Promoting better health through digitally enhanced cover insurtechdigital.com
NOVEMBER 2020
THE ROCHE APPROACH Entrepreneurs Gabino and Stephen Roche outline how their company is introducing some much-needed disruption to an inefficient financial system
Insurtech Startups
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FOREWORD
I
nsurance continues to be a stabilis-
‘the art of the possible’ and outlined
ing influence in global communities
why problem-solving is at the heart
ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Far from offering the bare minimum to policyholders, the modern industry is offering smart, customisable and innovative solutions with the capacity to change lives.
of Protective’s business strategy. Containing fresh insights from executives, thought leaders and insurance/ tech industry experts across a range of subjects, we interviewed Sapiens, Majesco, ABBYY, Software AG and
In our cover story this month, entrepre-
many more. This issue explores how to
neurs Gabino and Stephen Roche outline
create a compliant and secure insurance
how their company, Saphyre, is introduc-
firm, learns from SAS what the industry
ing some much-needed disruption to an
effect of analytics platforms has been,
inefficient financial system. Capable of
and counts down our selection of 10
streamlining processes in order to help
leading insurtech startups you should
its clients achieve revenue faster, readers
know about.
will find out about the company’s unique and valuable offering:
Be sure to check out the magazine’s ‘virtual roundtable’ feature, where seven
“We chose to take on this endeavor
experts debate the use, relevance and
because the status quo wasn’t serving
evolution of RPA in modern insurance.
people’s best interests,” explained Stephen. ”We just cut through the bureaucracy and deliver what the client
Will Girling
actually needs.” william.girling@bizclikmedia.com Elsewhere, Jeremy Johnson, CEO of Protective Insurance, enthuses that insurance companies should embrace www.insurtechdigital.com
03
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05
PUBLISHED BY
PRODUCTION DIRECTORS
PROJECT DIRECTORS
Georgia Allen Daniela Kianickovรก
Jake Megeary Jordan Hubbard
PRODUCTION MANAGER SENIOR EDITOR
Owen Martin
Will Girling Rhys Thomas EDITORAL DIRECTOR
Kieran Waite Sam Kemp MARKETING DIRECTOR
Scott Birch
Leigh Manning
CREATIVE TEAM
DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER
Oscar Hathaway Sophia Forte Sophie-Ann Pinnell Hector Penrose
Lewis Vaughan MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR
DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS EDITOR
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Shirin Sadr
James White DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR
Jason Westgate CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
Stacy Norman PRESIDENT & CEO
Glen White
DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE
Evelyn Howat www.insurtechdigital.com
CONTENTS
SOPHISTICATED YET SIMPLE PRE-TRADE ONBOARDING
10
24
38
54 66
74
Insurtech Startups
Driving insurers
digital future into a
At Cognizant, we’ve invested in the end-to-end capabilities needed to help insurance organizations not just do digital, but be digital. We partner with our clients to unlock new value and through the power of digital technologies and new ways of working, we help them evolve into more competitive, progressive versions of themselves. Learn more at Cognizant.com
Copyright Š 2019 Cognizant
92 Vitality
110 Protective Insurance
10
SOPHISTICATED YET SIMPLE PRE-TRADE ONBOARDING WRITTEN BY
WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY
MICHAEL BANYARD
NOVEMBER 2020
11
i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
SAPHYRE
Stephen and Gabino Roche, President and CEO, discuss overcoming risk-aversion in finance and how Saphyre is disrupting an inefficient system
I
n an era of increasing digital sophistication, the extent to which out-dated technologies, techniques and processes
continue to weigh down even the largest companies in finance is surprising. Not content with simply disrupting the pre-trade space with an integrated onboarding platform, Saphyre offers 12
clients an intuitive, easy-to-use experience that belies its sophistication. Founded in 2017, it is an iconoclastic company that desires to break down barriers in a sector easily siloed and fundamentally believes in creating a streamlined and user-friendly alternative that enables customers to generate revenue faster. “I’ve always built technology products from scratch; that’s always been kind of my thing,” states Gabino Roche, CEO. An experienced and successful business-technology leader with 20 years of expertise gained from executive roles at some of the world’s most prestigious organisations, he says that the knowledge gained from these companies regarding product R&D has been invaluable to the development of Saphyre. “I learned
NOVEMBER 2020
13
i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
SAPHYRE
“ I’ve always built technology products from scratch; that’s always been kind of my thing” — Gabino Roche, CEO, Saphyre
what five of the major US banks were doing in this space and then also what their clients in the arena needed.” The process of mapping these two aspects together would prove crucial to the company’s development. Also adding to Saphyre’s strong leadership is Gabino’s brother, Stephen Roche, President. With a background focusing on business development and emerging communications tech, Stephen says that new innovation has always “enthralled” him. “I’ve worked with a
14
lot of Fortune 1000 entities and it’s always been a challenge to introduce new technology: companies always view it and the associated operations as an expense. However, it’s also been a good learning experience because I would help them realize a successful model, and that has allowed me to advise the Saphyre team on how best to allocate resources and grow.” Allowing clients to digitise their emails, faxes and spreadsheets through an accessible platform and powered by ATTOM ((AI Tracking of Transactions and Operational Metadata), its patented artificial intelligence (AI) workflow management NOVEMBER 2020
Speed Your Onboardings CLICK TO WATCH
|
0:41
15 technology, Saphyre integrates data
by focusing on both cost-reduction
sharing, real-time messaging and
and increased revenue, the company
transparency. Developing a successful
has been able to gain attention quickly.
product for pre-trade was an inte-
“Clients can start trading and making
gral part of Saphyre’s development.
money straight away, meanwhile the
However, as Gabino explains, this
custodians are also making money
was only half the battle in establishing
by collecting interest and fees. Our
the company’s place in the market.
overall strategy is to digitize the pre-
“The other half was actually planning
trade space, not just for the benefit
the adoption strategy; how do you
of trading, but also for trading and
get clients, individual users, or even
post-trade.”
institutions to adopt a new technology
Core to Saphyre’s ethos is the idea
that’s never existed before?”
of ‘levelling the playing field’ or, in
A believer in appealing to the “selfish
the company’s own words, “disrupt-
interests of the client”, he relates that,
ing a broken system”; it is adamantly i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
SAPHYRE
16
opposed to the innovation-stifling
Wary that some firms were initially
bureaucracy that permeates so many
reticent to take notice at first because
aspects of finance. “We chose to
of (unrelated) unfruitful tech initia-
take on this endeavor because the
tives that spawned risk-aversiveness,
status quo wasn’t serving people’s
Saphyre’s first mission was to prove
best interests,” explains Stephen.
that it could outperform expectations,
NOVEMBER 2020
which, Stephen continues, it soon did.
designers, and a second team of
“I started with the company in May of
coders, to whom the middle and back-
2017. We released our first product in
office operations are taught in order to
the fall of 2017 and we went live with
establish the appropriate context as
our first client in March of 2018. We
they work. “What that does is structure
just cut through the bureaucracy and
things so that the technology team
deliver what the client actually needs.”
is uninterrupted, and they know what
Maintaining a spirit of innovation
we give them is solid because we’ve
among its staff is also highly important
already validated it several times with
at Saphyre, which it achieves through
our innovation team,” Gabino explains.
genuine employee empowerment and
“Working at some other financial
a dual-layered workforce dynamic: one
institutions three and a half years ago,
team consisting of product managers,
you would never have seen those two
industry experts and user experience
things combined together.”
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Gabino Roche Title: CEO & Co-Founder
Industry: Financial Services
Location: United States Gabino is an experienced and successful business-technology leader with 20 years of expertise gained from executive roles at some of the world’s most prestigious organisations, including McKinsey, AT&T and JP Morgan Chase. “I’ve always built technology products from scratch; that’s always been kind of my thing.” Holding a BSc in Business Management Information Systems from Seton Hall University (1993 to 1998) and an MBA in Global Management from the University of Phoenix (2000 to 2003), he is highly knowledgeable on industry trends, industry-leading approaches and the contemporary needs of clients. i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
17
SAPHYRE
18
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Stephen Roche Title: President & Co-Founder Industry: Financial Services Location: United States Stephen has a background focusing on business development and emerging communications tech. He has acquired a large amount of experience working for AT&T prior to co-founding Saphyre with his brother. “I’ve worked with a lot of Fortune 1000 entities and it’s always been a challenge to introduce new technology. However, it’s also been a good learning experience because I would help them realize a successful model, and that has allowed me to advise the Saphyre team on how best to allocate resources and grow.”
to support a business, that would undermine how advanced our platform really is.” In some respects, market differentiation hasn’t been difficult for Saphyre at all: possessing a portfolio of 48 patents and a unique offering in the pre-trade market, Gabino states that, prior to the company’s formation, there was no competition at all. Therefore, Saphyre’s team has been able to instead focus on raising the digital transformation of pre-trade to a higher standard. “When institutions in the finance space make investments, they invest in trading and post-trade because that’s where the money’s to be made. I’m not suggesting that pre-trade gets ignored, but you’d be Boosting Saphyre’s standing in a
surprised by the amount of Windows
cautious industry has been one of its
95 and legacy infrastructure that still
key challenges, particularly when other
exists out there.”
companies in the space compound the issue by over-promising and underdelivering. “And then, when you have a fintech startup saying, ‘We can do all these things too,’ people might look at our size and question it,” says Stephen. “However, we’re bringing a phenomenal user experience,” Gabino adds, “If we needed to hire armies of people
“ We chose to take on this endeavor because the status quo wasn’t serving people’s best interests” — Stephen Roche, President, Saphyre i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
19
SAPHYRE
“ Our overall strategy is to digitize the pre-trade space, not just for the benefit of trading, but also for trading and post-trade” — Gabino Roche, CEO, Saphyre Any ‘glass ceiling’ that might have impeded Saphyre has been coun20
tenanced by the announcement in mid-September that it had struck a partnership with JP Morgan and BlackRock. Deployed to digitize their account opening workflow, produce
news.” Indeed, the partnership can be
improved scalability and remove
viewed as simultaneously a validation
manual processes, the two companies’
of Saphyre’s value and an illustration
choice to leverage Saphyre’s technol-
of the importance of collaboration, no
ogy has given it a significant credibility
matter how large a financial institution
boost. “We were selected because
might be, a conclusion that Gabino
Saphyre is the only one in this space,
concurs with: “If you try to be the
and [JP Morgan and Blackrock] were
master of many things, you’ll be the
tired of pseudo-monopoly financial
master of none. Saphyre has opted to
firms dealing with 1980s technology or
be the master of one thing, which we
faxing data information,” says Stephen.
do extremely well.”
