InsurTech Magazine - May 2022

May 2022 | insurtechdigital.com

EXCLUSIVE: DISTRIBUTED

Insurtech startups to watch

VENTURES CO-FOUNDER

TECHNOLOGY: Four reasons analytics platforms are driving insurtech

HUMANA: Humanising the digital workplace experience

SHAWN ELLIS DISCUSSES

VENTURE CAPITAL DELIVERING ACCELERATION AND REALISATION.

EMPIRE LIFE: Innovative solutions for Canadian SMEs

THE STANDARD: Achieving financial well-being and peace of mind

Connected Insurance is helping digital platforms, reduce their risk exposure

Connected Insurance: UBI and the Sharing Economy Connected Insurance’s Tal Cohen and Yaron Zurr reveal how CI is revolutionising UBI solutions in the sharing economy Connected Insurance (CI) created a datadriven risk platform that powers the next generation UBIs, driving the space forward.

Tal Cohen, co-founder and CEO of CI explains, “The sharing economy is a relatively new industry with limited exposure history. Traditional insurers are using traditional risk models that they use for similar products. This results in low accuracy pricing, which is based on few risk factors and a black box that customers can’t understand or control. By differentiation, CI breaks the insurance paradigm.”

“Our technology employs pricing models with much higher granularity, factoring many more data points currently ignored standard pricing models. We provide our clients transparency on their insurance costs and empower them to control and reduce costs by making educated decisions,” he says.

Strategic partnerships Extending their services into the marketplace has been achieved by a collaboration with some of the world’s leading insurance players. Yaron Zurr, co-founder and CCO of CI, says “We believe that insurance players

should become contributors and enablers to the businesses they serve. We provide a solution that empowers our partners to make a better insurance offering to their client, as well as solution for the digital platforms to manage their self-insurance and enable them to offer even more relevant protections to their end clients.”

Technology-driven innovation and CI CI’s full-stack solution connects and serves all parties: sharing economy platforms, brokers, claim administrators, and reinsurers. Connecting everyone under the same platform, says Cohen, creates transparency, leads to better insurance pricing, and ultimately allows sharing economy companies to reduce their total exposure costs.

Cohen adds, “CI provides digital platforms with essential tools such as: Risk & utilization dashboards to help the platforms manage their insurance costs and control their risk; Connected Claims module integrated into the digital; tools to manage the self-insurance part better than most advanced carriers; and tools for rapid creation of embedded insurance.”

The result is a seamless delivery of services and a satisfactory customer journey, concludes Zurr, who adds, “CI can optimise the customer’s insurance pricing by focusing on the lower risk usage and avoid the riskier transactions.”

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The InsurTech Team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

JOANNA ENGLAND MANAGING EDITOR

BLAISE HOPE

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS

GEORGIA ALLEN DANIELA KIANICKOVÁ PRODUCTION MANAGERS

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CREATIVE TEAM

OSCAR HATHAWAY SOPHIE-ANN PINNELL HECTOR PENROSE SAM HUBBARD MIMI GUNN JUSTIN SMITH REBEKAH BIRLESON JORDAN WOOD DANILO CARDOSO CALLUM HOOD MARKETING MANAGER

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JAKE MEGEARY MICHAEL BANYARD JOE PALLISER MANAGING DIRECTOR

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STACY NORMAN CEO

GLEN WHITE

FOREWORD

THE COST OF SECURITY

Should we be sacrificing privacy for a more secure experience?

The question of IT security is one that is painfully familiar with all business owners these days. But specifically, insurance companies have much to fear when it comes to cyber attacks.

Because they carry vast amounts of sensitive information on their customers, studies show they are the second most likely form of business to suffer a hack next to legal entities.

Ransomware is real and exceedingly harmful, not only because it compromises the company directly affected, but also because in these days of digital ecosystem reliance, it also puts a far bigger network at risk.

Biometrics that include body language reading along with the facial and voice recognition software, are now commonplace forms of security.

Essentially, safety is coming at an ever increasing cost to our personal privacy.

There is no easy answer to this evolving question.

But the situation raises a number of critical topics that we explore in this month’s feature on IT security in the insurance industry. What are your thoughts? Is it a matter of concern? Or is it just the organic development direction of this new, digitally driven climate?

Let us know your thoughts, and enjoy the issue

JOANNA ENGLAND INSURTECH MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY

joanna.england@bizclikmedia.com

© 2022 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

insurtechdigital.com

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CONTENTS

Our Regular Upfront Section: 10 Big Picture 12 The Brief 14 Timeline: The History of the IoT 16 Trailblazer: Henry Engelhardt 20 Five Minutes With: David Braunstein

42

Strategy

Adopting a customer-centric approach in Insurtech

26

48

Structurally advantaged venture capital

Achieving financial well-being and peace of mind

Distributed Ventures

The Standard

64

Digital Transformation

Jumpstarting insurance innovation with RPA

72

Empire Life

Innovative solutions for canadian SMEs

84 MGA:TPA

Cyber insurance innovation and the new normal

90

Humana

Humanising the digital workplace experience

104

Technology Four reasons analytics platforms are driving insurtech

110

Top 10

Insurtech startups to watch

9 - 10 NOV 2022

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Brought to you by BizClik Media Group FINTECH LIVE LONDON, the hybrid event held between 9th-10th November is broadcast live to the world and incorporates three zone areas of FinTech LIVE, Crypto LIVE plus InsurTech LIVE in to one event.

Global giants and innovative startups will all find the perfect platform with direct access to an engaged and active audience.

You can’t afford to miss this opportunity.

With a comprehensive content programme featuring senior industry leaders and expert analysts, this is an opportunity to put yourself and your brand in front of key industry decision makers.

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BIG PICTURE

10

May 2022

Insurance for Ukrainian Refugees United Kingdom

The UK government’s call for citizens to open their homes to refugees has left insurance providers scrabbling to keep up. A solution has now, however, been reached. Ordinarily, householders should inform their insurer and lender if a guest stays more than 90 days.

Despite this, the Association of British Insurers has announced that hosts need not notify their contents’ insurer of Ukrainian guests, unless they stay longer than 12 months.

insurtechdigital.com

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THE BRIEF “THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY WILL CONTINUE TO BE A TARGET FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR A MODERN-DAY HEIST” CARMINE DEL GUERCIO

Manager of Cyber Attack and Defence, Mazars  READ MORE

BY THE NUMBERS We asked: Low-code digital transformation solutions are being swiftly adopted by the insurance industry. What do you think of their performance?

18%

Disappoint

45%

“AS CONSUMERS WE HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR OMNICHANNEL SERVICES BUT WE ALSO WANT SIMPLICITY”

Exceed expectation

36%

Do the job

JERRY WALLIS

Head of Industry Strategy, EMEA, SS&C Blue Prism  READ MORE

“ANALYTICS PLATFORMS ARE A KEY TOOL FOR DRIVING CUSTOMER ACQUISITION, RETENTION AND UPGRADES” NEIL MARTIN

Commercial Director, Qbase  READ MORE

12

May 2022

AIG OUTLINES STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS WITH BLACKROCK American International Group (AIG) has announced strategic partnerships with BlackRock, in which certain fixed-income and private-placement assets will be managed by BlackRock INDIA AND CHINA TO BECOME BIGGEST INVESTORS IN INSURTECH IN ASIA New data on insurtech fundraising has revealed that India and China are leading development in Asia, with a combined investment pot of more than US$2.75bn since 2020 HOW TECHNOLOGY IS DRIVING BIG DATA AND THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY As Big Data gets bigger, we take a look at the challenges faced by the insurance industry and insurtechs collecting and turning information into insights

 HCI GROUP Florida-based insurtech HCI Group has reported a decrease in net income, from $27.6mn to $7.2mn over 2021, despite growing its gross written premiums by roughly a third  UKRAINE CONFLICT LOSSES Analysts at S&P Global Ratings have looked at a range of potential loss scenarios for insurers arising from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with its worst case scenario carrying a potential loss of more than $35bn

MAY22

BAD TIMES

Ondo InsurTech PLC has become the first UK insurtech to announce its IPO. The company - which recently rebranded from its former identity as LeakBot - specialises in a patented domestic water security system that registers leaks before they become serious, therefore averting expensive insurance damage claims.

The news was announced by Spinnaker Acquisitions Plc, the particular purpose acquisition company that completed the acquisition of LeakBot - formerly a whollyowned subsidiary of HomeServe PLC. Currently, Ondo is partnered with nine blue-chip insurers including Hiscox, Direct Line, and TopDanmark across the UK, Ireland, the US, and Scandinavia, with upwards of 39,000 devices supplied to insurers. It has raised £3.4mn through fundraising at 12p per share and will have a market capitalisation (at the issue price) of approximately £8.2mn.

The company, launched in 2016, plans to use the investment for partner development, onboarding and delivery, and IT systems enhancement.

 LAYR Insurtech startup Layr has raised $10mn in Series A funding round, which was led

by HSCM Ventures, with participation from MGV, Sandbox Industries, Flyover Capital, and Hannover Digital Investments  AXA XL AXA XL's North America Environmental insurance business has rolled out a tailored Environmental Ecosystem, in order to help clients adopt new technology solutions to manage business risks

GOOD TIMES

UK’S FIRST INSURTECH IS TO MAKE ITS IPO

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TIMELINE

THE HISTORY OF THE

IoT

As the insurance industry becomes increasingly reliant on new data sources, we take a look at the development of the IoT and plot its growth through the decades

1980s The dawn of the ‘internet of things’ The Internet of Things, as a concept, wasn’t officially named yet, but one of the first examples is from the early 1980s and was a Coca Cola machine.

