Last week, I had the pleasure of attending ACORD Connect 2018 in New Orleans. The theme for this year’s conference was “Discover. Evolve. Transform.” The conference was packed with many interesting sessions; a slate of solution provider booths lined the main hall. Here are a few takeaways.
I presented the results of Novarica’s broker/MGA technology survey on the contentious technology relationship between large commercial and specialty carriers and their retail/wholesale brokers. Across the board, automation is a significant desire. At the same time, stakeholders perceive that both parties lack commitment when it comes to automating the heavy lifting of quoting and new business transactions. There is some hope in sight. I have written an upcoming Novarica executive brief wherein I identify significant problems and summarize the current technology players who aim to resolve the automation conundrum in large commercial and specialty insurance.
ACORD is introducing new solutions based on the ACORD standards. The organization already has products that enable carriers to manage forms electronically, integrate with forms, convert into and from forms, and orchestrate messaging across systems. ACORD implements these products in the London market with a focus on the global reinsurance and large commercial segments.
ACORD’s next move? iVerify. Currently in concept mode, iVerify aims to become a clearinghouse for certificates of insurance by leveraging blockchain concepts built on the ACORD canonical data model. In addition, ACORD is jumping into microservice architecture with an initiative that seeks to create digital standards by reusing existing ACORD standards to generate XML and JSON data formats to support policy inquiry, FNOL, and electronic renewal notification. ACORD is currently seeking partners and has drawn up a rough timeline.
Duck Creek Director of Product Management Ken O’Sullivan and The Hartford AVP of eBusiness Jim Rogers teamed up to provide lessons learned from years of growth in commercial business. A few stood out. First, insurers are seeing less demand for SOAP XML and more demand for JSON data formats. Another lesson is critical for large carriers with hundreds or thousands of agents and brokers: leverage the insurer workforce first when rolling out new systems. Have these assets be the first users of new functionality like UI changes; allow their experience to drive change.
Finally, I would like to congratulate Ron Glozman and his startup Chisel.ai for winning the early stage innovation award. Ron brings an interesting and valuable product to market to help with the automation problem in the large commercial and specialty world. In addition, congratulations to Rozie.ai, which uses AI to address customer engagement value propositions, for winning the late stage innovation award.
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