“It’s our reputation and consistency of execution that has led to this great NOVEMBER 2020
Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic relatively unfazed, owing
21
S A P HY RE’S SU PP O RT
Saphyre’s new partners have been vocal in their support for the company: “Saphyre has been instrumental in transforming the account opening experience for our clients. J.P. Morgan was an early adopter of Saphyre and is now live in production after successfully testing its value proposition for over 6 months,” said Naveen TV, Managing Director, JP Morgan’s Securities Services.
“With powerful workflow features and enhanced visibility into the account opening lifecycle, Saphyre has enabled BlackRock to eliminate manual processes to support the account opening workflow across custodians and broker-dealers,” commented Liliane Ancona, Managing Director, BlackRock. The full details of Saphyre’s momentous partnership with JP Morgan and BlackRock can be found here.
i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
SAPHYRE
22
to its high-tech operational infrastructure, Gabino even posits that certain aspects of the business, such as setting up meetings, may have become easier. “Traditionally, I would have to fly across the world, go to people’s offices, make pitches, etc. Now, relying on Zoom and Microsoft Teams, I’m actually more busy because I don’t have to allocate that additional travel NOVEMBER 2020
“ If you try to be the master of many things, you’ll be the master of none. Saphyre has opted to be the master of one thing, which we do extremely well” — Gabino Roche, CEO, Saphyre
23
time; I’ve got meetings back-to-back.”
streamline the entire experience and
Subsequently, Saphyre has been
make it more user friendly,” concludes
able to concentrate on its mission
Gabino. “In the world today everything
for 2021: eliminating 70% of manual
is siloed, but we’re breaking down
post-trade activities, a complement to
those walls and bringing it all together.”
its uncontested work in the pre-trade space and demonstrating its holistic, end-to-end grasp of the trade process. “Our model is sophisticated yet simple; we’re constantly exploring how to i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y
24
NOVEMBER 2020
WHAT DOES CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY MEAN FOR DIGITISED INSURANCE? WRITTEN BY
WILL GIRLING
i nsur te c hdi gi t a l. com
25
D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y
InsurTech Digital consults executives from Sapiens, Majesco and Kin Insurance on how to achieve optimal customer-centricity in the digitised industry
26
W
hile the utilisation of technology among individual companies is currently a significant differentiator in the insurance world, this isn’t to
say that it’ll forever be the case. As the tech
factor becomes more even across the board, insurers may find that customer-centricity is one of the easiest and most valuable ways to distinguish themselves. The quantifiable metrics for great service include the speed of resolution, the quality of solution, transparency and simplicity of processes, and cost. Furthermore, despite technology alone being unlikely to drive value, in combination with customer-centricity it could be leveraged to enrich the service experience through digitised distribution and communication, enhanced customer interactions (such as via social media), and
NOVEMBER 2020
27
“ If you don’t nail customer-centricity and provide the expectations your customers expect, you risk losing them” — Colleen Wells, Vice President of Strategy, Sapiens i nsur te c hdi gi t a l. com
From Inspiration
to Innovation
To know more, visit us at www.capgemini.com.au/insurance or email us at capgemini.marketing.au@capgemini.com
Insurance made social - making customer-centric a reality CLICK TO WATCH
|
5:55
29
ing automation (AI, RPA, chatbots, etc).
IS CUSTOMER-SERVICE THE GREAT DIFFERENTIATOR?
All of these factors suggest that
BCG outlines three core aspects
automated service enhancements utilis-
insurtech is geared to address the
of customer service in its article
enduring pain point of the industry.
‘Customer-centricity in insurance’,
Therefore, a significant question is
namely speed, quality and transpar-
posed: are policyholders receiving
ency. “Meeting these basic expecta-
a truly 21st-century insurance experi-
tions serves as the foundation for
ence? To help us find the answer, we
strong customer satisfaction, but
spoke to three sector leaders: Colleen
it also enhances operations,” the
Wells, Vice President of Strategy at
company said. Insurtech’s digitally-
Sapiens; Lucas Ward, Co-Founder,
enhanced delivery could generally be
President and CTO of Kin Insurance;
summarised as improving these core
and Denise Garth, Senior Vice President
metrics in ways previously unavail-
of Strategic Marketing at Majesco.
able or unexplored. Mobile apps and i nsur te c hdi gi t a l. com
D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y
30
automated processes mean that insur-
consumers stated they would happily
ance can be bought in seconds and
pay more for a product or service if
claims can be processed in minutes.
their experience was exceptional. On
Keen to throw off perceptions that
the flip side of that coin, 26% stated
insurance is dull, complicated or
that they would shop around for bet-
unnecessary, startups are proving
ter deals or more personalised ser-
through better customer service that
vices.” The lesson here is that profits
this is no longer the case.
and good customer service are
The question of whether customer-
intrinsically linked. This is an elemen-
centricity and technology have equal
tary but nonetheless valid evaluation,
or disparate value can be polarising.
but does that necessarily mean that
Wells is emphatic that focusing
insurance should prioritise its devel-
on customers is unequivocally
opment over technology?
more important, “If you don’t nail
Ward contends that this is not
customer-centricity and provide the
the case, “I’d argue that the two are
expectations your customers expect,
inseparable. Technology exists to
you risk losing them. A recent PwC
make our lives easier, so, by exten-
survey revealed that nearly 75% of
sion, customers have to be the centre of technology. It has to measurably benefit them and anticipate their needs.” Garth adds more nuance by stating that a generation change is fundamentally at the heart of the matter. “In insurance, as with many other industries, these changes are rapidly being embraced, with digitalnative generations leading the way, including Millennials and Generation Z. The viability of the insurance industry is vitally connected to the
NOVEMBER 2020
Colleen Wells, Vice President of Strategy, Sapiens Wells has been in the insurance space for over 15 years. Primarily responsible for global digital product strategy for Sapiens’ North America P&C space, she is passionate about the future of the insurance industry and enjoys contributing towards the evolution of the company.
Lucas Ward, Co-Founder, President and CTO, Kin Insurance Priding himself as being a ‘builder’, Ward has been
31
involved in the founding of two companies, of which Kin Insurance is the latest. Holding a BSc in Computer Science from Southeast Missouri State University (2000 to 2004), his knowledge of the tech sector has been developed by roles at Accenture and ThoughtWorks.
Denise Garth, Snr Vice President of Strategic Marketing, Majesco Garth is responsible for leading strategy, marketing, industry relations and innovation in support of Majesco’s client-centric strategy. Possessing extensive experience within insurance, she is also a recognised insurtech influencer and industry leader adept at strategic thinking and international speaking, and has authored many articles on thought leadership, key issues and opportunities facing the industry today.
i nsur te c hdi gi t a l. com
D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y
“ Technology exists to make our lives easier, so, by extension, customers have to be the centre of technology” — Lucas Ward, Co-Founder, President and CTO, Kin Insurance
customer; if we lose touch with our customers, both current and future, 32
we lose business.”
HOW CAN INSURERS BUILD ENDURING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS? Successfully using customer service as a key differentiator often hinges on
technology simplifies every part of
selecting and developing a personal-
insurance, from quote to claims, so
isable aspect of the experience. For
our customers can save money on
Kin Insurance, Ward states that the
essential coverage and have the help
company demonstrates a willingness
they need to recover quickly from a loss.”
to ‘go above and beyond the call of
The company also involves customers
duty’ using its technology to do what
by sharing the underwriting profits with
other, less digitally-advanced insurers
them directly, creating a dynamic, deep
cannot. “While other insurance compa-
and incentivised relationship.
nies don’t operate in Florida because
Deepening customer relationships
of its hurricanes, we do because
is a core business concept, and this is
that’s where the need is highest. Our
equally true for policyholders and the
NOVEMBER 2020
33
tech companies that support insur-
of today’s consumers.” The long-term
ers themselves. “At Sapiens, we think
sustainability of customer relation-
of our insurers as being more akin
ships must also be considered. Far
to partners with whom we’re in this
from being a simple consideration,
digital transformation and changing
it can ultimately have a profound
market together,” says Wells. “Our
impact on a company’s structure,
products enable insurers to provide
operational philosophy and future
their customers with a modern, digital
development. Garth explains,
platform that offers flexibility, agility
“Majesco’s customer relationships
and customisation, exactly what
are built on a long-standing expertise
insurers require in order to factor in
in core insurance market solutions
market changes and the demands
across Property & Casualty (P&C) i nsur te c hdi gi t a l. com
D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y
and Life/Annuities, which has only
needs should be given high priority.
expanded with our digital, data and
“We put technology at the centre of
analytics, and distribution manage-
our product development so we can
ment solutions. Our sales, client
move fast and respond to changing
partner, product and delivery teams
needs,” states Ward. “For example, in
work with customers to not just meet
2019, a Florida mobile home insurer
today’s needs, but also to prepare for
went insolvent and left 30,000 mobile
tomorrow’s. Majesco also provides a
homeowners on the verge of losing
range of valuable content and points
their coverage. My team subsequently
of view through our thought leadership,
built the infrastructure that makes
blogs and webinars to help them shape
it possible to add and launch a new
their journey to the future of insurance.”
product in weeks. That’s the big difference between us and other insurers:
34
CONFIGURING PRODUCTS TO MEET MODERN INSURANCE NEEDS
we have the full tech stack that lets us
The traditional insurance market and
As a tech provider, Garth says,
its typical business model is rapidly
Majesco’s purpose is to connect each
becoming obsolete. Assembly line
party in the insurance process as con-
products with ‘one-size-fits-all’ char-
veniently as possible, the importance
acteristics are no longer appealing to
of which can often be overlooked.
customers when innovative insurtechs
“The point is not merely the means of
like Lemonade and Hippo can cus-
production,” she continues, “but the
tomise and cost services for individual
means of connection, and the result
needs. Product flexibility has taken
is not just an increase in customer
on even greater importance in the
expectations but rather an expansion
post-COVID-19 world, where a multitude
of market boundaries.” As such, insur-
of different customer circumstances
ers on the whole (not just insurtechs)
are altering the nature of risk manage-
may soon come to regard themselves
ment. Counteracting this effect and
as “technology companies provid-
configuring products to meet modern
ing insurance” instead of vice versa.
