Insurers must make tech work for them, experts say

With technology rapidly transforming the industry, it's easy for carriers to get caught up in the excitement. But the best tech investments won't lose sight of the business or its people, says Genpact.

Two industry leaders joined Intelligent Insurer to explore how innovation and advanced technologies are transforming the insurance landscape: Shannon Travis, vice president overseeing the technology practice in insurance at Genpact, and Ryan Bradley, vice president of commercial underwriting operations at Donegal Insurance Group.

Insurance carriers worldwide have invested millions of dollars in technology across all lines of business. According to Bradley, these investments present opportunities for organizations to operate more efficiently while creating healthier business outcomes, better customer experiences, and driving profitability.

However, Travis pointed out that each division within an insurance company often seeks its own technological solutions without considering a holistic approach across the enterprise.

As Travis explained, the pace of insurtech innovation means there is always a host of new products, tools, and solutions being launched – a lot of "shiny squirrels," as she put it – and it's easy for carriers to get swept away by the buzz.

A fragmented strategy can lead to inefficiencies as carriers struggle with rapid technological advancements.

"It's tough because so many things come at you as a carrier, and you want to be the best," she explained, adding: "You don't want to miss an opportunity." The vital skill is to be discerning: "Being able to say no is vital sometimes.

"It's about how a carrier can find and utilize the right technology across their whole enterprise and landscape to make them an effective and efficient insurer."

Bradley said it means focusing not on features but on outcomes.

Those aims are achieved by starting not with the technology but with the business and its customers. It's the former that must accommodate the latter, not the other way around, according to Bradley.

"Being able to customize the delivery and experience is essential," he said. "No one wants to be a commodity in this space. They want their business partner or their insurance company to know them."

That will always be the challenge with technology, he said. "Many organizations, particularly in the insurance space today, have struggled to put the whole puzzle together, aligning it with their underwriting discipline, their values as an organization, and the market segmentation."

For Genpact, that means starting with the business and finding the technology to fit its needs.

"As a provider and a partner, we take the time to look at the data and understand the current processes, workflows, and technology," said Travis. That means calling on P&C and change management experts as well as IT teams.

"They pull the whole story together, bringing industry best practices and standardized workflows that tie to the technology the carrier wants to use," she explained. Then, the goals are essentially the same: "Standardize, optimize, and then automate."

The benefit of technology working with the business is making operations more human, not less. Removing manual and nonvaluable tasks should free employees, according to Travis.

"It lets employees focus on the value-added capabilities they bring to the table to support and nurture relationships and focus on the customer experience," she said.

"That helps you start to differentiate yourself as a carrier.

"Everyone says 'AI is going to take our jobs,' but it's not true. The decisions still require people, and they are empowered by input from AI to deliver better outcomes."

As Bradley explained, AI provides the data and insights; the people are best placed to direct it where it will generate the best outcomes, "creating use cases and applications that can be practiced on a daily basis."

In that respect, spending on solutions is not an investment only in technology.

"It's also an investment in the employee experience, empowering them to make tough calls, good choices, and solve problems quickly," he said. "That's really the solution that we are working towards."

The article first appeared in Intelligent Insurer. Michèle Bacchus, associate editor at Intelligent Insurer, interviewed Ryan Bradley, vice president of commercial underwriting operations at Donegal Insurance Group, and Shannon Travis, vice president and global insurance tech leader at Genpact.