Executive Insights: Duck Creek CEO Michael Jackowski
At Duck Creek Technologies, CEO Michael Jackowski often talks about the greater good of insurance.
When Michael Jackowski isn’t talking about the greater good of insurance, which is safeguarding people, products, businesses and innovation, he might be spending time with his family at their home in the Chicago area or fiddling around with technology and data, just for fun.
Jackowski is CEO of Duck Creek Technologies. Here, the executive expands on why he’s “all in” when it comes to insurance work and shares his secret to forging strong corporate culture — even when employees are located in disparate locations.
PC360: Where do you see the most opportunity in the insurance industry?
Michael Jackowski: I see three really strong opportunities in the post-COVID world. The first one is to broaden coverage and introduce new products for protection. Many of the older, traditional markets are saturated, and new markets are emerging. [The COVID-19 pandemic] brought more transparency to contract language and what’s embedded in policies. It forced buyers to ask new questions. I think bringing more transparency to coverage is an opportunity.
The second one is risk prevention — getting in the risk-prevention business. More and more, we’re seeing data on (the Internet of Things) and the monitoring of devices. I think insuring the actual risk, not a model or a prediction of the risk, is going to be an increasing opportunity for all insurance carriers.
And then the final one is just ease of doing business. Take the friction out of insurance. We see InsurTechs challenging the traditional insurance-business model every day. So I think taking the friction out of these models is going to serve as a great opportunity for carriers to streamline their operations going forward.
PC360: What do you think are the top three issues facing insurers right now?
Jackowski: I think carriers really need to focus on their overall technology, backplane and specifically, modernizing their core business, adopting cloud technologies, and leveraging analytics. These are the game-changers in insurance right now.
The second thing that I think carriers have got to focus on is their customer experience. They have got to be easier to do business with. It’s not just for premium-paying customers. It’s for their agents, their brokers, everyone in distribution, and their affinity partners.
Third — and this one’s huge for me — is product agility.
A lot of the rules around products are hard-coded, and change takes too long. I think the most successful carriers today know how to iterate. They have more of a test and learn behavior, and they adjust more rapidly. That creates ongoing success.
PC360: How can companies foster camaraderie and culture in the work-from-home environment, and how important is culture to a company’s success? Jackowski: I think culture is everything, and it’s not about bricks and mortar.
In the past, some companies have been overly focused on the brick-and-mortar environment to make up for the fact that they don’t have some of the key ingredients to drive culture. Culture is really about the why, what and how we do what we do. So if you really want to amplify culture, it’s easy: You rally behind a meaningful cause and develop a sense of purpose around something worthy.
At Duck Creek, we talk all about the greater good of insurance, which is really about helping protect people and businesses. We’re going to attach ourselves to that larger purpose all the time. From there, we have clarity in our mission.
Once you have that piece in place, you light it up on social. Be visible and consistent in your message.
PC360: What skills do you think the next generation of insurance professionals should be developing?
Jackowski: When I look at the complexity of insurance, I think sometimes it depends on the role. But I’ll just look at two categories for now. The first involves executives. For that category of leaders, a combination of business acumen and technology aptitude, especially around data and analytics, has become essential to really lead carriers moving forward. And then, more broadly on the execution side, in claims, underwriting, distributions and sales, I believe in hiring people who truly have a customer-centric point of view. Hire for attitude and train for skills.
I think carriers really differentiate themselves when they hire people with a customer-centric point of view.
PC360: What do you think are the most significant changes for the insurance industry in the last decade?
Jackowski: InsurTech has really changed insurance a lot. It’s pushing the boundaries on a specific component of the ecosystem, and I think that’s fantastic.
I also think, when you look at certain markets, there has been a huge change in the last decade around quote aggregators and making it efficient to look at the price points of many insurance carriers at once.
And then obviously, there’s been a larger push towards direct-to-consumer carries led by companies like Geico. That’s just getting more popular, even in the small commercial market.
PC360: How can the insurance industry improve its reputation with the public?
Jackowski: I wish I could wave a wand and change this, I really do. Because people at insurance companies are heroes. They come into work every day looking to do the right thing for their customers.
PC360: How would you describe the insurance industry and the work to someone who’s thinking about it as a career?
Jackowski: Once people get into insurance, they never leave. They find it’s an industry that’s very purpose-driven. It’s focused on protecting people and businesses. And there’s something at that core that I find very rewarding.
I also think it’s an industry that drives true innovation in the world. The first time ships sailed from Europe, they were underwritten… And how many of us would let our children drive our cars, or would we ever build skyscrapers, if that risk wasn’t managed? Probably not. So I think insurance is what fosters innovation in the world.
PC360: What are some of the benefits of working in insurance? Jackowski: Endless opportunities. I’ve watched people just grow and grow in their careers. There are so many different avenues you can take.
PC360: What has been the single most valuable piece of professional advice anyone has ever given you?
Jackowski: There are probably two things. The first one is, critique your preparation and effort more than your result. And then the second one is about leadership. If you’re a leader, your employees don’t work for you. You work for them.