NOVEMBER 2020
respond to real-time market needs.”
35
“ The point [of technology] is not merely the means of production, but the means of connection" — Denise Garth, Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing, Majesco
i nsur te c hdi gi t a l. com
D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y
36
The technologies that facilitate this
customer-centricity. COVID-19 has
transformation are significant. AI (arti-
forced insurance to rapidly go digital,
ficial intelligence) and ML (machine
and the traditionally slow-moving
learning) algorithms leveraging large
industry saw many providers unpre-
streams of collected data enable
pared.” Any of insurance’s more ata-
insurers to know their customers in
vistic tendencies are compounded
comprehensively more detail than
by customer experiences that have
previously possible. “Insurers are the
been biased by ecommerce plat-
kings of data and being able to use
forms such as Amazon, Alibaba and
and aggregate it facilitates smarter,
Shopify. The future of insurance,
better-informed decisions,” adds
then, clearly lies in developing an
Wells. “The cloud and managed
intuitive digital service that meets
services are also now crucial to
similar expectations.
NOVEMBER 2020
“ Kin has built a blueprint that proves technology is the driving force in creating a more customer-centric insurance company" — Lucas Ward, Co-Founder, President and CTO, Kin Insurance
Garth states that Majesco is focusing on customer research in order to gain an understanding of their needs, “Listening to customers has never been more essential to sustainable growth than it is today. They care about where they are served, when they are served, how they are served, who is serving them, and what changes are happening with products and services.” Garth
PROMOTING BETTER CUSTOMER OUTCOMES
that capitalises on insurance’s opportu-
The complementary nature of customer-
nity to redefine the insurer-policyholder
centricity and digital technology within
relationship. Ward views Kin Insurance
insurance appears to be well-founded,
as being emblematic of this ‘renais-
but how can businesses use this
sance’ for the industry, a revitalisation
knowledge to achieve better out-
led by startups but, he believes, soon to
comes for their customers? Wells
be joined by more incumbents. “Kin has
emphasises that digital transformation
built a blueprint that proves technology
is as much about ‘culture’ than the
is the driving force in creating a more
underlying technology that facilitates
customer-centric insurance company.”
it. “That’s proven to be hard for many,
Finally, he concludes with a call to
urges for bold and visionary leadership
but, here at Sapiens, we see and
arms which places the old/new divide
understand the value it brings across
in sharp contract: “Customer satisfac-
our products, to our insurers and their
tion with home insurance companies is
customers.” To keep this cultural
shamefully low; the insurance industry’s
aspect in check, Sapiens has built a
NPS (net promoter score) average is 35
team of 350 staff dedicated to inves-
(on a scale of -100 to 100), yet Kin has
tigating the latest trends in order to
an NPS of 84. That indicates how we’re
provide insurers with optimal advice.
making a real difference.” i nsur te c hdi gi t a l. com
37
TECHNOLOGY
38
NOVEMBER 2020
39
AWAKENING INSURANCE TO THE BENEFITS OF RPA WRITTEN BY
WILL GIRLING in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
TECHNOLOGY
Consulting seven company executives, thought leaders and tech experts, we conduct a virtual roundtable on RPA’s place within modern insurance
A
technology that is invaluable for automating process-driven tasks, the application of robotic process automation (RPA) in insur-
ance could be highly significant as the sector moves towards more digitally sophisticated and customercentric operations. Capable of introducing innovation to a centuries-old industry, the adoption of RPA could ultimately alleviate human workers from the burden of repetitive administrative tasks, and enable them to 40
focus more on qualitative work, product customisation, and overall service optimisation. Insurance-specific processes that could benefit from RPA include:
• •
Underwriting
•
Claims
Sales and distribution
•
•
Analytics
Regulatory compliance
However, despite its potential, the industry has historically been poor at making use of and integrating new technology. This could be due to many factors, including regulatory restrictions which mean that all changes must be strictly assessed before they are implemented. Also, as with all technological innovations, RPA must be integrated intelligently with pre-existing systems that serve a quantifiable purpose. If done correctly, Capgemini surmises, the NOVEMBER 2020
41
operational gains can be significant. “Unlike traditional automation, RPA has the potential to boost an insurer’s overall operational effectiveness with less investment, shorter cycle time, and higher short-term business value.� To explore how human and artificial intelligence can be optimally combined, in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
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the insurance-specific use-cases of RPA and its wider benefits (both in the present and potentially the future), InsurTech Digital consulted a broad range of executives, technology experts and thought leaders. They were: Jason Wilby, Co-Founder of Open Insurance; Chris Huff, Chief Strategy Officer of Kofax; Cathal
can play an important role in keeping
McGloin, CEO of ServisBOT; Elaine
organisations lean and agile in the unpre-
Mannix, Global Insurance Lead of
dictable post-COVID-19 landscape.
UiPath; Neil Murphy, Global VP of
Furthermore, the pandemic has left an
ABBYY; Monica Spigner, Executive
indelible mark on the industry; the chal-
VP of Business Transformation at
lenge of meeting difficult targets during
Teleperformance; and Simon Shaw,
the height of the lockdown has led to
Head of Financial Services and
an accelerated awakening among com-
Insurance at Software AG.
pany executives regarding the benefits
In general, our interviewees believed
of automation.
that insurance’s reservations about
Although it would be a mistake to
RPA were explained by a combination
consider this mass re-evaluation the
of scepticism towards new technology,
final step of insurance’s developmen-
a traditionally conservative industry
tal journey, there are many reasons
culture, and negative experiences
to anticipate that a more general
from previous tech-based endeavours.
acceptance of RPA and automation
The benefits of overcoming this bias,
technology is close at hand. What
they claim, include cost reductions,
follows is a selection of answers pro-
enhanced scalability, and a significantly
vided by our interviewees.
improved customer experience. The
NOTE: All statistics provided are
flexibility of RPA, which includes both
the commentators’ own, unless other-
front office and back office functions,
wise cited in-text. in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
43
TECHNOLOGY
A B O U T T HE GU EST S Neil Murphy, Global VP, ABBYY Murphy is the Vice President for Global Business Development at ABBYY. He specialises in helping organisations transform their manually intensive business processes using the latest innovations in machine learning, intelligent OCR (optical character recognition) and RPA (robotic process automation).
Chris Huff, Chief Strategy Officer, Kofax As Chief Strategy Officer, Huff develops and drives Kofax’s global ‘Intelligent Automation’ growth strategy, thought leadership and internal cross-functional alignment. Prior to
44
joining Kofax in 2018, he led Deloitte Consulting’s U.S. Public Sector Intelligent Automation/RPA practice, was CEO of a hypergrowth startup and served as a Major in the US Marine Corps.
Jason Wilby, Co-Founder, Open Insurance Open is a financial services company aiming to build one of the most powerful contemporary insurance platforms available. Co-founded in 2016 by Wilby, he leads the continual development of its product and drives Open’s growth plans.
Cathal McGloin, Founder and CEO, ServisBOT McGloin founded ServiceBOT in 2017 to automate customer and employee-facing processes through the use of AI to achieve specific business outcomes.
NOVEMBER 2020
Elaine Mannix, Global Insurance Lead, UiPath Mannix is an expert at solving old challenges in new ways. Specifically, she helps insurance customers understand the value of hyper-automation in achieving their strategic goals. She has over 20 years of industry experience, which she combines with practical knowledge acquired from running an ‘Automation Centre of Excellence’.
Simon Shaw, Head of Financial Services and Insurance, Software AG Shaw has over 20 years of experience helping financial services customers meet ever-changing consumer expectations. In his current role at Software AG, he works with banking
45
and insurance clients across the UK and Ireland to reduce the time and cost of transactions, control the quality of mobile banking app development, and create transparency through process documentation.
Monica Spigner, Executive Vice President of Business Transformation, Teleperformance Spigner’s role at Teleperformance covers the US, UK, Canada, the Philippines and South Africa. She empowers teams to harness transformational tools and technologies, such as automation, analytics insights and journey mapping, to drive continued group transformation and growth. Spigner’s expensive career has involved guiding businesses through strategic planning and transformation, as well as establishing guidelines for operational excellence.
in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
TECHNOLOGY
46
Q: R PA AND AUTOMATION GENERALLY COULD BE HIGHLY APPLICABLE TO INSURANCE. HISTORICALLY, WHY DO YOU THINK THE INDUSTRY HAS BEEN SLOW TO ADOPT NEW TECHNOLOGIES?
same concerns, with 0% of US decisionmakers being nervous about RPA. This chimes with the pressure faced by UK businesses when automating their most important processes. In insurance, improving customer experience is seen as the most helpful use case for RPA
Neil Murphy: Scepticism of RPA is a key
(52%), but is also proving the most chal-
factor in the UK, with business leaders
lenging to automate (41%). The majority
in the insurance industry wondering
(52%) see it as the most pressing.
if it is worth the investment (33%) and being nervous about the new technology
Jason Wilby: For many years, insur-
(17%). These nerves are markedly higher
ance firms have taken a conservative
than in other countries: 0% of confident
approach to technology. Large and safe
French decision-makers shared the
organisations by nature, they haven’t
NOVEMBER 2020
had the ingredients to be innovation-
Cathal McGloin: A recent Information
ready and it’s been this level of caution
Services Group (ISG) survey [read
that’s stunted the attitude to innovate.
