More than 20 insurance technology professionals representing over a dozen insurance companies connected at the Novarica Regional Roundtable meeting recently in Columbus, Ohio. It was another great event where IT executives, architects, and data scientists gathered to connect and discuss the latest technology trends with members of Novarica’s senior team. In addition to industry insights on digital, data, and core systems, the agenda included discussions on the evolution of management and IT leadership, development of organizational capacity for innovation, and emerging technology considerations that may shape the future of insurance.
Innovation Fueled by Digital Strategy
Attendees engaged in conversations surrounding Novarica’s Three Levers of Value framework with a focus on technology that can assist carriers with customer retention and improving digital trust with both distribution partners and customers. Carriers are centering their digital strategies around the customer experience as they seek to transform buying and service experiences with an outside-looking-in perspective. Reimagining customer interactions can be challenging and requires carriers to think differently.
Creating a corporate culture that encourages innovation and challenges the norms of an inside-out perspective requires a new level of collaboration and engagement. Companies are finding new ways to dedicate resources to focus on innovation, in addition to making use of time outside the corporate home office to reimagine the art of the possible for customer experiences. The IT leaders in attendance discussed examples of how investments in technology demonstrate the value of moving from a focus on pure cost take-out into fail-fast experiences that inform future iterations of innovations.
Prioritizing Speed to Market
Speed-to-market strategies were also of interest at the Regional Roundtable. To deliver products at a faster pace, IT professionals are embracing methodologies and measures of success focused on releasing minimum viable products at an accelerated rate. This is a shift for some carriers, as most governance models were previously focused on managing individual projects instead of products. Carriers are now aligning ownership of product deliverables, speed-to-market timelines, and business outcomes across the organization and in partnership between business functions and the IT organizations that support them.
Early engagement of IT increases the potential of success, a factor clearly illustrated in recent Novarica research that spanned all lines of business. The use of mature Agile frameworks and a migration toward a DevOps model by delivery teams are also important factors in accelerating mission critical timelines. Simplification and rationalization of product offerings were also discussed as contributing factors to improving speed to market. With maturing capabilities in analytics and AI, companies are also able to increase the pace of delivering enhancements that assist producers with growth initiatives, such as cross-selling and next-best-action features.
Preparing for Business Transformation
Roadmaps for business transformation continue to evolve organizational structures within carriers. Extending core teams with dedicated leaders and resources that have experience delivering digital capabilities are critical to eliminating bureaucracy and uncertainty within organizations. Quick wins in the short term can build credibility and release added investment capital that can be leveraged when overcoming resistance with future fail-fast moments.
By focusing on the customer experience and persona-based journeys, carriers can also be more effective in implementing new technology and transforming longstanding business processes. Solutions like robotic process automation and chatbots were examples of tools used by participants to assist in their business transformation initiatives.
At the conclusion of the Columbus Novarica Regional Roundtable event, attendees highlighted the value carriers can uncover when they embrace an externalized view of their products, services, and operations. This view can be achieved by making the customer perspective an integral part of their innovation strategy and supporting initiatives. More than ever, carriers are making incremental investments in technology to differentiate themselves in the market and increase the digital connections between their partners and policyholders. As competitive pressures increase, and the distinctions between different demographic cohorts become more apparent in the market, carriers will want to be vigilant for opportunities to take advantage of insights into both producer and end customer preferences.
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