Twelve years of covering insurance technology doesn't make me an expert on the subject, but it does give me a perspective on the people who work in this business. That's why the selection of our Insurance IT All-Stars is one of my favorite topics to write about.

We've selected five technology leaders who have made a strong impression on industry leaders as well as us. This year's class is a good one, as I think you'll find. Its members include:

• Judith Haddad, executive vice president, CIO/CTO of Patriot National Insurance Group
• Larry Fortin, vice president and CIO, Millers Mutual Group
• John Campbell, senior vice president and CIO, American Modern Insurance Group
• Joan Falcetta, vice president in technology and operations with MetLife
• Carlos Correa, assistant vice president an U.S. IT manager with Liberty International Underwriters

This is the fifth year we've attempted to single out a group of IT executives and put them in the spotlight. From the interviews I conducted with each of them, I found it interesting to hear their views on how things have changed in the last half-decade and what they see happening in the next five year cycle.

The beauty of this business is in trying to keep up with all the changes. Five years ago we were talking about legacy system replacement and five years from now we'll still be talking about it.

But five years ago were we talking about social networking? Did anyone envision the impact the change from cellphones to smartphones would have on business?

There may have been a few people, but they likely kept their thoughts to themselves. Facebook was for college kids and we were still writing about mobile's search for the “killer app.”

While we didn't ask this year's all-stars what the hot topic would be in five years—they are tech leaders not futurists—we did ask if today's hottest subjects—social networking, mobile technology, legacy system replacement—would still be the top issues in 2016.

They all agreed on the mobile and social networking issues for pretty much the same reason: both of those technology areas are in the early stage of development in the insurance industry and will likely blossom in the coming years as the industry explores these areas in greater detail.

As for legacy system, most agreed they will not be eradicated from the insurance industry over the next five years, but one CIO made an interesting point: Insurers have avoided the replacement issue by adding on to their legacy systems in an attempt to modernize the older tools. This has been successful for companies, but terms like “stop-gap” and “short-term solution” are not the kind of words long-term planners want to hear.

I guess we'll find out in another five years whether our 2011 all-stars were right on the button with their look into the future. For the sake of the 2016 Insurance IT All-Stars, we hope they are.