BizClik Media’s profile of ISG here] found
However, we’re starting to see signs of
that large insurers have focused on cost
change; we’re at the beginning of a new
reduction rather than winning more
age for the insurance industry.
customers. The ability to scale to serve more customers more cost-effectively
Chris Huff: Automation is extremely
is a critical factor for sustaining profit-
applicable to the insurance industry,
ability in the sector, and this is where
yet the industry involves a lot of data
automation comes into its own. This is
flowing in and out of various, rarely con-
set to change, with 61.5% of insurance
nected systems. People sit in the middle
firms telling ISG that they plan to invest
catching data, only to turn around and
in digital customer experience and
input it into another system. Very inef-
46.2% planning to increase investment
ficient! Give a citizen developer the right
in data, machine learning and AI.
integrated automation platform and they could design an RPA robot with Capture and Workflow in less than a day. Most industries innovate and invest when necessary, but, otherwise, they sit on legacy estate tools and processes as long as practically possible. However, this is without realising the opportunities for better products and services lost through lack of innovation. This generally comes down to a company’s culture: if we look at the heads of many of these long-standing institutions, they often lack the vibrancy and energy needed to innovate with advanced technologies. in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
47
TECHNOLOGY
Q: H OW WOULD YOU SUMMARISE THE KEY OPERATIONAL BENEFITS OF RPA WITHIN INSURANCE? Cathal McGloin: RPA can reduce cost and improve scalability. It can also increase revenues and customer satisfaction scores by automating and personalising repetitive processes and providing paths to self-service, which ultimately minimises the manual steps that are handled by humans. Tasks such as document upload and 48
validation are repetitive steps which can be automated in favour of focusing on higher-value tasks. Going back
Monica Spigner: By harnessing the
to the ISG survey findings, this type
efficiency granted by RPA, insurers can
of automation allows insurers to add
streamline manual processes and expe-
more customers and serve them at
rience a 40% reduction in the cost of
scale, rather than continually cutting
fault case management. From the back
costs, which is not sustainable in the
to the front office, insurers are witness-
longer term.
ing a domino effect from the positive changes being made throughout their
Jason Wilby: The key benefit we see
business operations, resulting in agents
is a significantly improved customer
and advisors having more time available
experience. RPA technology lends
to focus on more complex cases.
itself to faster, more accurate decision-making that’s running 24/7, and
Chris Huff: Insurance companies need
enables greater accessibility through
to rethink how and where they deploy
a few clicks.
human resources. Cross-functional
SEPTEMBER 2020
49 teams, where technology and opera-
and answers delivered in real-time.
tions work together to understand
Automation solutions can remove fric-
and deliver customer preferences and
tion from the customer experience by
expectations, should be considered.
automating repetitive routine tasks
The outcome for those that make this
for staff, protect document integrity,
shift could be a noticeable uptick in
and accelerate the process with less
business agility, thereby allowing
human intervention. RPA alone cannot
them to improve speed-to-market
address the insurance’s challenges
and reallocate operational savings to
without the industry itself having a
investment areas that reduce costs
strong grasp on the processes them-
and improve profitability.
selves. But, once businesses have their processes in order, they can
Neil Murphy: Today’s insurance
amplify the power of automation,
customers are more tech-savvy,
increase efficiencies and boost ROI
demanding personalised services
(return on investment). in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
TECHNOLOGY
Q: W HAT ARE SOME SPECIFIC USECASES FOR RPA’S DEPLOYMENT IN INSURANCE?
an ‘always-on’ function. So, for example, a claims manager can be notified if an anomalous number of claims have been made, or that payment cycles are taking
Simon Shaw: RPA use-cases broadly
longer than they should. Those same
fall into two categories: finding things or
teams are now able to make decisions
executing things. Operational efficiency
instead of spending all their time search-
is at the front of people’s minds right
ing for information.
now, which makes these use-cases
50
particularly relevant. Gone are the days
Monica Spigner: To adapt to today’s
when teams of people could sit down
ever-changing market conditions,
to identify process improvements or
Teleperformance is actively re-engi-
new operating models; it takes too long.
neering insurance processes through
RPA removes the need to constantly
automation. The company leverages a
be ‘on the lookout’ for improvements.
suite of intelligent solutions throughout
Proactive process discovery can be
the credit risk lifecycle, to assist insurers and enable their employees to perform tasks in a quicker, smarter, and more accurate manner. By streamlining the intake of claims, automating the underwriting process and monitoring fraudulent activity, Teleperformance simplifies, standardises, and automates business processes to identify potential issues for customers before they can even take place. In the midst of the pandemic, the Group is also prioritising the automation of claims management applications to help insurers process claims in seconds instead of hours.
NOVEMBER 2020
to automate a process that required employees to talk to brokers on the phone to locate particular transactions. This used to take five minutes, but, working with RPA, the same transaction can be finished in 20 seconds. Neil Murphy: ABBYY’s solutions have been used by leading German insurance broker Ecclesia Group to significantly Elaine Mannix: Historically, UiPath’s
reduce time spent on claims processing,
insurance customers tackled back-
enabling them to focus on optimising
office processes such as claims and
customer service. Claims operations
finance and accounting on an ad-hoc,
require staff to spend extensive periods
tactical basis. Recently, however, there
of time collecting, reviewing, scanning
has been a shift to a more strategic view
and distributing both paper and digital
in which insurance firms are beginning
claims documents, making it difficult to
to see hyper-automation as a ‘must-have’
keep up with customer expectations.
capability for transformation. There is
This time could’ve been spent on more
a growing trend to augment roles by
high-value responsibilities, such as set-
creating digital assistants with RPA.
tling claims for customers quicker. By
Firms are investing in attended robots
utilising ABBYY’s digital intelligence
to do a lot of the heavy lifting for under-
solutions, Ecclesia was able to stream-
writers, claims officers and actuaries.
line the claims process by enhancing
As a result, they are freeing up 5%+
the accuracy of document processing
capacity within these roles. For example,
and delivering faster processing times.
one large European insurance group
This meant insurance staff could spend
utilises its UiPath robotic workforce to
less time on paperwork and more time
streamline operations and deliver more
working closely with the business and
value-added services. They chose
its customers. in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
51
TECHNOLOGY
Q: I N YOUR OPINION, HAS COVID-19 ACCELERATED INTEREST IN AUTOMATION? 52
ensuring processes run as smoothly as possible. Elaine Mannix: COVID-19 has put a lot
Simon Shaw: At a time when we’re all
of strain on the insurance industry and
conducting many aspects of our per-
UiPath has seen an acceleration in the
sonal lives online, the absence of digital
adoption of RPA as a result. For those
insurance services negatively impacts
that already had this capability, they
the customer experience. Insurance
used it to support the virtual mobilisation
leaders are aware of this, with research
of their workforce. Others used their
revealing that over 80% believe digital
software robots to handle the increase
disruption will transform their customer
in customer demand on various channels
interactions. For example, Lloyds of
from emails, contact centres or chatbots.
London closed its underwriting room in
This success has grabbed the attention
March for the first time in its 330-year
of C-suite executives who were caught
history as a result of the pandemic. It is
out with less than resilient business con-
reopening, but with capacity reduced to
tinuity plans. Their eyes have opened to
45% in order to adhere to social distanc-
how quick and easy these deployments
ing. RPA and other automation tools will
can be, and many are now exploring it
help to facilitate the return to ‘normal’,
for the future.
NOVEMBER 2020
simultaneously easing pressure on call centres. Neil Murphy: While it’s true that the pandemic has accelerated the plans for many companies to reduce their reliance on sub-optimal processes and manual tasks, just investing in RPA is not the end of a business’ automation story. Right now, many business leaders Cathal McGloin: At the start of lock-
still don’t know much about the AI
down, travel and insurance companies
behind the human and its potential to
saw a four-fold increase in incoming
transform their business. This needs
customer calls, as people desperately
to change.
53
sought advice on whether they were covered for lost holidays and cancelled
Chris Huff: Without a doubt, COVID-19
events. At the same time, customer
has accelerated a ‘digital awakening’
service agents were adjusting to work-
among boards and C-suites. The days
ing from home and struggling to meet
where point solutions like RPA were
demand. This created an urgent require-
given months and years to scale are over.
ment for companies to explore new
Boards are demanding a holistic digital
ways to handle sudden spikes in call vol-
transformation strategy that uses inte-
umes that threaten to overwhelm staff.
grated automation platforms with robust
Those organisations that had already
ecosystems to drive efficiency gains
started using conversational AI and RPA
and delight their customers. Given all
were able to rapidly set up automated
the disparate data, systems, and the
workflows to deflect calls from the IVR
new dislocated workforce, digital work-
(interactive voice response). These auto-
flows serve as the connective tissue and
mated systems provided customers with
new digital frontier for businesses seek-
timely resolutions to their queries, while
ing a competitive edge. in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
CLOUD & CYBER
54
HOW TO CREATE A COMPLIANT AND SECURE INSURANCE FIRM WRITTEN BY
WILL GIRLING
NOVEMBER 2020
55
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NOVEMBER 2020
Using expert insights from Capgemini and kompany, we determine the best way to maintain a compliant and digitally secure presence in insurance
A
s insurance becomes increasingly digitised, regtechs are gaining prominence as guardians of IT security. Consisting not simply of ‘cyber defense’ programmes in
this context, but rather the methods by which an insurer can remain fully compliant with regulations at all times, IT security for the industry has reached a difficult stage in its development. As the landscape continues to shift and old protocols no longer hold true, InsurTech Digital sought out information on how companies are using pioneering technologies
– including blockchain, data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation – to eliminate cyber threats and enhance the customer experience through improved transparency. Providing guidance on how insurance companies can enact the highest standards of IT security are Chris Heaven, Global Head of Cybersecurity Go to Market (GTM) at Capgemini, and Russell E. Perry, Founder and CEO of Austrian regtech platform ‘kompany’.
i nsur te c hdi gi t a l. com
57
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59
A THREE-STEP ROADMAP FOR ENABLING SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE
today also tend to base their business
Before discussing a solution, we must
verification on outdated, inefficient and
first identify how the contemporary
manual KYB (know your business) pro-
insurance industry’s security issues
cesses that, on top of everything else,
first arose. Something that Heaven
offer a poor experience for their clients.”
and Perry both point out is insurers’
These problems are the relics of an
tendency to employ external security
older industry where legacy tech had
experts to undertake expensive and
not yet been supplanted by pioneering
time-consuming audits on key pro-
digital alternatives. As such, the road
cesses like underwriting. This practice
map for modernisation involves a thor-
can be prohibitively expensive for
ough reassessment of five essential
SMBs (small-medium businesses) and
insurance aspects: client acquisition,
ultimately yields an unsatisfactorily
underwriting, portfolio monitoring, post-
shallow impression of a company’s IT
claim support and value-added services.
posture. Perry adds, “Most companies
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60
STEP ONE: CLIENT ACQUISITION AND UNDERWRITING
that used to take days or even weeks
Key solution: AI and automation
is now reduced to minutes. This
The data-rich nature of the insurance
approach can be deployed at scale
industry makes it perfect for optimisa-
and also drives down the cost of acqui-
tion via AI and automation. With the
sition.” Perry states that kompany
capacity to improve not just the front-
has undergone this transformation
office but the back-office too, insurers
firsthand: “Having started by optimis-
have the opportunity to assess risk
ing data access via our Live Search
and perform the underwriting process
network, we are now using AI to make
using client-sourced data and globally-
this data more manageable. Where
sourced data (i.e. news, market reports,
shareholder records are inconsistently
police notifications, etc). Furthermore,
collected or stored, AI-based software
esoteric sources like the dark web can
structures this data, therefore facilitat-
provide invaluable indicators of past
ing risk officers’ tasks significantly.”
of a policy,” says Heaven. “A process
and future security compromises. “By combining these two views, insurers can calculate a risk score with which to price and define terms
“ Most companies today [...] tend to base their business verification on outdated, inefficient and manual KYB processes” — Russell E. Perry, CEO, kompany
NOVEMBER 2020
61
It should be noted that both com-
credibility or value. AI and automation
mentators still expect a degree of
can certainly assist in keeping knowl-
physical auditing to persist. However,
edge of risk points up-to-date, but the
this will be complemented and
benefits of close collaboration between
enhanced by automation.
insurers/insurtechs and regtechs cannot be overstated.
