How is your organization handling InsurTech?

Insurance technology, or InsurTech as many know it, is changing the insurance industry – whether it is ready for the transformation or not. For an industry not known as a change leader, this can be particularly daunting.

At a recent industry conference, I met with executives, experienced some of the technology first-hand, and received an in-depth education on the changes to come for carriers and their policyholders. Here are my five takeaways:

1. Technology will be the single greatest factor affecting the insurance industry in the next 12 to 18 months. From first notice of loss all the way through the payment process, technology will change, improve and expedite the process as customers expect an instantaneous, seamless transaction.
2. Carriers will have to cultivate external partnerships in order to develop the products they require in a timely fashion to keep them competitive. The R&D phase will take too long internally and vendors have adaptable solutions that can shorten the transition and implementation time needed for some of these products.
3. Every company needs a strategic or transformation plan for implementing new technology and should be willing to update it every six months or so. Technology is constantly changing and these “living” documents should be adapted as necessary. There is nothing wrong with correcting your course when you have better information.
4. Artificial intelligence will continue to play a larger role in the insurance industry as it becomes more cognitive and conversational. Bots will provide a seamless experience for customers and rapidly change the insurance landscape in numerous ways.
5. Carriers that are not proactively pursuing change in their organizations, training their staffs and implementing new technology will be left behind by their competitors.

With all of these changes come some additional risks, especially with an increasing reliance on new technology. Fraud, cyber risk, protecting data and preventing intrusions into policyholders’ personal lives are all very real concerns that will need to be addressed.

Technological change is hard for everyone – I know first-hand some of the challenges. It rarely works as expected (or as it is supposed to) and the learning curve can be harder for some than others in an organization. However, none of us has the option to stay where we are on the technology spectrum. I guess it’s time to throw out my Blackberry…

Patricia L. Harman

Editor-in-Chief

pharman@alm.com