Insure Think

With last week’s announcement that Insurity has acquired Valen Analytics, the core and analytics landscape changes again.

Embracing the cloud will make the transition to digital processes less painful.

A major benefit of moving away from legacy processes is the ability to cover more risks for more people.

The Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative, co-founded by five European insurers late last year, is preparing to add new members.

A likely repeal of the Affordable Care Act and adjustments to other regulations on the financial sector have insurers watching President Trump intently.

Getting to insurance digital excellence requires new ways of thinking as much as new technology.

Automation that enhances the agent experience and ultimately their selling and service capabilities is fundamental to enabling their success. But with so many potential areas to focus on, it can be challenging to know what to prioritize.

Insurance industry stakeholders are urged to think enhancement, not replacement, of human intelligence with AI implementations.

A recent study finds younger agents feel good about job security and their future economic prospects.

The pressure is on to go digital, but staffing and budget headwinds mean that tech leaders must think on their feet.

As the value propositions of connected cars and homes increase, so does the imperative for insurers to enter those ecosystems through alliances and standalone offers.

Insurers have set goals around the technology in an effort to simplify the customer experience and meet regulatory requirements.

Examples of insurance processes being automated through RPA include first notice of loss, fraud checking and policy renewal.

Sure, there was lots of hype on insurtech in 2016, but signs point towards tangible results in the coming year.

Pessimistic about their preparation for disruption, insurers are ramping up their innovation efforts to match what new entrants are doing.

This upcoming New Year’s Day, agents and brokers should make a resolution to adopt technology that will more easily support customer requirements.

Data mining techniques may be able to more readily identify red flags or spot patterns that suggest fraud, but insurers will still need to rely on data-minded teams to create the algorithms and systems that will detect it and root it out.

Insurers are now ingesting more data than they can swallow from a host of new sources. Making sense of that this mix is just the beginning.

As technology supplants old insurance jobs, new opportunities are available for enterprising individuals.

Not many teams win consistently with an inexperienced quarterback, and the same is true for insurance companies and project managers.

Insurance offers the perfect landscape for robotic process automation (RPA) because of the many repetitive tasks that form standard industry transactions.

Companies are lured in, spending oodles of money on functions and features they don’t really use to their full advantage early on in the transformation process.

As analytical efforts mature at an organization, it becomes increasingly important to build cross-functional teams in which data science is the primary focus and tool.

Although access to markets is more readily available, consumers still seek advice and guidance from agents before making policy decisions.

Carriers should expect some agent skepticism whenever they announce the intent to modernize or replace their core systems, and proactively take steps to improve the acceptance.

There will always be a place for independent agents, but carriers will move forward with those that can leverage technology to provide ongoing value.

DARPA predictions include the possibility that devices or applications will be capable of being launched by human thoughts.

Insurers have never been in a better position to be able to tailor messages or offers to prospects based on their behavior.

Blockchain is likely to play a major role in the reshaping of insurance, but many carriers are still in learning mode.

Truly infusing an insurance organization with data-driven decision-making cannot start with hiring external employees and building stand-alone departments. It must start with frontline employees.

Several large insurers have been asked to rationalize their use of occupation in setting auto insurance rates, reports The Wall Street Journal.

There has been a great deal of press and research released in the last several months that have begun to question the how and the when of the advanced safety systems that have begun to make strides within the market. Specifically, what percent of the overall vehicle fleet/auto claim count now has these systems; how well do these systems work in reducing both loss frequency and costs; and when can the industry expect to see measurable impact in both frequency and costs?

Within companies transitioning to analytics-driven organizations, there are significant opportunities for frontline insurance professionals who can develop their data analytics knowledge and bring data-driven decision-making to their work and effectively collaborate with data scientists.

It's not just for software engineers.

Underwriting is at the core of the insurance business. Its evolution to incorporate other critical functions means that underwriters in the future will be well positioned to contribute greater business value to their companies.

Taking pride in operational excellence speaks volumes to the technology challenges many insurers face as they evaluate aging systems that can’t perform to the customers’ expectations.

Long considered laggards in the digital economy, the insurance industry is beginning to make up for lost time.

UK's Admiral Group quickly scuttles plan to supplement quoting with information from Facebook after privacy concerns raised.

There is clear upside in the evolution of the underwriting function away from its traditional transactional focus toward a more strategic and customer-focused orientation. (Part 1 of a series).

Many carriers are either undergoing or have completed core replacement projects, while at the same time facing a talent crunch.

When it comes to launching an internal startup such as an insurtech operation, a separate organization, with its own culture, is needed.

As big data spreads to more core insurance operations, data scientists will increasingly rely on leaders in traditional insurance roles to identify areas where data analytics and expensive modeling tools can have the greatest impact on business outcomes.

The means used to mount the October 21 attack highlights vulnerabilities that insurers must recognize as they build their IoT plans and initiatives.

Women’s secret to success is in striking a balance between superior performance at work and the ability to network with influencers who can help you.

Companies that don't find incumbents to partner with them face a tough road.

For the first time, we have tangible evidence that insurers and their business partners are willing to do more than “talk the talk” regarding their ability to become a true, innovation-driven industry.

The challenge for insurance companies is that tech talent is a precious commodity, especially at a time when moving into the digital realm and exploiting data analytics is crucial to success.

Broad-based organizational change isn’t easy, but an articulated sense of purpose gives insurers a powerful tool for driving through resistance to change.

The mix of vehicles with autonomous and semi-autonomous features, and the evolution of the artificial intelligence systems guiding the automation, mean insurers are in for a long period of change.

It may be surprising that there was automated underwriting 25 years ago.

For a better customer experience, insurers should take a look at customers' travels through their processes.

Insurer's conversion to Salesforce prevents end users from having to improvise ways to cobble together data.