Local programmers would connect through the Internet to the refrigerated appliance, checking to see if there was a drink available and if it was cold, before making the trip to purchase one

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May 2022

2012 IoT Goes Smart

2002 Tracking inventory In 2002-2003, Walmart and the US Department of Defense were the first large organisations to embrace Ashton’s model of tracking inventory using tagging, RFID, and the Internet of Things

A pilot programme called ‘Smart City Switzerland’ brought representatives from universities, businesses, and public administration together to discuss new ideas for the urban environment. Smart City Switzerland has over sixty projects underway and supports new scientific partnerships and innovation

2013 2010 The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) The IIoT came into being with several large companies developing their own systems. GE is given credit for creating the term ‘Industrial Internet of Things’ in 2012

The Internet of Things becomes a part of life By the year 2013, the IoT had become a system using multiple technologies, ranging from the Internet to wireless communication, and from micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) to embedded systems

2015 The IoT goes mobile Smartphones are part of the IoT, and have become an important communications tool for many individuals. In 2015, they joined the IoT with a high degree of enthusiasm from marketers insurtechdigital.com

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TRAILBLAZER

An Admirable Man: Henry Engelhardt JOB TITLE: CEO AND FOUNDER

COMPANY: ADMIRAL GROUP

Fed up with the workaholic world of trading, Henry Engelhardt decided to launch a new career in insurance - and founded the world-renowned Admiral Group

T

he son of a Chicago meat-packer, Henry Engelhardt once aspired to be a journalist - even studying the subject at the University of Michigan - before eventually pivoting in favour of entrepreneurship.

Of course, things then were very different to the early 1990s, when he was a freshfaced 30-year-old with no idea he was on the precipice of changing the face of insurance in the UK. Today, according to Forbes, he is ranked number 1,730 on the billionaires list, with an estimated wealth of US$1.5bn.

Back in the 1980s, though, he was still living in Chicago with his Frenchborn girlfriend, Diane (who would later become his wife), and desperately hated his job as a trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The first few years were fun but, according to Henry, the dynamics and personalities of the firm suddenly changed and it was a less pleasant place to work.

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May 2022

It was a key moment and would come to shape his future management style at Admiral.

Engelhardt discovers insurance Disillusioned with the status quo and thirsty for new adventures, Henry and Diane - who had met as students - quit their jobs and travelled around Asia for six months to reassess their future plans.

Henry then enrolled on a Master of Business Administration (MBA) course in Paris and, following a stint in London as a management consultant, he applied for a job in car insurance.

The prospect wasn’t one he relished.

Speaking of that time, he says: “And I literally thought: Oh no, how boring, what could be worse than car insurance?”

However, Engelhardt Number of years was sure that he didn't working want to be a management consultant any more, so he in the industry applied for the job, which

20

©

Wales Online

“ How wealthy we've become is a recipe of three parts: luck, one part smarts, and one part determination” insurtechdigital.com

17

TRAILBLAZER

©

Wales Online

Henry Engelhardt and David Stevens in 1993

18

May 2022

“ I’ve had some bad bosses, my kids have had some terrible bosses, and the effect having a bad boss has on your life is amazing” was with Churchill. He then discovered that,to his surprise, the car insurance industry was exactly the type of career he wanted to pursue.

His natural aptitude for the field saw Engelhardt spend a further two years at Churchill, before being headhunted by Lloyds of London. Lloyds offered him the opportunity to launch and lead a new company in the sector, which would go on to become Admiral.

Work life balance priorities From the outset, Engelhardt made sure his team understood that he was not a workaholic-style boss and that kind of culture was not something he would entertain in this company.

The formula struck a chord with his colleagues and Admiral Group, which was founded in 1993. At the time, it was a tiny startup with just five staff and a lot of vision. Initially, it offered car and home insurance, while also launching the UK's first insurance price comparison website.

After almost 30 years at the helm, Engelhardt stepped down as Admiral Group’s CEO in May 2016. Today, the company turns over US$4bn annually and is considered one of the world’s leading car insurance companies.

Still a keen advocate for a healthy work culture, Engelhard continues to be a part-time employee, mentoring senior managers and taking part in the company’s MBA recruitment drives.

A family man Still married to Diane, the couple have four now-adult children. He continues to reside in the UK, settling in Wales.

Since living there, he and his wife, Diane, have developed the Moondance Foundation Amount to support causes across donated Wales, including education, healthcare, poverty, and to the arts. charity

£1mn

insurtechdigital.com

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FIVE MINUTES WITH...

OVERHAUL’S GM TALKS TELEMATICS AND FLEET SAFETY

David Braunstein David Braunstein is Insurtech General Manager at Overhaul, which provides AI-driven risk management and real-time visibility solutions.

Q. TELL US ABOUT YOUR ROLE AT OVERHAUL

» Overhaul is a supply chain risk management software company. We produce software and deliver embedded risk management solutions that dramatically reduce the likelihood that shippers and their partner motor-carriers experience costly disruptions as goods are moving from origin to destination. We are especially good at managing safety, security and integrity-related risks.

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May 2022

As GM of our Insuretech line of business, my role is to create value for our company and our customers at the intersection of tech, insight and insured risk. In other words, my charter is to fuse our software and solutions to insurance markets where the name of the game is always to proactively manage risk.

What's new in the insurtech world is that underwriting can now be digitised and informed by the kind of operational riskmanagement data and business process

that Overhaul uses day-in, day-out. Bringing this capability to partners in the insurance industry is a natural extension of the business we've built.

Q. Y OU'RE A SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR. WHAT IS THAT?

» Social entrepreneurs are innovators

who put creating value for society and the businesses they create on equal footing.

We believe that doing well while doing good is not only achievable, but it is a ‘must’ to create a sustainable world. In the case of Overhaul and my specific role, we are initially focusing our insuretech value proposition on safety-related solutions. We want every motor carrier we work with to have the tools and business process in place to bring their drivers home safe at night. Helping these businesses to institutionalise safety cultures is good for business and for the communities where they operate.

Q. H OW CAN INSURTECH IMPROVE FLEET SAFETY?

» The fleet-safety data we capture and

share with insurance partners is more granular than ever. Insuretech aligns that operational outcomes data (less-risky behaviour, fewer incidents, etc.) with the financial incentives that insurance can offer. Companies committed to safety can now be rewarded with lower commercial auto insurance premiums by proving with operational data that they are sustaining a safety culture. Using insurance savings to invest in other aspects of a trucking company safety programme is a win-win for everyone.

Fleet safety is also about coaching and, fundamentally, about building strong relationships with commercial vehicle drivers, who are in short supply. Insuretech

solutions like ours are creating better two-way conversations between drivers and motor carriers that reinforce driver wellness and retention, while creating a safety culture.

Q. H OW IS LOGISTICS INSURTECH ADVANCING?

» Recent years have seen an increase in

an insuretech approach to supply chain issues, with companies tying the security of shipments to an insurance product.

Insurance companies used to offer a discount or special terms if certain security protocols or technologies were in place.

Now, there is more of a direct bundling of technology and insurance, meaning if you buy the tech, you must buy the insurance and you're unable to unbundle the two.

Also, many of today's offerings are based on the offer of insurance with the technology as the secondary, but mandatory, purchase.

There are also technologies that are looking to embed a risk transfer solution directly into the tech purchase and are included in the tech cost.

5 FIVE MINUTES WITH...

‘ People need the joy of their own discovery’

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May 2022

Another approach is providing the customer with choices. This is a less formal insurtech approach. It starts with technology that protects cargo or helps improve driver performance, and then provides the resulting data.

This is used on either a directly tied-in insurance product or is used to prove the quality of risk to others, for benefit. This allows the customer to retain choice while gaining all of the advantages of the technology.

Q. TELL US ABOUT YOUR ROAD SAFETY ACTIVITY

» I got started with Together For Safer Roads (TSR) as an offshoot of my work at IBM, which was an early member of the coalition. With a newly-minted driver in my own house, it

struck me how vulnerable my family was, and how so many families suffer because of trafficrelated crashes. Most people aren't aware that road fatalities are a top-ten public health issue globally and the number-one cause of death for people under 25. That's tragic because traffic crashes are preventable.

TSR's mission is to reduce traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities by bringing the business community into problem-solving partnerships with the public sector. TSR creates and guides programmes, where infusing business expertise and data can change the game.

We are trying to change the perception that the public sector is the sole steward of safer roads. We are also trying to move beyond the misconception that personal driver

responsibility is the root cause of all our road safety issues. The notion that 95% of all crashes are caused by human error is just wrong. This is a systems problem.

So many communities have road systems that include poorly designed roads, many older, unsafe vehicles, a lack of commitment to speed management, under-supervised young drivers and regulations that are not keeping up with technologies, adding risk to our roads.

Q. W HO INSPIRES YOU?

» I'm inspired by our CEO Barry Conlon.

Barry and I met at a Together For Safer Roads dinner years ago, when he was just getting Overhaul off the ground. I was really impressed by his commitment to creating a purpose-driven business.

Many startups are just trying to survive. Barry knows that survival means having a purpose that goes beyond the traditional metrics of valuation and profit. Of course he cares about those things. But the DNA of Overhaul is truly rooted in a commitment to mitigating supply chain-related risks that have far-reaching consequences for companies and communities.

Q. B EST PIECE OF ADVICE EVER GIVEN?

» The President of the first startup I worked for once told me that ‘People need the joy of their own discovery’. I love that because it means so many things. First off, it means don't expect the best results if you manage top-down.

People on the front lines of any business need guidance, but they need ownership and autonomy even more so. It also means that people with whom you work might not immediately agree with your own thoughts on an approach. That's fine. Giving people the opportunity to discover for themselves what works and doesn't work is empowering and opens their eyes to alternative solutions. insurtechdigital.com

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Join us at TECH LIVE LONDON Showcase your values, products and services to your partners and customers at TECH LIVE LONDON 2022.

Brought to you by BizClik Media Group TECH LIVE LONDON, the hybrid event held between 23rd-24th June is broadcast live to the world and incorporates four zone areas of Technology & AI LIVE, Cloud & 5G LIVE, Cyber LIVE plus March8 LIVE in to one event.

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From keynote addresses to lively roundtables, fireside discussions to topical presentations, Q&A sessions to 1-2-1 networking, the 2-day hybrid show is an essential deep dive into issues impacting the future of each industry today.

Global giants and innovative startups will all find the perfect platform with direct access to an engaged and active audience. You can’t afford to miss this opportunity.

See you on:

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STRUCTURALLY ADVANTAGED VENTURE CAPITAL

26

May 2022

DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

WRITTEN BY: LAURA V. GARCIA PRODUCED BY: JAKE MEGEARY

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DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

Structurally Advantaged Venture Capital Delivering Acceleration and Realisation

D

istributed Ventures is on a mission: to find, fund, and collaborate with visionary entrepreneurs, while combining the powerful vantage point of its strategic LPs, e.g., diversified insurance broker NFP. Shawn Ellis, Managing Partner of Distributed Ventures and operator of its venture investing team, says: "Across our Partner group, we've all operated in various capacities ourselves. We've been in companies from a very early stage to very mature, and we've seen a variety of relevant fact patterns as a result."

