That’s what they said about amazon. In fact a 60 minutes reporter expressed disbelief that a bunch of programmers could take down Sears. Here we are. (google that video…it’s on youtube)
I was one of the 6,000 attendees. Here are my takeaways:
While most people thought bots would be a big part of the insurance landscape soon, I would say the consensus was that brokers will still be needed to understand each person’s context and needs, and to navigate a perhaps even larger array of insurance options that are coming. Lawyers and regulators will likely make sure that policies never become easy to read, requiring expertise that the average consumer won’t want to spend time on. However, AI and ML (artificial intelligence and machine learning) have already made reading a policy and summarizing it largely the job of a computer.
Big Data will definitely change underwriting. Global data is growing at an astonishing rate, increasing by a factor of 10 times every couple of years. Insurers will find new ways to underwrite and for some it will be a proprietary competitive edge.
Technology in other fields is moving so fast that historical underwriting won’t work, meaning there are no historical statistics for the new ideas and products. Think drone taxis.
The belief of some Insuretechs that traditional insurance companies are going away seems to be fading as many large insurers now have their own venture capital divisions looking at innovation. Some insuretechs have been humbled by how hard it can be to run a real insurance company.
Agents and brokers will need to become much more professional and educated to survive. The commissioned sales role may disappear entirely.
Profits will also have to play a starring role in the second act, as exuberance alone will not suffice.
That’s what they said about amazon. In fact a 60 minutes reporter expressed disbelief that a bunch of programmers could take down Sears. Here we are. (google that video…it’s on youtube)
I was one of the 6,000 attendees. Here are my takeaways:
While most people thought bots would be a big part of the insurance landscape soon, I would say the consensus was that brokers will still be needed to understand each person’s context and needs, and to navigate a perhaps even larger array of insurance options that are coming. Lawyers and regulators will likely make sure that policies never become easy to read, requiring expertise that the average consumer won’t want to spend time on. However, AI and ML (artificial intelligence and machine learning) have already made reading a policy and summarizing it largely the job of a computer.
Big Data will definitely change underwriting. Global data is growing at an astonishing rate, increasing by a factor of 10 times every couple of years. Insurers will find new ways to underwrite and for some it will be a proprietary competitive edge.
Technology in other fields is moving so fast that historical underwriting won’t work, meaning there are no historical statistics for the new ideas and products. Think drone taxis.
The belief of some Insuretechs that traditional insurance companies are going away seems to be fading as many large insurers now have their own venture capital divisions looking at innovation. Some insuretechs have been humbled by how hard it can be to run a real insurance company.
Agents and brokers will need to become much more professional and educated to survive. The commissioned sales role may disappear entirely.
All good provided that they get the algorithms correct — remember the CDO fiasco!