On November 16th, I hosted the latest meeting of the Aite-Novarica Women’s Network on Innovation: The Transition From Novel to Normal. I was joined by fellow Aite-Novarica Group Senior Principals Carey Geaglone and Deb Zawisza as we shared our experiences and perspectives on current innovation trends in insurance. Here are the key takeaways from our most recent session:
1. The insuretech landscape is expanding.
There are an increasing number of insuretech startups in the market with a wide variety of capabilities that insurers can take advantage of. While it can be overwhelming to choose from the many different startup options, keep business goals at the center of your assessment. New technology can be enticing, so be clear on the business problem you want to solve with technology rather than adopting technology first and then looking for a problem it can address.
Our panelists highlighted the ways in which the insuretech landscape has changed, particularly noting how many capabilities are becoming more commonplace to insurers and have completed the transition from novel to normal. One panelist mentioned that just a few years ago, organizations were nervous to transition to the cloud, whereas now it’s a standard practice.
2. Innovation is becoming a normal part of operations.
While creating cultural change is often difficult to achieve, some organizations are seeing a cultural shift toward innovation. The shift to incorporating innovation into each function rather than housing it as a separate department highlights the potential for maturity of innovation at insurers. While innovation has been top of mind for carriers for a while, it is happening in different ways than we’ve seen previously.
3. Find insuretech solutions that have measurable impact on your business.
The best innovative solutions are those that solve a critical business problem and not those that are just the newest technology out there. Our panelists discussed the wide variety of insuretech options in the market and how common it is for companies to want the newest capabilities available, but it’s key to keep the business goals and needs in mind when selecting insuretech partners. One panelist noted that given current economic uncertainty, it’s even more important to ensure that insuretech solutions are aligned to business needs and will provide measurable value. Implementing new technology with a clear and clean exit strategy is also key to any future changes with the startup.
Aite-Novarica Women’s Network virtual meetings will resume in 2023, with the first meeting of the year taking place on January 25. More information is available here.