In addition to its human capital, Distributed Ventures' strategy of targeting very early-stage companies is another one of its differentiators. "We like to work with companies in the early innings of their journey. We'll target late seed and Series A investments and, in collaboration with our strategic LPs, help to materially accelerate our portfolio companies’ momentum. It’s highly unusual to collaborate as closely as we do with our strategic LPs in support of our portfolio companies. This DNA is embedded in our fund, given that the investment team at Distributed Ventures spun from NFP Ventures, our prior fund, with the full support of NFP. This early partnership with NFP has been a key source of differentiation and advantage, and NFP has been a terrific partner to position Distributed Ventures for success for years to come."

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May 2022

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DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

Structurally Advantaged Venture Capital

"Because of our strong Harnessing The Power “WE'RE NOW AT AN perspective and subject of Strategic LPs EXCITING POINT matter expertise rooted Distributed Ventures’ WHERE WE'RE RAISING in distribution, we help true differentiation OUR SECOND FUND, companies with their comes from the subject DISTRIBUTED VENTURES, go-to-market strategies, matter expertise it taps value propositions, from its LPs, who are AND WE'RE WELCOMING bundling and pricing there from the beginning, CAPITAL FROM models. We also offering expertise to help INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS help accelerate their optimise potential.

BEYOND NFP” businesses quicker and "We engage our LP become more successful. network throughout SHAWN ELLIS The breadth of agility that the lifespan of a deal.

MANAGING PARTNER, we apply in support of Starting with identifying DISTRIBUTED VENTURES our portfolio companies attractive opportunities is really unique. We built the blueprint – with as we're going through due diligence. We how we tap into strategic support from our very quickly tap into the subject matter LPs – in our prior fund, NFP Ventures." expertise we have within our ranks. Tthen, After spinning out, Distributed after we make an investment, we sit down Ventures’ anchor LP remains NFP, a large, with the company and establish a natural diversified and successful insurance distribution strategy. What are their goals? broker with a large employer benefits How can we help them achieve then exceed consulting business. them? We help them think even bigger by 32

May 2022

DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

SHAWN ELLIS TITLE: MANAGING PARTNER INDUSTRY: VENTURE CAPITAL LOCATION: GREATER CHICAGO AREA

EXECUTIVE BIO

integrating them with functional leaders and teams that are forward-leaning across their organisations in various disciplines.

"Our LPs are often aware of these companies and technologies because they've already been part of the evaluation process and have spoken with them. We also have the good fortune to have colleagues who are happy to lean in and really shape the future of this industry, working closely with these organisations.

"We're now raising our second fund, and welcoming capital from institutional partners beyond NFP. It’s exciting to build on the strategic muscle NFP has brought in a distribution context and layer in diverse, complementary contacts from insurance carrier partners, from other brokerage players in the industry and traditional institutional investors. We're really excited about our fund two and growing the innovation that we can accelerate in the market.

"We're growing our team as we raise our next fund, and excited about the next stable of portfolio companies we'll be working with and are already having conversations with a number of companies so we'll have exciting news to share in the early days."

Shawn Ellis is the Managing Partner of Distributed Ventures.

He co-founded and manages the fund.

Prior to Distributed Ventures, Shawn built and lead NFP Ventures, a captive early-stage venture fund sponsored

by NFP Corp, the diversified insurance brokerage. He currently serves as director on the boards of Axio, Vivante Health, Relay, and Wingspan.

Shawn’s investment approach leverages diverse operational, strategic and investment experience.

Previously, as President and founding team member of Zest Health, he led the company’s growth from concept to over half a million paid subscribers and partnerships with several health plans less than three years. Zest was eventually rebranded as Yaro and acquired by Virgin Pulse. Prior to Zest, Shawn focused on healthcare technology investments at 7wire Ventures. He was a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and began his career at Lazard Middle Market’s M&A practice.

Shawn holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago. He is a member of the The Economic Club of Chicago and a board member of the Linden Foundation.

insurtechdigital.com

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The Future Calls

Over 7.5 million Americans | Over 100,000 5-star reviews* * iOS + Google App stores as of 7/15/21.

DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

“ EXHILARATING TO WORK IN COLLABORATION WITH STRATEGIC, SOPHISTICATED CORPORATE ENTITY LPS, THAT ARE OPERATING AT SCALE YET HUNGRY AND RECEPTIVE TO INNOVATION AND FORWARD-LOOKING BEST PRACTICES” SHAWN ELLIS

MANAGING PARTNER, DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

Partnerships Built for the Long Haul Empowered by subject matter expertise, internally and through partnerships, gives Distributed Ventures an edge, allowing them to better see where the industry is going and to hear the customer and market’s voice.

“We're living in a high-velocity venture market. It's easy to err toward a transactional approach as people tend to work on autopilot. We really like to know our partners. We work closely with them and are supportive. In terms of economics, even speaking to the way we structure our investments, often there's a component where we're helping companies while earning the right to invest more in them by accelerating their businesses, which really matter to founding teams and their other investors.

“It's this notion of finding a balance, understanding value creation and having a long-term view in terms of the partnership.

We build partnerships that are durable and hope to work with founders across multiple businesses and ventures.” insurtechdigital.com

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DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

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May 2022

DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

“WE'RE HAPPY TO WORK WITH COMPANIES IN THE VERY EARLY INNINGS OF THEIR JOURNEY. WE'LL TARGET LATE SEED AND SERIES A INVESTMENTS” SHAWN ELLIS

MANAGING PARTNER, DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

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Competitive Differentiation Table™

DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

to the back-end reconciliation process amongst brokers and carriers. Equipped with a dynamic founding team and strong set of investors, we look forward to continuing to support Ascend as they transform the industry."

Ascend Ascend is the first end-to-end platform within the insurance industry that provides automated all-in-one payments, premium financing, collections, and payables. Selling to brokers, carriers, MGAs, and digital native insurtech companies, Ascend condenses the flow of funds timeline improving policy retention, increasing revenue, and moving money (ie commission/premium) more quickly.

“Ascend is rebuilding critical payment infrastructure that has largely remained untouched for the last several decades. As they look to accelerate progress well beyond incremental improvements, Distributed Ventures is helping Ascend enhance the payment experience while bringing efficiency

TrustLayer TrustLayer’s insurance management platform allows companies to automate the verification of insurance, licences, and compliance documents. The company has developed technology to streamline the collection, management and review process through one integrated offering, enabling companies to reduce error-prone manual compliance tasks and quickly identify issues related to noncompliance. TrustLayer’s multi-channel approach to distribution includes selling directly to enterprises (B2B) and leveraging channel partnerships (B2B2B), including brokerages and associations. Trustlayer leverages powerful network effects to grow distribution organically, i.e., vendors and their brokers validating insurance through the platform become top of the funnel leads for TrustLayer to pursue. insurtechdigital.com

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DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

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DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

“ONE EXCITING VALUE-ADD WE BRING IS HELPING THESE ORGANISATIONS FIND THE BEST TALENT AND CONTINUE TO FEED IT - AHEAD OF THEIR HUMAN CAPITAL NEEDS” SHAWN ELLIS

MANAGING PARTNER, DISTRIBUTED VENTURES

”TrustLayer is a great example of Distributed Ventures’ ability to invest in very attractive companies that also bear significant strategic relevance to our limited partners. With TrustLayer, connectivity to our investor base has not only helped galvanise conviction for investment but also help us secure a significant allocation in a competitive fundraising process," says Ellis.

Relay Platform Relay is a SaaS platform equipping brokers, wholesalers, and their capacity providers with the leading white-labelled electronic placement solution in both P&C insurance and facultative reinsurance. With exceptional support for mid-market and large commercial lines of business, Relay delivers client-winning proposals supported by best-in-class instant API-based and email quoting capabilities.

Distributed Ventures invested in Relay Platform about two years ago, after getting to know Greg Boutin, the founder, and has since developed a strong relationship. "We really liked Greg’s approach to the market and how he was thinking about bringing efficiency to risk placements in a way we hadn't seen.

I've been a director for the company over the course of this time, working very closely with Greg as he's finding product-market fit for various offerings of Relay, accelerating the business and growing his team. One exciting value-add we bring is helping these organisations find the best talent and continue to feed it - ahead of their human capital needs so it's not just financing helping them grow, but also the right perspectives and cultural alignments,” says Ellis.

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ADOPTING A CUSTOMER -CENTRIC APPROACH IN INSURTECH New technologies like AI and machine learning are revolutionising insurtech.

How can we utilise them to ensure we put customers at the heart of what we do?

WRITTEN BY: ALEX CLERE

C

urrently, nobody ever wants insurance – at least, not until they really need it. And so, for insurtech innovators, providing a compelling proposition for customers is a critical business challenge.

With technological advancements and the march of digital transformation, customers expect insurance to be more compelling and more convenient than ever.

That makes it increasingly important for insurtech firms to place customers squarely at the centre of their processes and offerings.

Here, we examine how insurtech companies are putting customers first and how the industry is likely to evolve in the future.

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How are insurtech companies putting customers first?

According to PwC, the revenue opportunity from disruption in the insurance industry could be worth as much as £50 billion. The biggest potential comes from greater utilisation of data – currently, insurers only collect some data on consumer behaviour and the level of risk against which they are insuring. New technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, could help insurtechs to make smarter decisions by providing greater access to information about customers and their behaviour.

INSURANCE

Ultimately, however, any advantage that insurtechs gain through smarter use of AI and other technology must be channelled into providing a better customer experience – whether that’s more targeted products and services, or smarter pricing for insurance options.

Paul Morgenthaler, managing partner at CommerzVentures, says: “Given the highly intangible nature of insurance, the customer experience matters more than anything else.

Insurtech provides a superior experience to consumers at all touchpoints, from purchase and policy management to service interactions and claims.”

“ GIVEN THE HIGHLY INTANGIBLE NATURE OF INSURANCE, THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MATTERS MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE” PAUL MORGENTHALER MANAGING PARTNER, COMMERZVENTURES

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CELEBRATING

YEARS IN

PREMIUM FINANCE

1977-2022

We’re the most experienced provider of premium finance funding insurance for one in seven UK families and one in 20 UK businesses “Close Brothers have been a great partner – they’re one of the most trusted names in the industry.”