STEP TWO: PORTFOLIO MONITORING AND POST-CLAIM SUPPORT
automatically assess regulation and
Key solution: close collaboration
compliance during the acquisition
with regtechs
and policyholder monitoring phases
A central characteristic of threats to
against existing and emerging stand-
security and compliance is their volatility;
ards. This is crucial as compliance
risk assessment must be an ever-chang-
adherence is also becoming a manda-
ing process if it is to retain accuracy,
tory condition of business outside
“These companies [regtechs] can
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62
the financial regulated sector,” states
proprietary network to over 200 coun-
Heaven. “The best way to guarantee the
tries and jurisdictions.”
veracity of data is to take it directly and
By working closely with regtechs
in real-time from the primary source,”
operating in this way, insurers
says Perry. “In kompany’s case this
can bolster the integrity of their
means official commercial registers
decision-making during the claims
and financial and tax authorities them-
process by utilising time-stamped
selves, leveraged through our global
and audit-proof information.
NOVEMBER 2020
STEP THREE: VALUE-ADDED SERVICES
that these checks have taken place,
Key solution: blockchain
streamlining the process for busi-
While technology is crucial to offer-
nesses and customers alike. While
ing customers a modern experience,
business verification automation has
it is often the culture in which it is
always made sound sense, the COVID-
deployed that differentiates a com-
19 situation has acted as a clarion
pany from its competitors. IT secu-
call for companies to accelerate their
rity is an additional avenue that can
digitisation efforts following the sig-
be valuably exhibited to garner trust
nificant increase in business fraud and
and loyalty from the public, while
supplier/vendor failure.”
also reducing the risk of a claim being made in the first place.
A culture of openness on the topic of security and compliance, claims
“And a step beyond accessibility
Heaven, is something all insurance
and manageability is accountability,”
companies should embrace if they
explains Perry. “kompany’s new
want to create trust and lower risk
blockchain-based product, ‘KYC
simultaneously. “The client experience
onchain’, creates an immutable record
can be enhanced by sharing insights
“These companies [regtechs] can automatically assess regulation and compliance during the acquisition and policyholder monitoring phases against existing and emerging standard” — Chris Heaven, Global Head of Cybersecurity GTM, Capgemini
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CLOUD & CYBER
64
“ There is no reason that insurers can’t turn the ‘burden’ of maintaining IT security into an asset for gaining a competitive advantage” NOVEMBER 2020
on their security posture, thus enabling continuous improvement and plugging security gaps. Policyholder onboarding should preferably include training to improve cyber awareness, including what to do in the event of an attack.”
CONCLUSION “IT security will need to keep pace with the evolving threat landscape and how it relates to both the compliance needs of the business and/or the risk appetite the organisation has adopted,” 65
Heaven says. Indeed, as previously discussed, security and compliance will forever remain an ongoing process and never a fully-realised state of being. However, by following these three steps, insurers can build a faster, more efficient and ultimately more compliant business than ever before (kompany estimates a 50% reduction in costs and 90% less time wasted). Taking these factors into consideration, there is no reason that insurers can’t turn the ‘burden’ of maintaining IT security into an asset for gaining a competitive advantage.
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FIVE-MINUTE EXPERT INSIGHTS ON ANALYTICS PLATFORMS WRITTEN BY
WILL GIRLING
SEPTEMBER 2020
67
in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
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INSURTECH DIGITAL ASKED NORMAN BLACK, EMEA INSURANCE SOLUTIONS DIRECTOR AT SAS, TO DESCRIBE THE EFFECT THAT DATA ANALYTICS HAS HAD ON INSURANCE
A
lthough gathering high-quality data is foundational to innovation, how an insurer subsequently chooses to ‘unlock’ the
value within it is considerably more consequential. Therefore, the value of an analytics platform lies in its capacity for quantifying risk and pricing accordingly, 68
organising the claims process and identifying emerging customer patterns or trends. Norman Black, EMEA Insurance Solutions Director at SAS, kindly provided us with his insights on the company’s own software and how these platforms are reshaping decision-making, mitigating risk and driving productivity generally. Primarily helping insurers get the most from their analytic investments, Black advises SAS on business and technology trends within insurance and helps steer future development. He holds more than 30 years of cumulative experience in the global insurance sector and has led major transformation programmes in a number of European insurance companies, as well as guiding the development of product configuration solutions for businesses in Japan, the US and South Africa.
NOVEMBER 2020
69
in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
A I & D ATA
“ Data analytics has radically transformed the industry by allowing insurers to enrich the customer experience at all points of the policy lifecycle” — Norman Black, EMEA Insurance Solutions Director, SAS
• Helps actuaries and underwriters
to more accurately assess risk and respond to complex and shifting regulatory and compliance demands (e.g.,
Q: How would you summarise the effect that data analytics has had on the insurance industry? 70
IFRS 17, Solvency II, LTDI).
• Empowers investigational units to detect, prevent and even predict fraud.
• Allows insurance to extract more value
A: Data analytics has radically trans-
from large and growing data troves
formed the industry by allowing insurers
made available through artificial intel-
to enrich the customer experience at all
ligence (AI), machine learning, internet
points of the policy lifecycle, from policy
of things (IoT) and more.
inception through to claims processing. More specifically:
• It enables insurers to design innovative
Q: How are analytics platforms helping to reshape insurer decision-making?
products and services that maximise
A: Rapid, accurate and incisive decision-
customer engagement.
making is the ultimate objective of an analytics platform. Put simply, data and analytics don’t drive an insurer: decisions do! An effective end-to-end platform such as SAS enables insurers to take advantage of all relevant data and extract insights. Most importantly, it also deploys and operationalises
analytics throughout an organisation’s
A: Firstly, SAS’ data management capa-
decision layers.
bilities control data quality, governance
This enables insurers to implement
and integration to enable an insurer to
two different types of decisioning:
exploit a wide range of new data sources.
1) automated, wherein analytics is
All data is now Big Data, and IoT presents
embedded in the background of opera-
a great case in point. As insurers look
tional processes to drive decisions at
to support connected cars, property
scale, with limited human intervention
and people, SAS can bring its deep IoT
and at the point where they provide the
processing experience to deliver solu-
most value; and 2) augmented, which
tions for streaming data and analytics
integrates analytical insights into the
on the edge.
user experience to support human
Next, understanding and leverag-
decision making at an insurer, such as
ing Big Data requires solid capabilities
chat applications or interactive charts.
in advanced analytics, principally: predictive modelling, AI (including
Q: Which background technologies
image processing and natural language
enable the SAS analytics platform?
processing) and machine learning. SAS in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
71
A I & D ATA
“ By its experimental and iterative nature, data and analytics modelling is a key enabler of [...] persistent innovation” — Norman Black, EMEA Insurance Solutions Director, SAS
72 also supports a wide range of specialist
expand decisioning criteria, precision
capabilities, including statistical analysis
and accelerate time to value.
and forecasting, text analytics and optimisation and simulation. Finally, in support of operational deployment and ultimately decision
Q: Another aspect of analytics is security. How does SAS’ software mitigate risk and optimise operations?
making, SAS supports a wide range of solutions that enable insurers to deploy,
A: Most insurance data is highly sensi-
manage and monitor their analytics.
tive, whether for commercial reasons or
Industry domain content is embedded
for reasons of customer confidentiality
into SAS’ fraud, risk, and customer
under GDPR. To avoid the risk of reputa-
experience solutions. This includes pre-
tional and commercial damage, insurers
built data models, data transformations,
must manage the security, auditability
purpose-built algorithms, and persona-
and overall governance of their data and
based workflows and interfaces. These
analytics processes.
NOVEMBER 2020
to defend their data and operations against attack. Q: Why is persistent innovation important for better productivity and ROI? A: Persistent innovation is a particularly important challenge for insurers. As an industry, the insurance sector is naturally risk averse and has been historically slow to innovate. An ‘innovation backlog’ has subsequently grown over the last 20 years, even as innovation in other industries has raised customer expectations pertaining to digital serSAS’ data management solutions manage data security, lineage and audit-
vice and responsiveness. Insurtech, therefore, has been a
ability at an enterprise level across all
significant catalyst for addressing this
types of data. Our model management
and driving change and innovation in
solution provides a central repository
the sector. It has also been instrumental
for model development, including
in promoting ‘digital hubs’ and ‘inno-
versioning, model scoring and model
vation labs’, which have encouraged
validation capabilities. A workflow func-
insurers to pursue greater productivity,
tion tracks a model through its lifecycle
ROI, and customer satisfaction.
to deployment, and then monitors and
By its experimental and iterative
reports on its performance until it
nature, data and analytics modelling
needs to be retrained or retired.
is a key enabler of this persistent inno-
Finally, SAS provides specialist
vation, allowing insurers to rapidly
cybersecurity threat detection and
develop, test and change products
alert functionality to enable insurers
and processes incrementally. in s ur t e c h digi t a l . c o m
73
T O P 10
74
Insurtech Startups Arranged by estimated number of employees, InsurTech Digital takes a look at 10 up-and-coming insurtech startups that are pioneering a new industry WRITTEN BY
WILL GIRLING
NOVEMBER 2020
75
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T O P 10
10
Wrisk [ C E O , NI M E S HH PATE L ]
Wrisk’s core team combines the separate but complementary skill sets of technology and insurance to deliver simple, transparent and customer-focused outcomes. The company is acutely aware of the importance that a superior consumer experience can deliver and adamantly believes that insurance should entirely serve the policyholder’s interests, even down to sharing exact details on how premiums are calculated. Wrisk offers insurance expertise, cloudbased technology and seamless integration to a wide client base 76
of world-class providers. It also offers mobility solutions for vehicle cover, as well partner solutions for retail and banking.
