We have raced into the final quarter of 2022. Somehow we’re less than 90 days from the proverbial finish line—it feels like we’ve entered a completely different zone from the early part of the year. In the immortal, and somewhat irreverent, words of Jerry Garcia, “What a long, strange trip it’s been.”
Earlier in 2022, we experienced multiple points that seemed like they might have been breakthrough moments, only to be disappointed by the reality of a pandemic that just wouldn’t quit. We moved events, virtualized events, reframed calendars and, through it all, looked forward to a time when the path forward would become less erratic and tumultuous.
The Aite-Novarica Group’s Insurance practice got a glimpse of what was to come when we successfully conducted our first Silicon Valley Innovation Tour since COVID-19 entered our vernacular. It was a raging success which built a foundation for what was to come.
In early September, we hosted our first Regional Roundtable event in more than two years in the City of Brotherly Love. It proved to be a significant learning opportunity both to deliver meaningful content to our Research Council members and to organize events in this new era. When several participants got sick at the last minute, we quickly figured out that we had the capacity to turn an in-person event into a hybrid one. Agility and flexibility are the hallmarks of the New Normal.
For the first time since April 2019, we hosted an in-person CIO Research Council meeting. Any concerns our team had voiced about attendance and participation were clearly misplaced: Our event at InsureTech Connect (ITC) was standing-room only, and the sessions were electric. We shared new research, explored emerging issues, framed the foundations companies are using for budgeting and planning for the new year, and highlighted our own plans for what is to come.
Being back in the thick of what we do best—engaging with insurers, framing insights, and exploring new research—was exciting on many levels. The insights that came from the ITC session are both meaningful and actionable.
Next, we hosted Regional Roundtables in both Des Moines and New York City on the same day, something we would never have attempted in the “before times.” From there, I headed to Chicago, where I had the opportunity to share insights at the LIMRA Annual Conference on the dramatic changes the industry faces as we push into the final stages of budgeting and planning for 2023. The velocity of engagement is accelerating, and not a bit too soon.
One of the insights for carriers now is that the competitive environment across the board is becoming more challenging. Numerous issues are buffeting their business models, their human capital, and their target markets. Technology advances mean the useful life of investments are getting ever shorter, and demographic shifts are making future-state planning feel a bit like playing three-dimensional chess. The challenges ahead are significant, but so are the opportunities for those who plan accordingly.
Welcome to the future! It is already here, just not evenly distributed.
Interested in connecting with your insurer IT leader peers and learning more about how other people in your shoes are tackling these challenges? Join us at one of the Insurance practice’s upcoming webinars or in-person events.