Richard King - Founder & CEO Ticker

Drop an email to workwithus@closebrothers.com Go to www.closebrotherspf.com

INSURANCE

AI can be used by insurtechs to improve the underwriting process, gathering more data points that can then be used to provide greater insight into the level of risk that exists with every customer and every policy. With sound use of AI, insurers can reduce the number of man-hours that go into assessing risk, improving both the speed and cost of onboarding new insurance customers.

Take Cognizant, the New Jersey-based professional services company. In a case study published in 2021, they revealed how they were able to utilise AI to increase the efficiency of underwriting by ten-fold.

Cognizant was approached by a reinsurer planning to enter the US flood insurance market, who were seeking a smarter way to assess risk. The platform that Cognizant created took into account multiple data points – including flood hazard maps, geospatial data from geographic information systems (GISs), and historical claims – to provide the insurer with a clearer view of the flood risk involved in new policies. And the Cognizant solution equips the insurer with an ongoing snapshot of risk by assigning homes and businesses with their own risk score.

“ PERSONALISATION IS A MUST IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY. THE QUALITY OF THAT CUSTOMER-CENTRIC SERVICE CAN MAKE OR BREAK A BUSINESS” TEO BLIDARUS

CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, FINTECHOS

How is AI helping insurers to make smarter decisions?

AI can be used in so many other ways to aid insurtechs, too. The technology has the capability of converting huge data sets into meaningful insights for insurers. Not only does this help assess risk, it can also streamline the processes involved with handling claims as they come in. Laborious tasks can be automated and AI can be used to identify anomalies that might be indicative of fraudulent or problematic claims.

For consumers who don’t currently hold a policy, AI can be used to reduce the workload on human customer service insurtechdigital.com

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INSURANCE

representatives through chatbots and other interactions. The vast majority of customers today get their information on insurance products through a company’s website or app, meaning that reliable and up-to-date information is incredibly important in asserting trust and persuading visitors to convert into customers. Most insurers will constantly review their FAQs and informational pages to improve the experience for users, but chatbots can use AI to constantly learn about how visitors are behaving on site and what questions they are asking – perhaps because they weren’t able to find the answer elsewhere.

With this in mind, personalising the insurance proposition is increasingly important.

Teo Blidarus, CEO and co-founder of FintechOS, which helps financial institutions to bridge the gap between legacy and future-proof systems, explains: “Whether it’s life insurance, health insurance or pet insurance, personalisation is a must in the insurance industry, and the quality of that customer-centric service can make or break a business.

“The modern customer has much higher expectations, and personalised interactions and connected experiences across digital channels are a priority.

Personalisation can help to serve existing customers by offering them intuitive, relevant experiences built on a foundation of rich data insights. It can also be an effective way of driving new customer acquisition for insurance companies.

Ultimately, if done well, personalisation at scale can provide a direct route to lower rates of customer churn and higher sales.”

And Paul Morgenthaler, managing partner at CommerzVentures, agrees: “The ideal insurance experience reflects 46

May 2022

“ I EXPECT EMBEDDED INSURANCE PROPOSITIONS TO BECOME EVEN MORE PREVALENT, GIVEN HOW SEAMLESSLY THESE SOLUTIONS CAN BE INTEGRATED” PAUL MORGENTHALER MANAGING PARTNER, COMMERZVENTURES

INSURANCE

the best of digital and human processes at the same time. This is especially true in claims. AI-based claims automation providers, such as Omni:us, substantially reduce the need for manual claim processing. This frees up claims handlers to focus on complicated cases that may require an increased level of human interaction and empathy with customers.”

How will insurtech evolve in future?

With the number of fintech options available to consumers constantly growing, it becomes important to target the right products in the right places. Consumers are used to seeing travel insurance as part of the checkout process for their summer holiday, or

contents insurance when they buy high-value electronic items such as laptops or televisions.

As the technology becomes more accessible, these placements will become even more commonplace, and it’s possible that consumers will become more demanding. AI can help to provide better product recommendations by utilising more data about consumers, their interests and their behaviour.

“Insurance is already embedded in many products and consumer experiences,” Paul Morgenthaler continues. “I certainly expect embedded insurance propositions to become even more prevalent, given how seamlessly these solutions can be integrated into checkout processes with technology.” insurtechdigital.com

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WRITTEN BY: GEORGIA WILSON PRODUCED BY: MIKE SADR

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THE STANDARD

ACHIEVING FINANCIAL WELL - BEING AND PEACE OF MIND

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THE STANDARD

An employee from The Standard volunteered for Habitat for Humanity

Example of an image caption

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THE STANDARD

The Standard’s Rachel Henney details the company’s approach to ESG, commitments to simplicity in its procurement processes and strong third-party governance

F

ounded in Portland, Oregon, in 1906, Standard Insurance Company (The Standard) is a leading provider of financial protection, insurance, retirement, and investment products and services for both employees and individuals.

Under its holding company name, StanCorp Financial Group Inc., the organisation has four primary subsidiaries: Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, Inc., and StanCorp Mortgage Investors, LLC. When it comes to The Standard’s core mission, Rachel Henney, Head of Procurement, Supplier Management and Governance, explains her love of its simplicity. “The Standard is a family of companies dedicated to helping our more than eight million customers achieve financial well-being and peace of mind,” she says.

Since joining the company in 2015, Henney reflects on the incredible growth of the group: “When I arrived, revenues were at US$2.9bn. We ended 2021 at nearly US$4bn,” says Henney.

She adds: “We’ve also deepened our investment in technology. And in doing so, we came to understand that we cannot be experts in everything. So, we partner with strategic, best-in-class vendor partners to deliver value to our businesses and customers. insurtechdigital.com

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HCL Technologies helps The Standard achieve their vision Ananth Subramanya, SVP of Digital Business at HCL Technologies, details how the company’s helping The Standard digitally transform now, and in the future

Helping The Standard to digitally transform Like any other insurance company, The Standard is focused on investing in its customer experience. The Standard offers a variety of solutions, including those for retirement, disability, dental and healthcare.

In recent years, technology has taken a central role pretty much everywhere.

As a key enabler for many organisations, having advanced technology within core operations has become a key differentiator for businesses.

“Organisations are no longer simply using technology as a substitute for labour to drive productivity,” says Ananth Subramanya, SVP of Digital Business at HCL Technologies.

He adds: “Technology has become a core conversation in the boardroom.

Now they are figuring out how technology can advance the business and drive the important aspects of the agenda.

Investment in technology is becoming as important as the products an organisation sells.”

Helping organisations achieve their digital transformation vision With COVID-19 accelerating the pace of transformation for many organisations, technology has resulted in significant positive disruption to many regulated industries.

“If you consider dynamically priced insurance industries, there is significant consolidation in the industry that is driving better experiences and modern capabilities; this can also be extended to the optimisation of functions such as underwriting. Those in the industry are using technology to improve the experience and value a customer gains.” says Subramanya.

“Ensuring that they deliver frictionless solutions so that customers don’t suffer from long wait times, as well as innovating and improving fast are key components for the Standard,” says Subramanya.

He adds: “In order to achieve this, HCL Technologies is providing The Standard with significant optimisation capability for their current processes including infrastructure, development processes, and QR automation. With these capabilities, they are able to adopt and improve much faster.

“The Standard has also invested a lot in improving its operations and driving efficiency throughout its local platforms with RPA. HCL is helping to ensure that the entire process in the backend is optimised so that the customer experience continues to remain valuable.”

Learn more

THE STANDARD

“Deeper storytelling will be a core element of the report. We’re committed to sharing stories — many of which have not been shared publicly — about ESG activities” RACHEL HENNEY

HEAD OF PROCUREMENT, SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE, THE STANDARD

“But particularly in the last two years, during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve really seen great success with our shift to working remotely while continuing to provide the superb customer service that sets us apart from our peers.”

The Standard and its ESG commitment In the early stages of its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) related work, The Standard’s approach to ESG has always been driven by its vision “to support a healthier environment for all, to strengthen communities, to align corporate values, and ensure we always take the high road,” says Henney.

She adds: “ESG is important and it will continue to be a focus for us.”

Yearly, The Standard reports on its ESG activities, sharing details on its plans to ensure the long-term sustainability of the company as well as its measurement and management of its impact.

While Henney can’t share many specifics in regards to its upcoming 2021 report, she can say: “The 2021 report will be focused on how we ensure the long-term sustainability of the company, and measure and manage the impact our company has on our customers, communities and environment. It will also continue to highlight how we create a workplace culture in which each employee is valued and respected.”

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When asked how the 2021 report will compare to 2020, she adds: “Deeper storytelling will be a core element of the report.

We’re committed to sharing stories — many of which have not been shared publicly — about ESG activities inside our various business units.”

The Standard is committed to multiple United Nations Social Development Goals (SDGs), the adoption of which will help the company to not only track and report on its work, but to tell a more complete and transparent story when it comes to its sustainability.

The Standard’s dedication to supplier diversity With supplier diversity being a core pillar of The Standard’s ESG model, this approach offers the company an opportunity to support its communities. “Supplier diversity is a business imperative; we take this very seriously and promote inclusion of diverse suppliers with our standard workflow for procurement and sourcing events,” explains Henney.

She adds: “We continually grow and promote our supplier diversity efforts by benchmarking activities with industry peers for best practices, leveraging the advocacy organisations that certify companies as diverse (NGLCC, NMSDC, MBENC) for future matchmaking events to grow our portfolio of diverse suppliers.”

THE STANDARD

EXECUTIVE BIO RACHEL HENNEY TITLE: HEAD OF PROCUREMENT, SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE Rachel Henney is the Head of Procurement, Supplier Management and Governance for Standard Insurance Company. Henney is responsible for leading the supplier management division and for ensuring ensuring a strong and capable supplier base is in place

to support the company’s suppliers of products, professional services, software, hardware and outsourced services.

Henney joined The Standard in 2015 and has over 25 years of experience in procurement, supplier management and enterprise shared services. She has held previous roles in business consulting and solution delivery, focusing on programme management, simplification, business case realization and strategic vision & planning.

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Business transformation

Human elevation We don’t just create real-world transformation. Driven by our purpose, we amplify the impact insurers have on the world empowering employees and helping communities thrive.

Discover how we can make a difference together.