2016 Founded
30
Number of Staff
UK
Location NOVEMBER 2020
2016 Founded
40
Number of Staff
Malaysia Location
09
PolicyStreet
77
[ C E O , Y E N M I NG L E E ]
PolicyStreet bases the success of its business on two factors: digitally-enhanced insurance solutions and a strong, communitybased work ethic (hence its name). Seeking to reinvent the modern idea of insurance, the company is striving to make it “sexy, fun and appealing to the millennials of today”. PolicyStreet offers fullspectrum policy options in accordance with this vision: life, travel, motor and medical cover. Regardless of where the customer ‘is’ in their life, the company wants to be involved in protecting the things they hold most important. With an estimated 1,000+ insurance products available in the local market and new ones continually under its consideration, PolicyStreet is determined to provide best-in-class service.
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Better Business Decisions FICO powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 100 countries do everything from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of airplanes and rental cars are in the right place at the right time.
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08
Neos [ C E O , M AT T POL L ]
Billing itself as “the smarter way to insure property�, Neos is an IoT platform created specifically for the insurance sector, offering endto-end solutions designed to accelerate time-to-market and increase product quality for its clients. The company also provides easy-toinstall devices to its customers, both enterprise and individual, with a view to bestowing peace of mind for theft, fire and water damages. Devices include leak detectors and sensors, indoor security cameras and specialised batteries. 79
2016 Founded
50
Number of Staff
UK
Location
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T O P 10
2012 Founded
75
Number of Staff
USA Location
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07
Trōv [ C E O , S C OT T WA LCHE K ]
One of the most popular insurtechs in the investment sector, Trōv has managed to accumulate over US$114m in funding since it was founded eight years ago. Headed up by serial entrepreneur Scott Walchek, who has previously established successful businesses in the US and China, the company offers innovative solutions for insurance, finance, retail, mobility and more. The company features a dynamic ‘on-demand’ platform, which incorporates smart pricing, risk analytics, fraud detection and API integration, as well as being entirely cloud-based. Using this digitally optimised system, Trōv has managed to partner with industry leaders similarly committed to changing the ways people live, work and move.
NOVEMBER 2020
06
Cover Genius [ C E O , A NG U S MCD ONA L D ]
Cover Genius is a Sydney-based insurtech with a truly global outreach. Currently holding offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Singapore and other locations, it was ranked as the Financial Times’ fastest growing company in the APAC region for 2020. The company serves a wide range of industries, from retail to logistics, travel, fintech and more, and offers award-winning products such as XCover, RentalCover, XClaim and BrightWrite. Furthermore, Cover Genius reinforces its commitment to helping the global community by operating its charitable arm, CG Gives. 81
2014 Founded
130
Number of Staff
Australia Location
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2014 Founded
135
Number of Staff
UK
Location
05
Tractable
83
[ C E O , A L E X DA LYAC ]
At the heart of Tractable is a highly-skilled R&D team (composed of Oxford and Cambridge graduates) with over 30 years of cumulative experience in developing AI technology. The company uses its technology to assess car accident and natural disaster damages in real-time, which can then form a dataset for insurers to base their decision-making. Equipped with image-recognition software, the AI can assess visual information similarly to a person but on a much faster and larger scale. Estimating that its system can hasten insurer response times by up to 10 times, Tractable’s solution has already been embraced by some of the world’s leading insurance companies. Currently a popular enterprise with investment firms, it has also managed to raise US$55m in venture capital for future development.
i nsur te c hdi gi t a l. com
T O P 10
04
Zego
[ C E O , ST E N S A A R ]
Insurance is a centuries-old industry, and yet, despite this, very little tangible change has actually taken place up to the modern-day. Zego is acutely aware that, even if insurance hasn’t, people and their lifestyles have. Therefore, it is dedicated to bringing simple and fastpaced cover solutions in a suitably 21st-century package. Zego offers options on car, professional and commercial cover via its dedicated app. Users select their preferred option, can generate a quote within minutes and then pay. The service is entirely paperfree, optimised for ease-of-use and boasts flexible policies to suit 84
bespoke needs.
2016
200
Founded
Number of Staff
Zego Fleet: How we serve our Customers CLICK TO WATCH
NOVEMBER 2020
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2:57
UK
Location
2013 Founded
200
Number of Staff
Singapore Location
85
03
CXA Group
[ C E O , RO S A L I NE CHOW KOO ]
Capturing the spirit of innovation that has come to define insurtech in the post-COVID-19 era, CXA Group’s website proudly states, “Modern business needs new and more effective ways to manage the health and wellbeing of an ever-diversifying workforce. This is what we do.” Started by insurance industry expert Rosaline Chow Koo with a vision to change preconceptions of ‘one-size-fits-all’ benefits packages’ suitability, she actually invested $5m of her own money into the digital mission. The company has grown significantly; it is currently responsible for managing the insurancebased needs of over 766,000 employees, including those of several Fortune 500 entities. i nsur te c hdi gi t a l. com
E M E A | A P A C | | APAC N O R T H | A EMEA MERICA AMERICAS FIND OUT MORE
FIND OUT MORE
T O P 10
02 88
2013 Founded
250
Number of Staff
France Location
NOVEMBER 2020
Shift Technology CLICK TO WATCH
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1:23
89
Shift Technology [ CEO , J E RE M Y JAW IS H ] Shift Technology specialises in delivering AI-native SaaS (software as a service) solutions for the insurance industry in a bid to eliminate fraud. The company currently offers solutions for health, P&C (property & casualty) and travel, each with a particular focus on combatting specific threats while also minimising false negatives and improving investigator efficiency. Shift’s relevancy is likely to increase as insurance operations continue to become entrenched by digital technology. The company has analysed over 1.4 billion claims at the time of this article, a number that is rapidly increasing daily as more leading insurance companies onboard their technology. i nsur te c hdi gi t a l. com
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BIMA - disrupting the global mHealth and Insurance market for families in emerging markets CLICK TO WATCH
NOVEMBER 2020
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2:59
BIMA [ CEO, GUSTAF AGARTSON ] Created by Gustaf Agartson with the intention of disrupting the traditional insurance sector, which he contended was nonrepresentative for historically underserved customers, BIMA has, so far, managed to reach 35 million customers in its decade of operations. Using mobile technology to deliver highquality health insurance to those in emerging markets, the company serves 14 markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America, with funds of US$30m recently secured to drive even further expansion. At the time of the announcement, Agartson 91
referenced the COVID-19 pandemic and the company’s significance in the current socio-economic climate, “Through digital solutions and a human touch, we’ve been able to serve hard-to-reach communities with tools and services that bring them a sense of security at such a challenging time.”
2010 Founded
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Number of Staff
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NOVEMBER 2020
Delivering a Valuable Experience for Customers WRITTEN BY
WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY
JAKE MEGEARY
i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
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VITALITY
Dave Priestley, Chief Digital Officer, explains why delivering value and a superlative customer experience remains Vitality’s core focus
I
n an insurance market beginning to take stock of the potential for digital transformation to improve the tradi-
tional business, Vitality is a shining example of a company approaching a centuries-old industry from a refreshing new angle. Founded in 2004, 94
the company’s enduring focus has been not only to provide first-class health and life cover but to actively improve the quality of its customers’ lives. Summarising this approach as “good for them, good for us, good for society”, Vitality has even set the ambitious target of encouraging 100mn people to get 20% more active by 2025. Helping to explain how the company is achieving this and so many other impressive developments, Dave Priestley, Chief Digital Officer, spoke with us on why driving value and a superior customer experience is so vital. Priestley started with Vitality early on as a Sales Director for a joint project launched between South African company Discovery Ltd and Prudential PLC, one of the UK’s most established insurance companies. Now in his 16th year at Vitality - taking on the role of CDO in 2017 NOVEMBER 2020
95
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Dynatrace: unlocking the science of operational performance Dave Anderson, Brand and Digital Evangelist, describes how Dynatrace can optimise company performance in an increasingly complex IT landscape A specialist in accelerating digital transformation, Dynatrace is a software solutions provider founded in 2005 and headquartered in Massachusetts. “As cloud environments become more complex, the underlying software needs to work flawlessly,” says Dave Anderson, Brand and Digital Evangelist. “Dynatrace provides intelligence into the performance of a company’s operations and critically applies a layer of AI to enable DevOps teams to work more efficiently.” The company facilitates this by enabling the fast comprehension of where performance issues in an environment are, either automatically or through direct investigation. Recognising that digital transformation is no longer a choice but rather an inescapable and exponentially growing process, Anderson considers Dynatrace as essential providing its clients with “intelligence and confidence to ensure that these complex applications are working the way that they should.” One of its partners in particular, insurance company Vitality, understands the value of Dynatrace’s technology and is taking it in exciting new directions. “Vitality is a great client because it’s using our platform not just to understand their singular applications, but rather their entire digital experience.” After all, while insurance companies might be comparable in terms of products, it is by offering a superior customer experience that they
Dave Anderson @ Dynatrace
can truly differentiate and this is what Dynatrace helps them to achieve. Stating that Vitality’s emphasis on insurance fused with incentive-based health and wellness resonates strongly with him personally, Anderson compliments the company for “really understanding how the performance of every system, API connection and call” factors into its success. It is by working closely with clients like Vitality that Dynatrace is able to determine how best to improve its own services, “Our culture is predicated on not settling for the status quo and continuing to innovate,” Anderson continues. “Dynatrace thrives on exactly the same transformation that our customers are undergoing.” With a platform based on AI (artificial intelligence), one of the fastest growing enterprise technologies in the market, both in terms of adoption and development, Dynatrace’s proven services are likely to evolve concurrently, “You’re not going to see an end to the improvement of AI and automation.” However, Anderson also acknowledges that an important portion of any digital transformation is actually strongly rooted in culture. “It’s not about tools or platforms,” he emphasises. “[Vitality] has a fantastic culture and that will allow them to continue to innovate. I’m really excited about what they’re going to do next.”
