Apple Watch app built by AXA using MongoDB

Dev Ittycheria, CEO of MongoDB, says AXA wouldn't have been able to build its Drive Coach app as quickly as it did without using the NoSQL database

Global insurer AXA was able to build its Apple Watch app swiftly because it used NoSQL database MongoDB, according to Dev Ittycheria, MongoDB president and CEO.

Ittycheria explained in the keynote at MongoDB World in New York today that AXA wanted to build an app for the Apple Watch that would monitor the way that users drive.

"AXA wanted to build a really cool app for the Apple Watch, and they called it Drive Coach. It allows users to monitor their driving behaviour [and answer questions such as]: How good a driver am I? How aggressive am I? How fast do I drive? How do I take turns? How do I brake?... and it gives feedback on how safe they are and what they can do to become an even better driver," he said.

In addition, Ittycheria believes that with the app, AXA managed to change the way it is perceived by consumers.

"People don't view AXA as a traditional insurer anymore, they view it as [a provider] of cutting-edge technology," he said.

And the benefits for the insurer don't stop there as the company can now exploit a huge amount of data on users coming from the app.

"They can assign risk to those who want to buy auto-insurance policies," Ittycheria said.

"They wouldn't have been able to build the app this quickly without using MongoDB," he added.

In September last year, AXA UK's group CIO and chief operating officer (COO) Kevin Murray told Computing that he was fixated on how the company could use data to its advantage. He said it was one of his top priorities for the next five years, and explained that there are various data sources that it can glean information from including telematics in cars and, in the future, connected devices in the home.