Genpact helping its clients to insure customers for life Sameer Dewan, Genpact’s global business leader for insurance, discusses how the insurance industry is embracing a new age of data and lifetime customer journeys

is a key partner in helping organisations connect, predict, and adapt to become instinctive insurers and lifelong protectors in their customers’ lives,” adds Dewan.

Genpact is a global professional services firm delivering business transformation by putting digital and data to work to create competitive advantage.

Partnership with The Standard

It’s guided by its mission – the relentless pursuit of a world that works better for people. Genpact is focused on delivering ESG outcomes for both itself and its ecosystem of shareholders, stakeholders, employees, and the communities it operates in. As global business leader for insurance, Sameer Dewan partners with insurers, brokers, and MGAs to drive transformation, develop digital and analytics capabilities at a fast pace, and deliver business growth and efficiency.

State of flux from transactional to lifelong customer journeys The role Genpact plays - as detailed in its report Insurance In The Age of Instinct - is to help the insurance industry tackle challenges such as changing consumer expectations, the explosion of data, and a fast-moving technology landscape.

“How insurers respond today will lay the foundation for future resilience, and Genpact

The Standard provides insurance, retirement and investment products and services, with total assets under administration of USD$45.36 bn. Genpact creates value for them as an extension of The Standard’s team, creating growth with agile operating models that can scale up to meet demand and running operations to ensure they deliver value.

“We started by assessing the current state of operations and customer journeys and the choke points in each. This led to a redesigned operating model, with customer journeys at the heart of designing the new process - driving a better customer experience and growth. But transformation is not a ‘one and done’ project, we also created a transformation roadmap to consciously and continuously drive improvements, meeting The Standard’s goals of growth and profitability over the long term.” said Dewan.

Learn more

THE STANDARD

Allegis Global Solutions Allegis Global Solutions (AGS) is a managed service provider of contingent worker procurement for The Standard. “In the last year, the amount of contingent worker diversity spend was just over 27%,” says Henney.

She adds: “AGS as a company is focused on three Sustainable Development Goals for 2022, including climate, work and economic growth, and reduced inequalities, all of which align with The Standard’s core values as well.”

Dun & Bradstreet Leveraging several services from Dun & Bradstreet, the company provides The Standard with third-party insights.

“With information from their internal certified data, we include unique businesses that have been classified using can be segmented to specific socio-economic classifications, such as minority, women, veteran, LGBTQ, and disabled-owned businesses,” explains Henney.

With this information, The Standard can understand the composition of its existing third-party catalogue.

Genpact As one of The Standard’s primary suppliers, Genpact supports business process delivery across the policy lifecycle. “We share a deep commitment to three key objectives,” says Henney. “Improving our business through simplification, collectively serving our customers’ needs, and increasing diversity.

“They parallel our focus around prioritising diversity and inclusion as published on their website” says Henney. “The results of our strategic engagement with Genpact continue to support not only our company’s vision and mission but also our culture.”

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Commenting on the partnership with Genpact, Brenda Smith, senior director of Workplace Possibilities at The Standard says: “Genpact has been supporting our area for many years now, starting with two important business processes: both case and invoice set up. Through a solid partnership, our relationship has grown and the team has taken on additional processes including document creation and components of correspondence.

All members of the team are hardworking and conscientious, bringing forward ideas for improvement, questions and issues as they arise. Their attention to detail shows in their most recent metric results: 99.41% accuracy and 100% timeliness.”

HCL Technologies Working with HCL Technologies since 2016, The Standard continues to grow its strong partnership with the company.

“Our collaboration with HCL Technologies brings significant value, operational efficiency, and thought leadership to The Standard,” says Henney. “Their operations are well-aligned to The Standard’s culture of transparency, trust and openness.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, HCL Technologies was a vital partner for The Standard to pivot its operation in the ‘new normal’. “With HCL Technologies alongside our other strategic partners we experienced no loss of productivity, expanded our network capacity, and transitioned to 100% remote working,” says Henney.

She adds: “The partnership between HCL Technologies and the Standard has helped the organisation tap into a larger skill and talent pool enhancing our company’s competitiveness in the market.”

THE STANDARD

The Standard simplifies its processes and drives effective governance When it comes to the simplification of its processes, Henney explains that The Standard leverages a methodology called ‘lean management system’.

She says: “Lean at The Standard is a set of tools and behaviours that focus on continuously improving the value we provide to our customers, with an engaged and empowered workforce.”

The Standard’s goal is to maximise the performance of its systems or value stream to eliminate waste in the value chain. “Asking ‘why’ each step is required, it serves as a baseline for simplification opportunities,” adds Henney.

Choosing a third-party risk governance approach, The Standard uses subject matter experts from across the enterprise covering multiple risk areas — geopolitical,

The Standard’s annual Volunteer Expo in Portland, Oregon

Achieving financial well-being and peace of mind

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Business-led and cloud-forward transformation.

Meet a new kind of digital transformation that helps drive value for insurance organizations faster.

Learn more

© 2022 PwC. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the US member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network.

Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors.

THE STANDARD

“ Change is inevitable, it is one thing that remains constant” RACHEL HENNEY

HEAD OF PROCUREMENT, SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE THE STANDARD

technology, compliance, fraud, and legal, to name a few.

“This provides a holistic governance approach for our third parties,” says Henney. “These ‘Risk Domain Owners’ work with our centralised TPRM Governance group who act as the central clearing house for TPRM risk monitoring and information management.”

In 2021, The Standard further evolved its Third-Party Risk Management Governance group by leveraging leading practices to expand its TPRM programme.

“Using a risk-based approach, the TPRM Governance programme monitors third-party providers across a wide number of Risk Domains,” says Henney.

She adds: “One of the current focus areas for the programme is to provide enhanced reporting capabilities so business stakeholders have improved visibility to current risk information about their third parties.

The Third-Party Risk Management Governance group works with both business and third-party stakeholders to ensure that risks are monitored and appropriately managed throughout the engagement lifecycle.”

The Standard's strategic suppliers help to simplify processes PwC When it comes to quality, cost and control, strategic suppliers at The Standard work with business leaders to determine where the group should focus its outcomes. “While we want to improve all of these, it’s not possible,” explains Henney.

She adds: “You can’t require that a supplier is fast, inexpensive and delivers sustainable solutions. Choosing two of these as primary outcomes and objectives together help focus operational results that meet expectations.

Our strategic suppliers are integral to core operations and our customer satisfaction.”

As a Strategic and Preferred Supplier, PwC works with The Standard to enable and enhance business intelligence and analytics, transforming our end-user ecosystem. PwC and The Standard defined a strategy to simplify our operating and governance model, modernising technology to complement business strategy. PwC’s approach helped The Standard support sustained internal growth and adoption of transformation, including the creation of an internal delivery structure focused on strategy realisation.

“Change is inevitable,” says Henney, “It is one thing that remains constant. PwC assists The Standard with the pace of change, and as we progress in our transformational journey, we leverage PwC’s insurance industry experience as well.”

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THE STANDARD

“ Over the past couple of years, the pandemic has reshaped our industry and its perception” RACHEL HENNEY

HEAD OF PROCUREMENT, SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE THE STANDARD

The Standard’s outlook for the future Looking to the future, Henney expects the industry to continue to be impacted by the current global landscape including the pandemic, geopolitical unrest, and employment retention challenges.

She says: “These next couple of years will focus on a deeper evaluation of our supply base, looking at how we can optimise the utilisation of strategic, preferred partners to mitigate inflation impacts.”

She adds: “Future trends are in part defined by a reflection of the recent past; over the past couple of years, the pandemic has reshaped our industry and its perception. We sell a promise to be there for our life and disability insurance customers when they need us.

“The pandemic, sadly, gave us the opportunity to be there for many people and families experiencing the worst.

We're proud of our capability to provide income replacement for people experiencing a disability, and funds to cover expenses and mortgages for families who lost a loved one. The pandemic showed how critical our products are and will continue to be.”

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A group of employees from The Standard volunteered for Habitat for Humanity

THE STANDARD

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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

JUMPSTARTING INSURANCE INNOVATION WITH RPA WRITTEN BY: CATHERINE GRAY

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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

As the insurance industry continues to digitally transform, we take a look at how robotic process automation could be the key to jumpstarting innovation

R

obotic process automation (RPA) is changing the way insurers do business.

From claims management and call centre support to underwriting, RPA is freeing up employees' time of time-consuming, repetitive tasks, instead allowing them to focus on more important tasks and innovation.

Within the insurance industry, RPA offers countless opportunities. Take claims processing, for example. The claims environment highly depends on speed and accuracy to meet customer demands. RPA can help to streamline the back-office, ensuring customers and employees have the information they need when they need it.

The drive to adopt this technology came before the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, with 70% of insurance CEOs looking at operational efficiency as a driver for revenue growth. This push for automation has only grown since the pandemic, many turning to RPA to deal with increasing workloads in areas such as customer service and data entry.

It comes as no surprise that with its ability to improve efficiencies, Gartner predicts that by next year, 90% of large organisations globally will have adopted RPA in some form. Similarly, a recent PwC survey of 6,000 insurance consumers in the U.S. found that 41% are likely or more likely to switch insurance providers due to a lack of digital capabilities, indicating that customers do not want to do business with insurance carriers that still rely on outdated channels, processes and platforms.

“ Using digital labour allows insurers to build agility and resilience into their businesses” JERRY WALLIS

HEAD OF INDUSTRY STRATEGY, EMEA, BLUE PRISM insurtechdigital.com

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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The Story of UiPath

“Traditional manual processes and silos of legacy infrastructure are preventing long-established insurers from providing the speed and flexibility of response to customer demands. As consumers, we have increasingly demanding expectations for omnichannel (web, app, phone) services that are available 24/7 and provide instant, or at least, same-day responses to insurance claims. In this self-service, fast turnaround environment we also want simplicity,” says Jerry Wallis Head of Industry Strategy, EMEA at SS&C Blue Prism, developers of intelligent RPA software and leaders in the industry.

Turning to technology-based methods and AI to meet the changing needs of customers, insurance companies are making RPA a key component of their digital transformation strategies, as Sathya

“ By treating customers individually, insurers create a much more intimate experience, ultimately becoming less of a product provider and more of a partner for life” JERRY WALLIS

HEAD OF INDUSTRY STRATEGY, EMEA,BLUE PRISM

Sethuraman, Director of Global Insurance Practice at UiPath, RPA leader and software provider, says: “Insurers should consider using automation technology to accelerate their digital transformation efforts. For those insurtechdigital.com

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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

getting started with automation, insurers can set up software robots to execute routine processes in sales, underwriting, servicing, and beyond that tend to be a pain to do business for customers and agents. By incorporating automation into these time and financial sensitive processes, insurers can improve agility when challenges arise, expedite speed in response time and get customer-facing digital capabilities up and running faster.”

