographical advantage, and human harmony."
Timeliness: We are置身 in the wave of new-generation technological变革 represented by AI. The impact of this wave is comparable to the previous three industrial revolutions. Not only will related industries like insurance have the opportunity to be reconstructed, but the health protection industry we have always cared about will also receive unprecedented empowerment.
Geographical Advantage: The insurance industry's characteristics of data intensity, complex decision-making, and information asymmetry恰恰 are the best scenarios for AI to发挥 value. However, general large models are "not sufficient" here—just like an AI that can chat and an AI that can "understand" the terms of over 7,000 insurance products exhibit completely different capabilities in serving users. The internalization of insurance industry knowledge and the construction of decision-making capabilities are the true core competencies of AI in insurance scenarios, and data and scenarios are precisely our advantages.
Human Harmony: Talent is the company's most valuable asset. Since 2021, we have continuously invested in AI, established Water Guardian Intelligent Technology Company, invested approximately 300 million yuan annually, and applied for over a hundred artificial intelligence technology patents. Currently, the company has gathered a research and development team of hundreds from Peking University, Tsinghua University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This team, which understands technology, users, and goodwill, continuously creates value for users and is our most solid foundation.
Some may ask: Will AI replacing human labor cause Waterdrop to lose its warmth? On the contrary, AI never replaces human hearts but makes our services warmer. We use AI enterprise WeChat service groups to promptly respond to fundraising patients' needs and use AI risk control to accurately研判 fraudulent fundraising, protecting every act of kindness. In insurance scenarios, the AI medical insurance expert辅助 achieved a month-on-month premium growth of 145%. The AI intelligent customer service "Baoxiao Hui" responds within 1.5 seconds, serving over 1.4 million times per month. The AI underwriting expert KEYI.AI has an intelligent underwriting accuracy rate of 99.8%... Behind each set of numbers are the wings AI has given to goodwill.
I firmly believe: AI is not cold algorithms; it is technology with温度. It enables us to do more, transitioning from limited human services to unlimited technological普惠; allowing every ordinary person to equally enjoy efficient, fair, and dignified protection services.
III. The Future Has Arrived: Building a Responsible Global Intelligent Protection Ecosystem
Ten years of foundation, ten years of远航. In the next decade, we will leverage our domestic mature protection model, embark on a new journey with "AI-native drive" and "international exploration" as dual pillars.
We speak of "All in AI"—this is a firm investment after看清 direction. The significance of technological innovation is to transform the original intention of solving societal pain points into落地, replicable, sustainable operational solutions. In the future, we will leverage our domestic AI core capabilities, use the Greater Bay Area as a bridgehead to radiate influence across Southeast Asia, export the mature "AI + protection" model, serve global users according to local conditions, and build a global intelligent protection network. Simultaneously, extending into health technology, we will deepen our involvement in the broader health field, including new drug research and development and patient recruitment, creating a full closed-loop of "assistance-protection-health services" and upgrading our mission of "protecting hundreds of millions of families" to safeguarding the health and well-being of all humanity.
Ten years of风雨,水滴石穿. From fundraising to insurance, from AI empowerment to AI-native, we have faced challenges and controversies but始终坚守 the most precious moat—trust. This trust comes from continuous value creation,源于 strict compliance and self-discipline, and更来自 the never-wavering original intention.
Good insurance makes people feel supported in their most vulnerable moments. Good AI makes this support come faster, more accurately, and more broadly. We始终坚信: Technology for goodwill is the only正道 of long-termism and the core foundation for企业行稳致远.
AI is a technological revolution; it allows us to see more隐秘 needs, reach more偏远 populations, make inclusive protection触手可及, and allow warm protection无处不在.
A drop of water,平凡微光; hundreds of millions of people,势不可挡. In the next decade, let us take our original intention as the root, technology as the wings, uphold the微 of Waterdrop,秉持 the sincerity of goodwill, empower development with computing power,开拓 the future with innovation,汇聚 hundreds of millions of warmth, and铸就 protection across mountains and seas!
Ten years of glory belong to every Waterdrop person; for the future征程, let us set out side by side again!
Comments