Collaboration, integration frame first Big 'I' InsurTech Summit
Insurance agencies, vendors and carriers all must feel that digitalization will ultimately support business growth.
On-stage conversations during the recent Big ‘I’ Insurtech Summit held in Savannah, Ga., in late January underscored a common theme around insurance technology recently: The idea that insurance will be “disrupted” by one or even a collection of startups has given way to the reality that agents, carriers and technologists can do more by working together.
The event included a 90-minute program with two panel discussions on the state of technology adoption in insurance and where the industry may be headed now that digitalization has taken hold.
“We all know that insurtech is impacting our industry [for] agents, brokers and carriers,” Big ‘I’ President and CEO Bob Rusbuldt said at the outset of the event. “It is changing our industry rapidly and in significant ways.”
The program’s first discussion was titled “Demystifying Insurtech” and included insights from Chip Bacciocco, CEO of TrustedChoice.com, who moderated both of the event panel discussions, along with Chris Cline, executive director of the Agents Council for Technology; Adam Kiefer, CEO and co-founder of Talage Insurance; Jason Walker, president of Agency Revolution; and Lou Moran, principal of Inter-Agency Insurance Services in Knoxville, Tenn., as well as the chairman of the Big ‘I’ Insurtech Taskforce.
Cline explained that today’s independent insurance agencies are “all over the place” when it comes to technology adoption.
“There are 40,000 independent insurance agencies in the country right now,” he said. “That means there are 40,000 opinions about how to leverage technology.”
Many agencies remain confused, uncertain, overwhelmed and in need of clarity when it comes to the array of technology tools currently available to them, he said. The demand for relevant technology training and process management persists, Cline added.
Moran grounded the discussion by sharing details about the digitalization journey at his own independent agency, where it took a concerted effort to “stop fighting technology,” which is a common theme among small, retail, family-owned insurance agencies, he said.
Talage’s Adam Kiefer confirmed that any technology tools must support agency staff as opposed to making their work more complicated. “We always believed that agents are really critical… especially when you’re looking at the commercial side of things.”
All four panelists agreed that ROI is also critical to technology adoption, and that agencies, vendors and carriers must feel that digitalization will ultimately support business growth. Moran said that was addressed at his agency by “picking the problem that was the easiest and quickest to solve so that everybody could see the success” of finding tech-driven solutions.
This event’s second panel was titled “We’re Just Getting Started: The Furuture of InsurTech in the IA Channel” and featured executives from Travelers, Ivans, Zywave and Gallagher.
“There’s a plethora of tools and resources available for independent agents, but from an agency owner perspective, it can be overwhelming sorting through the noise,” Bacciocco said in a statement about the Big ‘I’ Insurtech Summit. “We’re glad to assemble these thought leaders to demystify InsurTech and help agents take advantage of all the solutions this digital age has to offer.”
Check out this free video recording of both panel discussions from the first Big I Insurtech Summit.
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