Building business agility with RPA As well as making existing operations more efficient, automation also helps insurers wield newer technologies such as machine learning with ease-of-integration to support decision making in underwriting and claims adjustment.

RPA and automation technology are perfectly placed to work in conjunction with humans, complementing their judgement in pricing and claim payments, and in doing so, it enhances the workforce productivity to deliver enterprise results.

“Using digital labour allows insurers to build agility and resilience into their businesses.

Streamlining processes obviously offers improved operational efficiency, but the fact that large volumes of work can now be done by a workforce that never sleeps, can be ‘re-trained’ instantly and will never catch COVID-19 means that an insurer can react rapidly to the next disruptor (of whatever kind) and can pivot their business to new markets, new demographics and new products in days or weeks rather than months or years,” explains Wallis.

“The digital workers effectively shield the insurer from the limitations of legacy, allowing them to focus on the value of the innovation and the impact on customers, rather than the complexity and bottlenecks of the underlying systems,” he adds.

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“ Semantic automation allows things to start moving away from rules-based approaches to eliminate much developer labour” SATHYA SETHURAMAN

GLOBAL LEADER, INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION, UIPATH

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

MISSION STATEMENTS According to Grand View Research, the global RPA market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 32.8% from 2021 to 2028 to reach US$13.74bn by 2028.

UiPath UiPath was named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Cloud Testing 2022 Vendor Assessment – Empowering Business Velocity. The report, which included UiPath for the first time among traditional software quality tools, examined cloud testing adoption trends and their influence on organisational success

through the development of secure, highquality software.

Blue Prism This year, Blue Prism was acquired by SS&C for approximately US$1.6bn. The acquisition enhances SS&C's position as a leading provider of software and services to the financial services and healthcare industries with deep expertise in intelligent automation and RPA. The new brand, SS&C Blue Prism, will run as a business unit and report to Mike Megaw, Managing Director, Business Process Automation.

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“ For those getting started with automation, insurers can set up software robots to execute routine processes in sales, underwriting, servicing, and beyond” SATHYA SETHURAMAN

GLOBAL LEADER, INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION, UIPATH

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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

grow the business, instead of managing their system changes to run the business,” comments Sethuraman.

By working at the intersection of applications, whether they are for processing licensing, compensation, products, underwriting, customer service, billing, or claims transactions, RPA relieves employees of certain tasks, leaving space for innovation: “With automation facilitating a seamless information exchange, insurance operations can focus on more high-value work that helps to

Looking to the future of RPA in insurance It goes without saying that Insurtech is developing at a rapid pace and insurers are tasked with the challenge of keeping up. As it continues to be applied across organisations, RPA can become the foundation for digital labour during digitalisation of the industry, dramatically reducing the cost of operations for insurers while enabling them to become more agile and more resilient.

“Insurers will also be able to offer their customers a highly personalised service.

By treating customers individually, insurers will be able to create a much more intimate experience for them and, ultimately, become less of a product provider and more of a partner for life,” adds Wallis.

Concluding, Sethuraman surmises what is to come for insurance and RPA: “Looking into the not-too-distant future, automation will become more potent. Today, automation developers need to tell robots what to do, step-by-step: “Move here, open this, extract that, bring it there…” Depending on the complexity of the automation, developing and encoding step-by-step instructions can easily account for 40 to 60% of automation build time.”

“Semantic automation allows automation to start to move away from rules-based approaches to eliminate much of this developer labour. Semantically-enabled robots will not only be able to see and read what’s on the screen; they will also understand the relationships between, and contexts around, documents, processes, data, and applications.

Soon, software robots will be able to simply observe an activity and begin to emulate it without step-by-step instructions.” insurtechdigital.com

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EMPIRE LIFE

WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND PRODUCED BY: JAKE MEGEARY

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As the insurance industry evolves, we spoke to three Empire Life executives to find out how the company is transforming in an ever-changing marketplace.

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ounded in 1923, The Empire Life Insurance Company, or Empire Life, is a Canadian life insurance company that has been providing life insurance, investment and group benefits solutions to its customers for almost a century. Empire Life caters mainly to small and medium-sized companies in its group benefits division.

The company’s vision is to be Canada's most convenient insurance and investment company. Digitisation has become key to effectively delivering on this vision— streamlining the customer experience and making transactions seamless for customers, their advisors, and benefit plan members.

Christine Wyatt, Director of Group Digital Innovation, began her career in group insurance 18 years ago, joining Empire Life in 2011. She is proud to be part of such an iconic organisation that is recognised across Canada, and says, “My role has two aspects: my team looks at all the digital assets—that are customer and advisor facing—and we also work on strategic partnerships that help provide the connectivity and digital capabilities our partners need to deliver the intended customer experience.”

Future forward, unhampered by legacy systems Digital transformation has been at the forefront for every insurance company globally. Because Empire Life has grown

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EMPIRE LIFE

organically and not by acquiring other insurers, it’s not hampered by legacy systems that can’t talk to each other. Still, the pandemic, industry consolidation, and the demand for faster and more seamless access to information have been key drivers of expanded digital capabilities. “Over the last two years, we've accelerated our investments in digital capabilities. We’ve looked at how quickly people want information, how they are engaging, how our advisors want to engage with their customers, and how they need to engage with us as their carrier and transfer data to us.”

Ultimately, the willingness to embrace change comes down to the culture of the company, which, Wyatt explains, has a strong future-forward orientation. Vanessa Lycos agrees. Lycos is responsible for product, digital and marketing for the Group Solutions division at Empire Life.

She joined the company in 2019 and her background includes financial services as well as insurance.

CHRISTINE WYATT TITLE: DIRECTOR OF GROUP DIGITAL INNOVATION INDUSTRY: INSURANCE LOCATION: CANADA Christine Wyatt is the Director of Digital innovation at Empire Life. She has worked in the industry for over 20 years and has a panoramic perspective on Group business having worked in sales; as a benefits consultant; at a TPA, before joining Empire Life. Christine has been a key driver behind digital solutions that are making it easier to do business with Empire Life. Christine earned her BSc from University of British Columbia

EXECUTIVE BIO

“ Over the next 12 months, all of our projects and initiatives are aimed at driving the experience for advisors and plan sponsors” CHRISTINE WYATT

DIRECTOR OF GROUP DIGITAL INNOVATION, EMPIRE LIFE

EMPIRE LIFE

Empire Life: Homegrown protection for Canadas SMEs and employees

Lycos says that she looked at the company’s core values, which centre around respect, accountability, honesty and fairness, with a high degree of curiosity when she joined Empire Life and hasn’t been disappointed: “I’ve been really impressed at how every single person at Empire Life embodies these values. It's a culture of connection and innovation. We're agile and innovative, and we're growing our market share and our business—in a very collaborative, respectful, collegial manner.”

Lycos continues, “If you don't have a strong culture—a culture that really respects and values its employees and customers—I think it's hard to achieve sustained business results.

Our investment and our commitment to the wider community is also something that attracted me to Empire Life. What we give back to the community through charitable donations, community sponsorships and volunteerism—and the engagement around these initiatives—is motivating.”

Technology drivers and the insurance space A large part of Empire Life’s journey towards digital transformation has focused on efficiency, the transfer of data, security, and agility. Lycos says some of the biggest questions are, “How do we get more efficient and how do we get data back and forth in the most secure manner possible?”

On the infrastructure front, Empire Life has been proactively investing in new technologies for decades, updating as they progress, and because of that, they have not suffered the fate of some traditional insurers trapped with outdated legacy systems. An important part of the journey in the past two years has centred around APIs, and this is helping Empire Life differentiate in the marketplace. API technology enables Empire Life to empower advisors and third party administrators to manage certain functions that in the past have only been performed by insurers. “Our ‘low-ego’ approach to who does what is winning us high marks,” says Wyatt. insurtechdigital.com

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EMPIRE LIFE

“ A strength of Empire Life lies in its focus solely on Canada and Canadian customers”

VANESSA LYCOS TITLE: VICE PRESIDENT GROUP PRODUCT AND MARKETING INDUSTRY: INSURANCE LOCATION: CANADA Vanessa Lycos is VicePresident of Group Product Marketing at Empire Life. She is a community-oriented marketing and communications executive with 20+ years of experience in strategy, financial and insurance services, product management, marketing & communications, customer experience and business analytics. Vanessa’s educational background in the sciences, financial services and marketing.

VANESSA LYCOS

Wyatt says these investments have resulted in better data and better services. And the journey continues. “Over the next 12 months, all of our projects and initiatives are aimed at driving the experience for advisors and plan sponsors—making it easier for them to access information and data that's critical to helping them make decisions about their benefits plans and what’s right for their employees.

Examples include speed and accuracy in underwriting and in delivering proposals.

“It’s about how we get that information in the door faster, quicker, and presenting information back to customers and advisors in the way they actually want to get that information. We're also doing a lot of work in terms of making administration easier. Managing a benefits program isn't always top of mind for our target market of small, medium business owners—who are exceptionally busy running their businesses.”

On the healthcare front, the pandemic accelerated the need for digital technologies and made it easy for Empire Life to prioritise the onboarding of the Teladoc Mental Health Navigator and Telemedicine services. Lycos believes the focus on employee wellbeing is now front and center for many leaders.

EXECUTIVE BIO

VICE PRESIDENT GROUP PRODUCT AND MARKETING, EMPIRE LIFE

EMPIRE LIFE

DARA BRACHMAN TITLE: VICE PRESIDENT OF GROUP DISTRIBUTION

1923

Year founded

INDUSTRY: INSURANCE LOCATION: CANADA

870

Number of employees

Dara Brachman is a strategic leader with a passion for developing teams and driving results. Dara is Vice President, Group Distribution at Empire Life.

Dara has 25 years of extensive insurance industry experience as a product specialist, building a successful benefits and pension consulting firm, and as an executive leading insurance carrier sales and operations teams. She is also an active community volunteer leader.

