By Discovery, South Africa’s largest listed insurer, is expanding its Vitality AI platform into the United States through a partnership with Google, targeting health plans and employers as it seeks to build a larger international business.
The expansion announced in September marks a significant step in Discovery’s efforts to scale its behavioural health and insurance technology in the U.S. market, where the company has previously operated through partnerships and licensing arrangements.
Discovery’s Vitality AI platform is built on Google Cloud and uses Google’s Gemini Enterprise technology to provide personalised health recommendations, coaching and incentives.
The companies said the platform is designed to help people adopt healthier behaviours while giving insurers and employers tools to improve engagement and manage healthcare costs.
Discovery Chief Executive Adrian Gore told Daily Investor that the company wants to expand Vitality’s U.S. business significantly, with a target of $100 million in revenue in the next few years. He said the U.S. expansion would be a measured investment because the business is based largely on intellectual property rather than capital-intensive physical assets.
“This is a much bigger step, but it is a very measured approach,” Gore told Daily Investor. “This is a low-capital, high-IP business.”
Vitality already has a presence in the United States, including a long-standing partnership with John Hancock. Discovery has also been expanding its U.S. capabilities through acquisitions by Vitality, including WellSpark, Ramp Health and Icario.
Icario has added access to government health insurance plans and about 11 million lives to Vitality’s U.S. business, according to Daily Investor. Vitality said its U.S. operations have recorded annual revenue growth of 22% and that the three acquisitions have expanded the services and reach of the business.
Vitality AI has already been used in the United States. Google Cloud and Vitality said that since June 2025, more than 210,000 people in the country had received an AI-generated personalised health action, while 54% had completed at least one action recommended by the system.
The technology uses Vitality’s health and behavioural data alongside Google’s artificial intelligence infrastructure. According to the companies, the platform draws on more than 2,800 health and behavioural dimensions to generate personalised recommendations.
The companies also cited internal Vitality data showing that engaged clients experienced healthcare claims costs that were 4% lower on average, producing a reported 180% return on investment. Those figures were based on Vitality data from May 2026 and were independently reviewed by Arbital Health, according to the companies.
The U.S. rollout builds on a broader partnership between Vitality and Google that was announced in November 2025. The companies said the partnership combines Google’s cloud and AI capabilities with Vitality’s data and expertise in behavioural change and shared-value insurance.
Under the expanded arrangement, Vitality AI is built on Google Cloud and uses Gemini Enterprise. The platform is intended to help health plans and employers deliver personalised recommendations at scale rather than relying primarily on standardised wellness programmes.
Emile Stipp, chief executive of Vitality AI, said the U.S. expansion would extend the platform to more people and organisations. Google Cloud executive Maureen Costello said the partnership was aimed at helping U.S. employers and other customers engage more proactively with health.
The U.S. market is attractive because of its scale, but it is also complex. Discovery’s existing international expansion has required partnerships with insurers and health businesses operating under different regulatory and commercial systems.
Discovery’s Vitality model is already present across multiple international markets. The group says its Global Vitality Network operates across North America, South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, allowing the company to license its behavioural insurance programme, technology and expertise to insurance partners.
The U.S. push is part of Discovery’s wider strategy to expand Vitality internationally while growing its South African financial services businesses.
Discovery has described Vitality Global as the business responsible for expanding its shared-value insurance model outside South Africa and the United Kingdom. Its operations include licensing the Vitality programme and related data and technology to insurance partners around the world.
The company has also identified Discovery Bank as another major growth driver. Discovery’s 2025 annual reporting set an ambition for the bank to reach two million clients and R3 billion in operating profit in the 2029 financial year.
Discovery said in its 2025 results that Vitality covered 10.4 million lives outside China, up 25% from a year earlier. Its investment in Vitality AI was also being accelerated to improve efficiency across Vitality programmes and increase traction with existing and new partnerships.
By the end of December 2025, Vitality covered 11.2 million lives outside China, according to Discovery’s interim results. The company said its Google partnership was intended to combine Google’s AI capabilities with Vitality’s data assets to deliver personalised health-improvement actions at scale.
For Discovery, the U.S. expansion therefore represents an attempt to scale a technology-driven insurance model rather than build a traditional insurance operation from scratch. Gore told Daily Investor that the company sees the size of the American market as providing an opportunity for Vitality to materially increase its global contribution.
The expansion also illustrates how insurers are increasingly using artificial intelligence, behavioural data and digital platforms to engage customers and employers beyond the traditional sale of insurance cover.
