Reuters, AI & Analytics USA - Stepping into The (Un)known

Last week was my first time stepping back on stage for over two years. This time it was with the Reuters team at Insurance AI and Innovative Tech USA 2022, Chicago. Stepping back out from behind the camera and into the more traditional role of an in-person chat was both exciting, if not a little daunting.

We spend so much time talking about organizational agility, the ability of companies to move seamlessly between physical and digital channel, that we tend to forget we are also navigating a brave new world?of technology and tradition.

This was a two day event taking a deep dive into all things AI, innovation and technology.

• Where and how is AI being used today across the insurance value chain? What are the challenges around transparency and ethics?
• How can we continue to provide an exceptional customer experience, rooted in compassion and empathy, yet find ways to scale across a rapidly growing customer base?
• Why does company culture need to be at the core of your future AI and innovation strategy? These are just some of the questions we addressed as a group over two immersive days in Chicago.

Day One

To kick things off, I had the very good fortune?of sharing the stage with Kathryn Janofsky, Head of Underwriting?at Beazley for a fireside chat. It was a wonderful chat and being back in front of a live audience alongside Kathryn felt like home. Kathryn shared with the audience her own strategy for driving success over the past year at Beazley. The critical role of cross-functional teams. A shared understanding around agile methodologies with efforts focused around customer-centricity. It was a wonderful way to kick things off on the Transformational Tech track.

Over the next couple of days, I had the fortune of sharing the stage and chatting with a number of individuals across the industry. Continuing the conversations on day one, I was joined on stage by Heather Kelly, SVP, Advisory & Strategic Accounts, Allianz, Jeffrey Lee, Global Head Actuarial Data & Analytics, Swiss Re, Joseph Emison, Cofounder and CTO, Branch Insurance and Robin Gilthorpe, COO, Insurance, CDK Salty as we explored what it means to compete with technology in an increasingly tech-driven industry.

Sudheendra "SG" Galgali, VP Head of Innovation & Digitalization, American Modern, shared his thoughts around how to make tech work for you. Dawn Wood, VP Sales, Parascript and Dan Schayes, Industry Director-Insurance, Ricoh USA dug into what it means to deliver end-to-end integration. Not an easy task, but with the right alignment of people, process and technology, it is possible to remove a lot of the friction and re-think the traditional fragmented insurance experience. In its place? One that is grounded in simplicity and a seamless UI/UX.

We also heard from Matteo Carbone, Founder, IoT Insurance Observatory, who took a closer look at how we can continue to transform the industry with closer collaboration around technology and innovative thinking. As the industry continues to mature from a technology footprint, our ability to connect, collaborate and share relevant data is perhaps greater than it has ever been.

Wrapping up the day, we had a fascinating session from Rao Nanduri, Chief Claims Architect, AIG, who shared his thoughts around how technology is continuing to impact and transform the claims experience. Something that at Care Bridge International we are continuing to do daily.

One of my favorite quotes of the week came from that session with Rao:

Know your customer BEFORE they become your customer!

As the industry continues to shift towards a predictive and proactive stance, we need to seize the opportunity to understand what our customers' needs are before they walk in the door.

One of my own personal highlights of the opening day, was participating in the workshop alongside the folks at Snorkel.AI. We were joined by Jeffrey Lee, Carol Altman, EVP Technology Strategy, AMWins Group and Rao Nanduri as we discussed the opportunities and challenges presented by working with AI, Machine Learning and data.

Day Two

On Day Two, the focus was around AI and data. Kicking off my track for the day, I had an incredibly enjoyable session chatting with Scott Ham, CEO Pinpoint Predictive, Bipin Chadha, Chief Data Scientist, CSAA and Lauren Domnick, Senior Director Data Science, Northwestern Mutual. We discussed in depth the growth of new data streams, how to reimagine the customer experience with streamlined service options that go beyond the traditional channels of engagement and looked closely at the wealth of opportunities emerging around IoT and connected devices.

Wrapping up the day, perhaps one of the most provocative sessions of the week, Striving for Ethical and Explainable AI. I was joined by Uthra Ramanujam, VP , Strategic Technology research at State Auto Insurance, Sherman Cooper, Managing Director, Big Data & Data Science Platform Leader, Marsh, Robert Anderson and Neelam Paharia, Director Competitive Intelligence & Product Transformation, AllState, to dissect the challenges around ethical and explainable AI. One hour was nowhere near enough for this conversation, so hopefully we will see a part two at some point in the near future.

So, what did we learn over the two days? We are shifting from being a reactive industry to one driven by data-driven, proactive decision making. It is estimated by 2025, global data creation is projected to grow to more than 180 zettabytes (1). For context, a zettabyte is equivalent to a trillion gigabytes. That's a lot of potential insight. The challenge we continue to face as an industry, however, is still around how to collect, transform and use that data intelligently.

As technology continues to change the world around us, we need to be cognizant of how and where people continue to add immense value across the insurance value chain. Understanding where automation can play a critical role, needs to be tempered with a deep understanding and appreciation of where empathy, compassion and a human touch play a vital role in the customer journey and experience. Leveraging a chatbot to check a claim status or deliver high-volume, low complexity feedback makes a lot of sense. Making sure there is a route back to a human, however, is equally as important.

For the insurance industry, the opportunity in front of us is massive. Globally, we have an opportunity to engage with emerging markets and embrace a customer base that has grown up around mobile technology. Customer expectations are rapidly shifting, yet we are still to a large extent hindered by legacy technology and analog processes that are heavily fragmented. On one hand we are seeing the continued emergence of new and creative ways to engage with our customers, yet on the other, we are still forcing people to manage their own claims and navigate a complex and confusing industry. As an industry we need to strive towards delivering an insurance experience that is transparent and removes friction from the journey.

From an organizational point of view, we need to make sure we are building on a stable foundation. A common theme over the two days was everything starts with culture. A successful digital transformation journey is founded on having all people within the organization coming along on that journey with you.?

We learned that technology is only part of the solution. Navigating the pandemic put enormous pressure on an already over-burdened workforce. Developing tools and solutions to help augment the roles of advisors, adjusters, customer service reps has been as critical as delivering products to customers that exemplify ease-of-use, self-service and personalization.

A big thank you to Reuters and to all of the incredible speakers who delivered such thoughtful insight over the two days. I look forward to seeing you all again soon!

(1)???https://www.statista.com/statistics/871513/worldwide-data-created/