Something Amazing is Happening in Insurance…

Something amazing is happening in insurance. After more than a decade of sluggish growth and continuous cost cutting, cognitive and other technologies are opening the door for the re-invention of insurance — and the industry is electric! I have been working as a consultant with Tier I carriers for over 25 years, and this is one of the most exciting times to be working in insurance. I am watching traditional, incumbent players making bets and taking off with incredibly Bold New Ideas. It’s pretty impressive to work with these carriers on many First of a Kinds.

Cloud. Cognitive. Digital. Platform. Emerging technologies are pushing a process re-invention across insurance, and it’s beginning in underwriting. Industry insiders know that a 1% increase in underwriting productivity corresponds to roughly an comparable increase in revenue growth. Using cognitive computing, insurance companies can start to re-imagine underwriting for the better.

Let’s face it. My clients are in the business of pricing risk. So their business could not be more serious. They cannot afford inconsistencies to affect outcomes. Global insurers today have the opportunity to leverage cognitive technology to ensure that the quality of work across all underwriters is equal to the best, most senior underwriter at the organization. Cognitive computing will promote quality decisions but also improve consistency and efficiency in underwriting in ways never before conceived.

We worked with doctors at an insurer who were once forced to search through over 400 pages of customized policy materials to determine if particular claims were covered. After understanding their process and requirements, we applied cognitive capabilities and tools, and as a result, reduced the average process time from 30 minutes to 2. That started to change everything. Our cognitive approaches are accelerating underwriting by better directing the underwriters in their work, what to focus on and what to ignore. We will always need doctors to apply their medical training, and we will always need knowledgeable underwriters — but now we can truly arm them to be exponentially better informed and much more efficient in their work.

So Yes — Insurance is undergoing an extremely important evolution. Leaders are starting now to reverse a long period of stalled growth, and grab the possibilities made possible by the unstoppable velocity of emergent technology. ‘Bold’ is the word I keep coming back to. The way the industry is beginning to leverage data, technologies and a whole new expanse of cross-disciplinary skills to re-envision insurance is incredible. Cloud and eco-systems powered by cognitive, delivering digitally — together — will change insurance. For the insurer and the insured.” Join Ellen Yoon…..