Vice President Operations at American National

Konrad Hendrickson

The insurance industry is ripe for transformation. Clients expect higher levels of service. They expect fairness, and they expect solvency. However, the industry is also risk averse and heavily regulated. This makes it difficult for insurers to adopt new technologies and keep up with the changing needs of their customers.

In 2015, $13M in funding went to a company in stealth mode, focused on blending insurance and insurtech in a new way. Using chatbots, the company claimed the ability to adjust and settle a claim in minutes. Lemonade, an organization that probably made every insurance CEO sit up and ask their claims department how fast they were.

The challenge? It took someone ‘else’, an outsider unburdened by tech debt or a status quo of how things must be done. An industry so behind the times that one new company focused on using tech to deliver service received immediate and ongoing investor interest. It’s not quite a blockbuster moment, since other insurers are still around.

So how much closer is the industry in 2023? If technology would stop moving, perhaps that would give some breathing room for insurers to catch up. Can we take a pause to upgrade core systems and reduce tech debt?

Insurtech 2.0 is about finding ways to use technology to deliver insurance services that meet client expectations while also addressing the challenges of solvency and regulation. An opportunity for successful, profitable partnership between insurers and insurtechs.

For insurers, this means understanding your business problems and how technology can help you solve them. It also means being open to new ideas and being willing to experiment.

For insurtechs, it means understanding the needs of insurers and presenting your solutions in a way that addresses their unique needs. It also means having your security basics in order and being able to demonstrate how your solution will protect sensitive data.

"At the end of the day, it's not about insurtech vs. insurance. It's about harnessing respective strengths to find a combined superpower that delivers a unique value proposition to your client base in a transformational way."

The partnership between insurers and insurtechs can bring the industry to a new level: services and products matched to client expectation. Products to meet emerging risks like cyber or crypto while managing the risks we know, like fire and hurricane. Consumer protection addressing present solvency risk as well as the new waves of technology that shake existing regulatory infrastructure.

Here are some specific thoughts for insurers and insurtechs:

● For Insurers:

◦ It's okay to be cautious. The insurance industry is risk-averse, but that doesn't mean you can't embrace innovation.

◦ Understand your business problems and how technology can help you solve them.

◦ Be open to new ideas and be willing to experiment. Build a culture that encourages adaptability.

◦ Consider internal growth strategies to build innovation appetite: Explore partnerships, investments and equity to build your company’s innovation IQ.

● For Insurtechs:

◦ Present your solution in the framework of your client's problem. The industry is highly fragmented in risk, product and individual insurer appetite. A one size fits all falls apart in that individual insurer pitch.

◦ Peel back the onion to the less visible opportunity. Non-client facing enhancements may carry lower enterprise risk related to non-public information while delivering solid sustainable benefits.

◦ Have your security basics lined out. Some have described insurers as more difficult to contract with than the government. That can be a source of pride for the insurer, and a source of frustration for an underprepared partner who has an otherwise winning proposition.

◦ Once your foot is in the door, it makes the next opportunity easier, for both of you.

For both insurers and insurtechs, partnership comes at a high cost. The handshake agreement of the 2000’s or 2010’s is harder to come by, and riskier.

At the end of the day, it's not about insurtech vs. insurance. It's about harnessing respective strengths to find a combined superpower that delivers a unique value proposition to your client base in a transformational way.

It's not about the best big ideas shouting across the chasm between insurtech innovator and Industry laggard. It's about positioning the industry to solve the issues using the best navigators of risk and innovative companies that wish to invest their energy in them.

The goal? Craft financial protection and services that clients need as they navigate the waves of change in the world around us – at a new level.