$1.9bn Revenue

EXECUTIVE BIO

“ Our mission is to be Canada's most convenient insurance carrier” DARA BRACHMAN

VICE PRESIDENT OF GROUP DISTRIBUTION, EMPIRE LIFE

EMPIRE LIFE

employees and for business owners. “As any parent knows, illnesses often seem to occur in the middle of the night. With telemedicine, there are no long wait times in the emergency room, and the doctor can prescribe medication and transfer it to any pharmacy.” Lycos notes that even for non-urgent complaints like a rash or an eye infection, being able to talk to a doctor from the comfort of your home or from work— at any time—is fantastically convenient and a huge time saver.

A new customer marketplace in insurance But it’s not just about new technologies and requirements. The customer marketplace has changed considerably too over the past 24 months. Lycos says, “Increased digitisation and improved customer experience are being focused on across all industries—from insurance and banking to retail, customers everywhere are looking for simple, fast and easy customer-focused digital experiences.

“But even before the pandemic, we had added the Best Doctors (now called Teladoc Medical Experts) online suite of services that include the Expert Medical Opinion,” Lycos says. “One of the reasons we launched our telemedicine and Mental Health Navigator services was so that people could have fast and easy access to services that could help bolster their health.

Lycos says that the 24/7 telemedicine service has been particularly helpful for

Using data to improve customer experiences Part of Empire Life’s transformation has been the use of Big Data to determine which products and services can best serve their customers, and how protection benefits can be tailored to best suit each party’s needs.

Dara Brachman, Vice President of Group Distribution within the Group Solutions division at Empire Life, has been with the company for seven years. For the first five of those, she led the various teams as Vice President of Group Operations. She says, “Our mission is to be Canada's most convenient insurance carrier.

Our distribution partners and our strategic partners have told us that success is a function not only of our investment in various digital capabilities but also of our flexibility and the way that we engage in a customised manner. insurtechdigital.com

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Our flexibility is enabling them to grow, and as a result, we've also been able to successfully grow our market share in a fairly short period of time.”

Insurance sector and digitization Brachman says Empire Life has been successful working with distribution partners via flexible technologies and products. “We've spent a lot of time and effort in the last years developing capabilities, digital and otherwise, to support a variety of business models. We don't have a one size fits all approach. Rather, we work with each of these partners to 82

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understand their business and their value proposition. Then we tailor our solution, capabilities, products and services, to really meet their needs. These strategic partners can include, MGAs, TPAs, advisors and insurtech platforms, who are adding a variety of different digital capabilities to their own offerings in the market.”

Brachman also points out that the increased involvement of fintechs and insurtechs within the industry as a whole has helped to close the protection gap within certain sectors. She says, “The increased use of technology improves convenience and simplicity for the customer in terms of their

EMPIRE LIFE

engagement with their insurance company, Empire in this case, and also, scalability.

Leveraging the use of that technology enables us to scale and grow far more efficiently. Certainly Empire is on a very significant growth trajectory.”

The future of insurance for Canadian businesses It is clear the team is dedicated to the digital mission. They have an excitement and energy when they talk about the future plans and how insurtech capabilities inspire them. Wyatt says, “It’s fascinating to see how digital capabilities are transforming other

industries. Our teams are innovation-oriented and constantly looking outside our industry for new ideas.”

Lycos adds that a strength of Empire Life lies in its focus solely on Canada and Canadian customers. The team is constantly working to enhance services and the customer experience.

“We’re a Canadian company laser-focused on the needs of Canadian businesses. With so much progress, digitisation and customisation, it is an exciting time to be in group benefits” she says.

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C Y B E R I N SU R ANC I N N O VA TI O N AN D T HE NEW NORMA

MGA:TPA

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MGA:TPA

As demands for better cyber insurance increases, we look at how the insurtech space is tackling the problem of hacking and security WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND

“ Given the move to home working, having the right tools to monitor and manage those laptops and mobile devices is key” ALEX JINIVIZIAN ESENTIRE

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loud Malware, ransomware and phishing: these terms strike fear into the hearts of digitally-driven businesses globally. A hack could mean the difference between survival and failure in our data-sensitive age of technology – and cybercriminals know it.

Political instability has contributed to a problem that was already awash with complications, from advancing technologies to a shortage of talent in the space – and the challenge of helping companies realise that even the simplest change could result in the difference between preventing and suffering from a hack.

According to Nasdaq, and reports by Check Point Software, the scale of breaches is increasing exponentially. In May 2021, insurers paid $40mn in ransom to hackers.

But since then, the IoT has continued to explode, the vast majority of companies globally are continuing to operate via a remote workforce, and political instability has ramped up the risk factors.

Major cybercrime threats facing insurtechs Alex Jinivizian, Vice President Strategy and Corporate Development at eSentire, believes the volume of challenges facing the insurance industry – not just regarding their own security, but for that of their customers – has never been higher. insurtechdigital.com

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Kalai Natarajan General Manager, DX and Innovations Dai-ichi Life Insurance Asia Pasific

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Tomasz Kurczyk Chief Transformation and Digital Officer AXA

Robert Burr

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MGA:TPA

“ All too often, we hear how the latest product will be the saviour of cybersecurity for overstretched and underresourced IT teams” CARMINE DEL GUERCIO

one of your people who will mistakenly leave the door open for a cybercriminal to walk through, either physically or virtually."

He goes on to explain further: “They need to engage their people in an effective way to care about privacy and security. If people understand the seriousness of these issues from a personal point of view, they will care sufficiently to make sure that such risks are minimised whilst they are at work.

Getting your staff to do a training session is insufficient; it’s about building and maintaining a culture of continuous compliance."

MAZARS

“Insurtechs are part of a highly integrated ecosystem of multiple firms, covering everything from claim management, quotation and policy management to customer web portals, complex processing and analytics. We know that the attack surface has expanded to the extent that there is no real traditional security perimeter for businesses. The confidentiality of customer data is a key asset, as well as intellectual property from some of the newer insurtech players using proprietary technology.”

The emergence of more sophisticated phishing campaigns and business email compromise also remain significant threats. “We see drive-by attacks and social engineering also increasing. We have seen major supply chain attacks over the past 12 months – Solarwinds, Kaseya, Log4j – affecting all industries,” he says.

Nigel Jones, co-founder of Privacy Compliance Hub, agrees, but believes getting companies to adequately train their staff to fend off and fortify systems against attack is a leading cause of breaches. "Your greatest cybersecurity threat is your staff, but you obviously can't get rid of them, nor should you. The reason for this is that it is

Cybercrime technologies can help prevent hacks New technologies in this space are key to helping prevent cybercrime events, although the situation is akin to a continual game of cat and mouse: as new protections emerge, hackers routinely work to find ways around them.

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MGA:TPA

Jinivizian believes foundational preventative technologies are key. But he also says that they are simply part of the overall solution, which is about managing business risk from a holistic perspective. “In an ideal situation, the conversation should start with senior management, about what assets are at risk and need to be protected, what is our level of security maturity, and what are we aspiring to achieve through our cybersecurity strategy.”

He explains that, if 50% or more UK businesses have experienced a material breach or event in the past 12 months (UK DCMS report), then it’s evident many technologies are being bypassed. While every organisation is different, basic security hygiene – such as proactive patch management, implementing multi-factor authentication, and considering zero-trust and privileged-access management – is essential.

“Given the move to home working, having the right tools to monitor and manage those laptops and mobile devices is key. But assuming some threats bypass those technologies, there’s the need for businesses to act and respond, isolate and contain those threats to avert a compromise or critical event.”

That capability can be partly automated through technology, but with more and more sophisticated attacks being augmented by ‘hands-on’ adversaries (in other words, an individual on the adversary side actively engaged on a computer at critical points in attack to bypass defensive controls), experienced threat hunting and threat response skills are becoming more and more important. “Businesses need to recognise that a capability beyond prevention should be in place, as ideally should an incident response plan.”

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Back to basics to prevent cybercrime The insurance industry itself is a large target for criminals, who purposely select those industries that rely on a wider ecosystem, managing and collecting vast amounts of personal data. The stakes have never been higher for both insurance companies that rely on easily breached legacy systems and insurtechs that enjoy a large number of strategic collaborations.

Carmine Del Guercio, Manager of Cyber Attack and Defence, Mazars, says it’s no surprise that the insurance industry and its technology is a high-value target to malicious actors. “They often house vast arrays of sensitive information that can be sold on the dark web – from personal and financial information to actual hard cash. The insurance industry will continue to be a target for those looking for a modern-day heist.”

MGA:TPA

But he is also quick to point out that the latest technologies cannot be the only protection companies rely on. “All too often, we hear how the latest product will be the saviour of cyber security for overstretched and under-resourced IT teams. The latest Security Information and Event management (SIEM) and End Point Detection and response (EDR) tools definitely have a place within the cyber security arsenal, but basics must come first.

“Our experience in red-teaming has shown that these tools require configuration and fine-tuning to provide the results companies expect out of the box. When the underlying cyber security has been neglected in favour of a shiny tool, the crumbs left behind give an attacker a way through the forest of defences in order to bypass the latest procurement.”

“ If people understand the seriousness of these issues from a personal point of view, they will care sufficiently to make sure that such risks are minimised whilst they are at work” NIGEL JONES

PRIVACY COMPLIANCE HUB

The future of cybersecurity in insurtech Ultimately, cyber-attacks are not going away, ransomware incidents are increasing and payments are rising. Additionally, cyber insurance premiums are going up.

A vast amount of the tools, data, and stolen credentials that adversaries use during the kill chain have been democratised, which has made the planning and preparation for a cyber-attack more streamlined and efficient.

Jinivizian concludes: “We will likely see more of the same – supply chain attacks, exploiting slow-to-patch IT departments with zero-day vulnerabilities…

It’s important that insurtechs – and all industries – think of IT security as an intrinsic part of risk management, a process of continual improvement.

Technology strategies should support the business risk agenda.” insurtechdigital.com

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Humanising the Digital Workplace Experience

WRITTEN BY: RHYS THOMAS PRODUCED BY: TOM VENTURO

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HUMANA

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HUMANA

Humana is a health and wellness company that continuously creates innovative solutions and resources to help people live their healthiest lives on their terms, when and where they need it. The company is one of the largest health insurers in the United States, with a burgeoning new business in clinical care

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igital transformation has come to define corporate strategy.