VITALITY
“ When I joined the company it was clear right away that Vitality had a very different proposition for health insurance” — Dave Priestley, Chief Digital Officer, Vitality
- Priestley says that what inspired him about the organisation was its aspiration to do something fundamentally different within insurance. “The industry had remained relatively unchanged for a long time,” he recalls. “It was an uninspiring marketplace with very similar product offerings. When I joined the company it was clear right away that Vitality had a very different proposition for health insurance.” That proposition was integrating insurance with wellness, something which he remarks has
98
started to scale exponentially since 2004. “Now, almost all of the players in the market have some kind of wellness component in their proposition. However, at the time, I would say we were amongst the first to introduce it.” More recently, the evolution of technology is another key development that Priestley has observed, specifically the ability to monitor peoples’ health remotely, conduct video consultations, utilise AI-powered diagnosis tools, symptom checkers and more. Far from being simply restricted to a GP surgery or hospital, modern healthcare can be brought directly to people’s homes and the NOVEMBER 2020
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Dave Priestley Title: Chief Digital Officer
Company: Vitality
Dave has worked within healthcare insurance for the last 24 years, where he has held a number of executive management positions with CIGNA Healthcare, PruHealth and now Vitality. Dave was a member of the executive management team which launched PruHealth in 2004. Over the last 14 years, Dave has played a key role in shaping the strategy from a start-up business to becoming established under the Vitality brand as the 4th largest player in the market with 10% market share. Dave began his career as a pricing underwriter before moving into sales and distribution and was the Sales Director at CIGNA healthcare where he helped to grow the client portfolio to in excess of £100M API and broaden the distribution strategy into new channels and markets such as sickness absence management and dental insurance. Dave joined PruHealth to help launch the business and establish the distribution strategy and operations. After driving rapid new business growth, he assumed overall responsibility for distribution at Vitality following the acquisition of Standard Life Healthcare. More recently, Dave has assumed executive responsibility for digital acquisition and customer retention and is now Vitality’s Chief Digital Officer with responsibility for digital strategy and product management as well as the wider change portfolio.
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Future-Proofing Insurers by building Resilient and Adaptable operating model Through our innovative framework and methodologies, TCS has aligned to the evolving priorities of Insurers to help them stay lean, nimble and finding newer ways to create value and ensure they stay ahead in the market.
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TCS is helping customers prepare for business 4.0 Vinay Singhvi, Business Unit Head of BFSI for the UK and Ireland, describes TCS’ commitment to helping clients navigate digital transformation
Vinay Singhvi @ TCS
TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) is a company that almost requires no introduction: one of the largest
started what has become more than a 10-year partnership with the brand, which now, according
and most innovative companies in India with a global reach and almost 450,000 employees, it is a true leader in IT and consulting services. “TCS is
to Singhvi, “has got one of the best brand recalls within the UK market.” Furthermore, their close integration goes beyond a simple supplier-client
one of the world’s largest and most recognised brands in its field. Our focus has always been to help customers drive their growth and transformation journeys,” states Vinay Singhvi, Business Unit Head of BFSI (banking, financial
relationship, as Singhvi describes, “We do not see ourselves as separate from Vitality. It’s about us working together to understand and implement their strategy and help them in achieving their purpose. Our teams that work as part of Vitality
services and insurance) for the UK and Ireland.
see themselves as more Vitality than TCS, that’s how deeply integrated they are.”
“The way we work is primarily about keeping customers at the centre and planning everything
A strong believer in preparing for the next
around them to ensure we are aligned to both their strategy and their business goals,” he explains.
generation of digitally-inflected business (business 4.0), TCS is prioritising a three pillar framework for
Fundamentally, TCS champions an approach that is cutting-edge without sacrificing the human touch, something that Singhvi considers will only become more important as technology keeps evolving. “It’s not about machines replacing
its customers to help them lead in the new normal based on ‘purpose-centricity’, ‘building resilience’ and ‘being adaptable.’” Singhvi also details the company’s ‘25 by 25’ vision: “25 by 25 illustrates that, in our view, by the year 2025, all our systems
humans; it’s about the augmentation that needs to happen and how hyperautomation and AI (artificial
and ways of working will be aligned, so that only 25% of TCS workforce will work out of TCS
intelligence) will enrich the entire human experience.”
facilities at any time. In this regard, we are very excited that TCS is taking a leadership position on new ways of working, not just in the UK but
Recognising early on that Vitality’s incentivebased health and wellness insurance platform held revolutionary potential for the industry, TCS
globally.
VITALITY
insurance industry has followed suit.
are consolidated into one easy-to-
The balance in incorporating these
manage platform for customers.
exciting new possibilities at Vitality,
102
Digital transformation has not been
he continues, lies in the unification
without its challenges; established five
of its digital and overall business
years before the ‘digital native’ era of
strategies. “It’s less about delivering a
businesses, Vitality initially began at
digital strategy in isolation and more
a disadvantage but quickly recovered:
about considering how the digital
“We were established on a more tra-
team can support the company in
ditional technology model with legacy
achieving its goals.” One of the sig-
systems in place,” Priestley states.
nificant journeys that this mindset has
“One of our most important challenges
led to is the creation of “one Vitality
has been reconciling our culture with
experience”, wherein health insur-
the digital world.” Investing time and
ance and life insurance investments
resources in building trust amongst its
NOVEMBER 2020
Vitality - Digital Strategy CLICK TO WATCH
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2:36
103 stakeholders by hiring teams of digital
implement relatively small changes
specialists to help accelerate trans-
in the experience,” he says.
formation, Vitality has succeeded in
One of Vitality’s core innovations
marrying tech advances with its core
is its member’s app. Available on both
purpose: making people healthier. The
iOS and Android, Priestley claims that
company’s new Advisor Hub, utilising
the app “really gets to the heart of
microservices instead of monolithic
what’s different about Vitality from tra-
alternatives, is a prime example of
ditional insurance products.” Serving
the new agility and efficiency being
as the company’s primary interface
unlocked. “Our strategy is aimed at
with its customers, policyholders are
breaking up those back end legacy
able to link their other health track-
systems into multiple components.
ing apps, Fitbits, Garmins, Apple
This allows us to iterate rapidly on the
Watches and other IoT (internet of
front end at lower cost by not needing
things) devices to it. The app then
to return to the back end in order to
converts physical activity data into i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
VITALITY
“ It’s less about delivering a digital strategy in isolation and more about considering how the digital team can support the company in achieving its goals” — Dave Priestley, Chief Digital Officer, Vitality
not have been able to implement such a rewarding programme without the help of its many suppliers and partners. One partner, TCS (Tata Consulting Services), has been instrumental in helping Vitality deliver its new services. Based in Mumbai, India, TCS is a multinational IT and consulting company with a truly global reach of 149 locations spread across 46 countries.
‘Vitality Points’ and provides access to
Regarding Vitality’s special relationship
incentive-based rewards when they
with TCS, Priestley had this to say: “We
achieve certain point-based targets.
don’t have the scale as a business to
104 “The app will show how your points are accumulating and what rewards you’ve unlocked. We’re increasingly building more and more reward fulfillment into that interface,” he explains. For example, if a customer earned a certain amount of ‘Vitality Points’ for working out a pre-set number of times per week, they would be entitled to a free coffee, movie download or more. “It also holds your policy information,” continues Priestley. “If for any reason you need to quickly access your policy details, renewal day or something else, it’s all in there.” Conceiving such an innovative way of encouraging people to stay healthy and active is impressive, but Vitality would NOVEMBER 2020
be efficient at some of the technical
D I D Y O U K N O W?
Vitality has announced that Coronavirus (COVID-19) tests will be available to its health members as of 29 July 2020. The test will be able to accurately tell whether a patient has the virus currently or ever did in the past. All tests will be provided though its partnership with DocTap, a face-to-face GP provider. “DocTap are proud to be working with Vitality in the fight against COVID-19. Our ambition is to provide the most accurate, convenient, affordable and fastest COVID-19 tests on the market, backed up by our outstanding team of doctors,� said Dan Faber, founder of DocTap.
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VITALITY
Vitality - Challenges CLICK TO WATCH 4:48
106
NOVEMBER 2020
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“ Philosophically, Vitality focuses on the outcome we’re looking for and then works out what technology solution would be best” — Dave Priestley, Chief Digital Officer, Vitality
delivery skills necessary; we’ve found it far easier to find a partner to supply those skills. TCS is a partner that really understands our business: Vitality’s fast and dynamic culture is different to other insurance companies. TCS realises this and that’s allowed it to embed within our teams; we don’t call on it simply when we’ve got a big project; TCS helps us to continually improve our customers’ experience across the board.” Vitality’s commitment to providing its customers with the stellar level of service it has become known for was thoroughly tested by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our number one priority was the welfare of our staff,” Priestley declares, “but we also had to make sure that they could still deliver first-class service to our members.” Mobilising its IT operations department to quickly find a workable solution, he reports that the company managed to accommodate its full complement of staff (1,500) with remote working capabilities within a period of approximately 10 days, a significant logistical achievement. In parallel, Vitality rapidly innovated its customer proposition by adding a new category of benefits under the banner i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
107
VITALITY
“ If you just concentrate on trying to deliver value for your customers and creating an exceptional experience, more often than not, you’re going to do the right thing” — Dave Priestley, Chief Digital Officer, Vitality
users. “Philosophically, Vitality focuses on the outcome we’re looking for and then works out what technology solution would be best.” Not allowing the technology itself to guide his approach, Priestley says that the current applications of blockchain would not benefit the company’s customers at this time, although explorations of AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) had revealed their potential for ‘proactive servicing’. “You can then
108
of ‘Vitality at home’. This involved nego-
reach out to customers and ask, ‘How
tiating commercial arrangements to
can we help?’ We’re also using ML
provide members with discounts linked
models to power personalisation in the
to physical activity and integrating with
experience, as well as RPA (robotic
these partners so that a fully digital end
process automation) to speed up
to end experience was up and running
admin and allow our staff to focus on
within three weeks of lockdown starting.
value-adding work instead.”
