Opening the door to insurance carrier innovation
A pressing concern at this current time is how insurers will cope as they are inundated by pandemic claims and queries.
In 2019, the word on the street was that the insurance industry was on the brink of a revolution in technology innovation. If that was true then it is even more so now as the insurance industry looks to position itself for a post-COVID-19 world.
In a recent survey of 300 U.S. executives by Insurance Nexus by Reuters Events, 89% said that innovation technologies would transform their business in the long term. A similar number are also investing in new analytics and technology solutions. Nationwide is one of them. Chief Data Officer Jim Tyo is looking for partners with whom the carrier can learn and grow together. This is preferable to “making a traditional substantial and long term investment commitment up front,” Tyo says.
Another key finding of the survey is that while 15% of insurers are making a big leap with investments of over $5 million, a larger number (47%) are being more cautious and investing less than a million.
Topping the list of executive priorities for investment are predictive analytics (70%), artificial intelligence (66%) automation (60%) and machine learning (56%).
A pressing concern at this current time is how insurers will cope as they are inundated by claims and queries, particularly in the areas of travel, health care and business interruption. Inevitably, as clients look to renew contracts, they will be seeking much greater clarity about what they are paying for. A streamlined approach to claims processing will help improve carrier cost efficiencies and deliver on customer experience.
“In 2020 and 2021,” Tyo says, “our focus is on putting the customer at the center of everything we do by enabling a consistent delivery of extraordinary care.” A real-time data-driven approach to AI and analytics will be part of his armor, as well as a firm belief that “the collective power beats any individual effort.”
Employee experience
In today’s insurance industry, captains of technology, information and development are increasingly valued with over 50% saying that they wielded more or a lot more power than five years ago. Meanwhile, in the workplace, half of executives believe that technology is having a noticeable impact on their daily role. Some firms are reporting greater productivity and customer contact as they work from home using platforms like Microsoft Teams.
More can be done, however. After all, the insurance industry has been slower than others to shift systems and applications to the cloud, which offers much greater bandwidth and capacity. This is needed as remote working becomes more prevalent for the foreseeable future, and there are new incentives to make the leap.
Leaders at this time will be looking for employees with opens minds. One respondent summed it up: “Data has been at the core of the insurance industry for decades. It’s time for us to use data to drive predictive insights with AI, save time with automation, and generate opportunities for the company by harnessing technology that’s never been more accessible.”
Ira Sopic (ira.sopic@insurancenexus.com) is the global project director at Insurance Nexus by Reuters Events, which hosts the upcoming Insurance AI and Innovative Tech Virtual event on May 27 and 28.
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