The haves and have-nots of insurance technology

There is a huge disparity between the haves and have-nots of insurance technology.

The haves can boast of: fat IT budgets, solid reporting, and a realistic expectation of meaningful digital innovations going forward.

The have-nots are behind, and falling further. They barely have the sophistication to keep the basics up and running.

The haves are pushing their frontiers of activity out to big data analysis & AI assisted decision-making.

The have-nots are pushing… well, what? If they haven’t figured things out by now, will they ever? Are they going to find a way to compete, or will they end up watching the big guys run up the score?

Don’t count out the have-nots. Throughout history, the little guys have proven quite clever and tenacious. They take the fight somewhere else — they don’t try to match their weakness against their opponents’ strength. They change the game. They find a vulnerability and exploit it.

This will happen in insurance as well. The little guy will realize he has to play a different game than the big guy. He will figure out ways to provide value that the big guys can’t… and this almost certainly has to do with relationships. If he does this successfully, he can win.