“That was a big success for us; we
Although 2020 has been a cata-
were still able to provide comprehen-
lyst year for change across so many
sive wellness benefits to our members
aspects of life globally, Vitality retains
by capitalising on our cultural assets.”
the same level of commitment to
In many ways the achievement encap-
making people healthier that it always
sulated the thoroughness of Vitality’s
has. There can be no mistake: the
strategy and demonstrated its adept
insurance industry is changing, with
digital skills. It also demonstrates
or without COVID-19, but the desire
Priestley’s insistence that any tech
for digital transformation which
innovation introduced has a functional
the pandemic’s restrictions have
purpose in delivering quality service to
introduced is here to stay. “Things
NOVEMBER 2020
Vitality - AI + Robotics CLICK TO WATCH
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4:46
109
will be different to how they were,”
to achieve their goals. That’s
says Priestley. “For Vitality, that’s a
what keeps Vitality so grounded.”
good thing because we’ve always
Ultimately, Vitality demonstrates
thrived on evolution.” When asked to
that an insurance company’s worth
summarise what has enabled him to
is derived from its ability to improve
spearhead such a successful digital-
the quality of its customers’ lives and
business strategy, he emphasises
devoting itself wholeheartedly to
that customer-centricity is always at
that goal. “If you just concentrate on
the forefront of his mind and always
trying to deliver value for your cus-
yields the best results. “People
tomers and creating an exceptional
always show a lot of interest in talk-
experience, more often than not,
ing about particular technologies,
you’re going to do the right thing.”
but what’s more important is focusing on how to support customers i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
110
NOVEMBER 2020
111
Embracing the Art of the Possible WRITTEN BY
WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY
JAKE MEGEARY i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
PROTECTIVE INSURANCE
Jeremy Johnson, CEO, describes the company’s tech transformation, customerfocused service and why problem-solving is at the heart of its business
A
t its most fundamental level, insurance is an industry predicated on risk management, customer service and trust. Few
companies understand the interconnection of these principles better than Protective Insurance, 112
and even fewer have an equivalent level of the experience, engagement and commitment necessary to transcend these precepts and deliver superior results. Founded in 1930 and headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, USA, the company is a transport insurance specialist for trucking fleets of all sizes, licensed in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and all Canadian provinces. With a long-standing heritage, a portfolio of diverse products, services and solutions, it has been and continues to be a strong partner for an equally essential industry, particularly in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeremy Johnson, CEO, joined Protective Insurance in May 2019 following several years in executive positions at some of the world’s most
NOVEMBER 2020
113
i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
PROTECTIVE INSURANCE
“ There’s just so much data that, with the right attitude, you can really envisage a different approach, one that can really make the roads safer” — Jeremy Johnson, CEO, Protective Insurance
prestigious insurance organizations. “Because it’s a smaller company (Protective has approximately 500 employees), it’s a much more intimate environment and it feels like one person can really make a difference,” Johnson explains. “It’s a pretty
114
revered brand and, because of our client-centric, relationship-oriented approach, Protective Insurance is very well respected both by our distribution partners and by our customers, trucking fleets.” Despite starting with the company only last year, Johnson says that his first exposure to truck insurance actually occurred earlier in his career. Recognizing that it was an intricate, data-rich opportunity, he gained a particular fascination with the sector which continues to this day. “There’s just so much data that, with the right attitude, you can really envisage a different approach, one that can really make the roads safer. We’ve got NOVEMBER 2020
Protective Insurance CLICK TO WATCH
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3:33
115 a lot more work to do in order to seize
meant a new, tech-driven transfor-
that massive data opportunity, but we
mation of Protective Insurance was
have a great foundation, momentum
necessary as, like many companies
and a vision.
with decades of experience in the
For Johnson, this interest in the
market, the business was rife with
possibilities of data analysis goes
non-integrated legacy systems. “The
back to one of his former bosses, who
linchpins were moving to the cloud
instilled in him a passion for ‘the art of
using Microsoft Azure to build a ‘data
the possible’ – a spirit of inquisitiveness
lake’ and embracing an analytics-first
and innovation that isn’t afraid to chal-
commercial auto underwriting plat-
lenge the status quo or explore new
form built for us by TSIQ. We have a
directions. “Unless you’re prepared
partnership with a company called
to ask really intriguing questions,
Roots Automation, who’ve provided
the data just exists in a vacuum,” he
us with self-learning digital bots, and
states. Facilitating this approach
we have a great partner in Majesco i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
PROTECTIVE INSURANCE
116
whose approach to microservices and
However, increased technological
‘plug and play’ style system modules
sophistication is only a component
really align with our technology vision.”
of Protective Insurance’s success-
In addition, Johnson explains that
ful formula. What really sets it apart,
there will be numerous, more mundane
as Johnson intimated, is its cultural
but no less crucial changes happening
emphasis on employee engagement
behind the scenes that will affect the
and building strong customer rela-
company’s ability to scale as well as
tionships. “People genuinely enjoy
ingest, harmonize and analyze data.
working here,” he states. “In fact,
NOVEMBER 2020
1930
we recently celebrated one member of staff’s 50th year with us. We are
Year founded
a specialist and know our customers well; we have a shared dedication and
$495m+
excitement about our mission: making roads safer.” The importance of
Total Revenue in US dollars (2019)
this client connection took on even
500
In order to ensure that it was meeting
greater proportions at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown in mid-March. its customers rapidly shifting concerns and priorities, Protective Insurance
Number of employees
reached out to understand how best it could lend assistance. The answer,
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Jeremy Johnson Title: Chief Executive Officer Industry: Insurance
Company: Protective Insurance
Location: United States
Jeremy has more than 25 years of insurance industry experience and has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Protective Insurance since May 2019. Prior to Protective, Jeremy served in various executive leadership roles at American International Group, Inc. (AIG) for 17 years. Roles included, President, US Commercial for AIG; and CEO & President of Lexington Insurance Company, AIG’s excess and surplus lines unit. Jeremy is a graduate of the University of Oxford with a Masters of Arts degree in Law. i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
117
Move business forward, faster Virtusa – World’s leading Digital Partner of choice. Leveraging decades of core software engineering experience with Virtusa’s Digital Transformation Studio, an approach that brings together engineering tools, InsurTech assets, and multidisciplinary agile teams to drive over 30% efficiency and speed in delivering digital transformation.
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“ Unless you’re prepared to ask really intriguing questions, the data just exists in a vacuum” — Jeremy Johnson, CEO, Protective Insurance
Johnson claims, was rather ironic. “We asked them, ‘What can we do for you?’, expecting an answer that would revolve around digital technology. However, the overwhelming reply was, ‘We need hand sanitizer’.” Partnering with a local distillery, Protective Insurance was able to purchase and distribute hundreds of gallons of sanitizer with logistical assistance from the American Trucking Association. 119
i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
PROTECTIVE INSURANCE
Despite this response, the company
you’re actually in that environment,”
was more than adequately prepared to
he explains. “I think there was a lot
meet the technological challenges of
of fear and trepidation as to whether
the pandemic too. Having analyzed the
our employees could effectively man-
pre-lockdown situation and modelled
age our customer relationships, pay
for various operational contingen-
claims, take submissions and commu-
cies, Johnson says that Protective
nicate effectively while working from
Insurance “didn’t miss a beat” through-
home.” Enabled by the company’s
out the transition, even though it
technology team, which provided the
was still undergoing a major tech
bandwidth necessary for sustaining
transformation at the time. “We had
an equivalently high standard of cus-
tested some things and taken some
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“ Protective Insurance will continue to invest in other tools that can make our employees’ lives more comfortable when working remotely” — Jeremy Johnson, CEO, Protective Insurance
look at the modules that are of most interest to them.” Educating staff is
and empowered to succeed. “I think
an important part of his ‘embracing
we’re going to be in this environ-
the art of the possible’ concept, and,
ment for quite a lot longer. Therefore,
as data analytics continues to play
Protective Insurance will continue to
an important role in insurance’s digital
invest in other tools that can make our
transformation, knowing how to
employees’ lives more comfortable
extract results will be critical. “You
when working remotely.”
build all this infrastructure and you
To further develop this tech familiarity
gain the ability to look at the data, but
among its staff, Protective Insurance
how do you get the right minds to ask
hosted a ‘virtual’ fair on relevant
the right questions?” Johnson asks.
tech-based subjects. Presented
“What are the questions that will allow
to employees by employees, the
us to get a game changing advantage?
company hopes to augment its trans-
I think there’s a colossal amount
formation through learning and
of momentum behind unlocking the
communication to highlight the impor-
value of data.”
tance of change. “Employees can go through the many modules that make up the Technology Transformation Fair and learn, for example, what the cloud or a data lake is, and why and how that matters to us,” Johnson explains. “I’m fully confident that 100% of our employees will take the time to i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com
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PROTECTIVE INSURANCE
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“ We couldn’t have got into this position without 500 committed, experienced and able employees” The company’s worth is defined by — Jeremy Johnson, CEO, Protective Insurance
its ability to manage risk, save clients money and make the roads safer; 2021 is a year in which it hopes to fulfil this mission with tech-enhanced vigor and
Achieving this goal is Protective
partners equally committed to sur-
Insurance’s primary aspiration, “We
mounting the challenges of delivering
want to be our customer’s most valued
superior service. “I think we’re going to
transportation insurance provider.”
be valuable to all of our stakeholders;
NOVEMBER 2020
123
not just our customers, but our share-
and engagement with the corporate
holders, employees, reinsurers, vendor
mission: “Our existing customers value
partners and technology partners,
us and many more now want to work
who are all important to us.” Engaging
with us. We couldn’t have got into this
with ‘possibility thinking’ and adopting
position without 500 committed, expe-
an ‘always moving forwards’ mentality
rienced and able employees. I’m super
will maintain Protective Insurance’s
proud of what we’ve achieved.”
competitive edge, which has already seen it triumph over other, less-imaginative companies in the space. Finally, Johnson concludes with a declaration of pride for his employees’ hard work i nsurt e c hdi gi t a l. com