The promise that technology will bring new efficiencies, remove cost centres and open paths to new markets makes entering the digital ecosystem an appealing prospect for every growing business. Amid the disruption of a global pandemic, when even routine tasks for business continuity are not only impractical but, in many instances, impossible, what was a competitive advantage became a business imperative, and organisations invested billions to pivot almost overnight.

At Humana, digital transformation plays a different role in shaping the organisation’s future. It is a proactive tool to shape the human experiences of both employees and customers, and propel one of the United States’ largest health insurers into a new, post-pandemic era, built upon a foundation of digital investment stretching back nearly a decade.

“42% of our employees already worked outside of Humana buildings with another 4% being mobile,” says Callie Baumann, Humana’s Vice President of Digital Workplace Experience. “Before COVID, the digital workplace was part insurtechdigital.com

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HUMANA

Health and Wellness in the Digital Era

of our core operations; it was something we already had to be good at and have already been doing for years. Post-pandemic, it's become a thing that we do to drive business strategy.”

With more than 95,000 employees at the end of 2021 spread across a vast array of disciplines - from knowledge workers and supply chain specialists to frontline physicians, nurses, social workers, and retail pharmacy professionals - Humana is an organisation of prodigious scale, with revenues in 2021 exceeding US$83bn.

In 2021, it acquired Kindred at Home, solidifying the foundation for an expanding business in clinical care and nearly doubling the size of its workforce. From the outside, Humana looks every bit the traditional Fortune 500 company. But, in many ways, it is also “the antithesis of enterprise-scale business”, according to Baumann. “It is an organisation where innovation, agility and reinvention are hardwired into its very DNA.” 94

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Joining Humana’s Human Resources division in 2011, Baumann has since worked broadly across the organisation, launching new products, building innovation accelerators, and gaining years of firsthand insight into how technology can drive business strategy. “Most recently, just in time for COVID, I began leading our digital workplace experience team,” she says. “It’s been a wild two and a half years.”

Her impetus has always been to leverage digital processes, tools and techniques not for technology’s sake, but to create a healthier life for Humana’s employees and customers. It is a mission that aligns with Humana’s ambitious expansion beyond commercial insurance products - a core business that remains vital to the organisation’s success - and towards a singular focus to help people achieve lifelong well-being.

“Over the past several years, we’ve really crystallised this notion of defining and

Callie Baumann TITLE: V ICE PRESIDENT OF DIGITAL WORKPLACE EXPERIENCE INDUSTRY: HEALTHCARE

EXECUTIVE BIO

LOCATION: USA Callie Baumann is a digital executive, consumer experience enthusiast, and passionate advocate for the ways technology and experience design can transform businesses (and lives). Callie serves as Vice President of Digital Workplace Experience at Humana.

In her decade-long tenure at the company, she has held roles spanning IT, operations, consumer innovation and HR. Whether quarterbacking the move to remote work during the pandemic, transforming a grievance department into a leading source of consumer insights, or advocating for intentionally designed consumer and employee experiences - Callie is passionate about bringing humanity back to the workplace. Callie is mum to four children – Lydia, Piper, Georgia and Rome. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, impromptu dance parties with her kiddos, and spending quality time with her husband, Arthur.

“ WE KNOW THERE'S VALUE IN HELPING PEOPLE USE OUR TOOLS. WE ALSO KNOW THAT THEY HAVE HIGHER SATISFACTION AND THERE’S LESS BURNOUT”

Discover Zoom

HUMANA

“ BEFORE COVID, THE DIGITAL WORKPLACE WAS PART OF OUR CORE OPERATIONS […] POSTPANDEMIC IT'S BECOME A THING THAT WE DO TO DRIVE BUSINESS STRATEGY” CALLIE BAUMANN

VICE PRESIDENT OF EMPLOYEE TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCE, HUMANA

building a business model around health and delivering human care,” says Baumann.

“We've been investing to make that a reality, and now we're just starting to see the glimpses of the transformative power that can have on the industry as a whole.”

That investment is more than just a financial conversation, Baumann says. “This isn't about the dollars and cents that we're investing in our SaaS partners. It is less about technology and more about the impact of

those investments on engagement and wellbeing. We can see that employees using our tools have higher Net Promoter Score (NPS) with our customers, so we know there's value in helping people use our tools. We also know that they have higher satisfaction and less burnout.”

Baumann calls it the “Digital Workplace Experience” - the next evolution of digital integration in the workplace that affects every facet of the organisation. Baumann is a proponent of pushing the notion of a digital workplace forward, and that means moving away from the traditional technology mindset. It is an experience that embraces the often forgotten, but very real, personal journeys we all experience throughout our professional lives, from onboarding and career progression, to being equipped, enabled and empowered day-to-day, all the insurtechdigital.com

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HUMANA

“ WE'RE DESIGNING A MODEL THAT'S BASED ON THE TRUE NEEDS OF OUR PEOPLE, AND INTIMATELY UNDERSTANDING THE REALITY OF THEIR WORK AND REQUIREMENTS” CALLIE BAUMANN

VICE PRESIDENT OF EMPLOYEE TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCE, HUMANA

way to discovering an individual sense of purpose, pride and fulfilment.

“The conversation now is around leadership, culture change, and using this digital workplace experience platform that we've created to not just incrementally evolve, but to actually reimagine what we want Humana to be as an organisation, both as an employer and as a care company, post-pandemic,” she says.

Though still in the early stages, the digital workplace experience is already helping to shape the company’s expansions, the latest of which is a move into clinical care for seniors, called CenterWell (Home Health & Primary Care). Supporting this new area of business requires a completely new approach to meet unique employee needs, preferences and desires.

“Taking just one instance, we’re currently re-evaluating our Service Level Agreements (SLAs). What we instantly found was that the things that attract and retain a knowledge worker - such as myself - and a physician are completely different,” Baumann says.

“Our current SLAs for downtime are in hours and days, while their expectations are in minutes. And, frankly, our patients 98

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deserve a relationship with their clinician whose delivery of human care is amplified by the technology they use. If my laptop goes down, that is an inconvenience and a disruption to my productivity. But for a clinician who sees a patient every 20-30 minutes, who is delivering care, that is broken trust.”

It goes both ways: clinical automation may be the top digital priority for clinicians, but for knowledge workers, seamless access to documents and robust communication tools top the agenda. “That’s why we're designing a model that's based on the true needs of our people, and intimately understanding the reality of their work

and requirements,” Baumann says. “And that starts at day one, from rethinking the unboxing and onboarding experience, all the way down to the everyday, productive, ‘I am working’ experience.”

A spirit of true collaboration has been central to the evolution of the digital workplace experience, and that extends insurtechdigital.com

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to external partnerships. “Partner-powered” is how one of Baumann’s colleagues characterises the approach.

“I think, particularly in big organisations that can wield a lot of power in these arrangements, there is a tendency to take a ‘you are serving me’ mentality. But even though they sit outside of our organisation, we think about our partners as a relationship, and that means it's give and take,” says Baumann. “It should be really uncomfortable at times, because they should be pushing you to do more and to think differently.”

Leading up to, but especially once the pandemic hit, video was integral in retaining and opening new lines of communication 100

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between Humana’s departments, employees and customers - including a major project to update capabilities across the organisation’s 340-strong conference room footprint.

“We needed some help to rethink the technology in those spaces,” says Baumann.

“Our existing systems lacked the flexibility to support our new ways of working, and we wanted to be able to leverage the benefits of face-to-face interactions when in-person meetings were not possible or in hybrid environments. The Zoom team took the time to understand exactly who Humana is - the same way we are doing with our employees - and then applied their subject matter expertise in a way that's relevant.”

HUMANA

“ THESE AREN'T JUST TECHNOLOGY TOOLS FOR TECHNOLOGY'S SAKE. THEY ARE MECHANISMS

BY WHICH WE WILL ATTRACT TALENT AND RETAIN TALENT, AND WE WILL HAVE BETTER RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR MEMBERS AND CUSTOMERS AS A RESULT” CALLIE BAUMANN

VICE PRESIDENT OF EMPLOYEE TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCE, HUMANA

Beyond onboarding contemporary technology for new ways of working, the team is seeking to shape and influence “not just the digital workplace vision, but our digital workplace experience vision,” Baumann says, taking a view of the holistic experience ecosystem versus a time when Humana was a more fragmented, technology-focused operation.

“Engineering was in one silo, product management in another, and HR was elsewhere,” Baumann says. "The team’s work, with support from Gartner, helped us understand that there is a more holistic and comprehensive way to approach the digital workplace at Humana. We now have a

language and a taxonomy to talk about these things. More importantly, perhaps, we now have a way to measure and communicate the value of what we do, beyond just the technology side of things, and therefore a position at the management table in terms of shaping where we go as an organisation, and how we go about getting there.”

To get there, Baumann will be leveraging all the opportunities of a workforce that is in the process of re-imagining what true hybrid work, built on the principle of experience equality means, now that the peak of the pandemic is beginning to subside.

“As our employees go back into the office, we will be flooded with data again about what works and what doesn't work,” she says. “It takes a tremendous amount of commitment from the organisation to continually reevaluate and rethink. It’s a commitment to data-driven innovation and a willingness to test and learn, stemming insurtechdigital.com

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HUMANA

from the belief that these aren't just technology tools for technology's sake.

They are mechanisms by which we will attract and retain talent; we will have better relationships with our members and the customers that we serve, because it's easier, frankly, for our employees to do their job every day.”

Baumann’s team will be moving beyond leveraging data as a means to educate employees on processes, or for procurement to reevaluate redundant technology, and instead look at the shape of people’s networks: who they communicate with, how they work together, and what their relationships actually say about how their roles intersect within the enterprise. After all, Humana’s strategy of delivering human care via an integrated, value based health ecosystem requires a company, and the people inside it, to be integrated.

“We might strategise for something to happen, but we need to see if it’s happening in reality,” Baumann says. “Are we actually seeing someone from the actuary team connecting with someone on the clinical care team, for example? Using that data, we can start conversations with leaders across the enterprise around fostering that connection and collaboration. We've been talking a lot about these principles of providing autonomy, choice and flexibility at work, and now we actually have the data to see if we're doing that. It also tells us how our technology helps us, as a company, to live up to the values and commitments that we're making for our associates.”

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important to “tie action to intent in words and commitments that enhance their experience”, Baumann says.

With the acquisition of Kindred at Home, Humana is entering a period of rapid growth and change. Though the scale will bring its own set of challenges, it will also bring “myriad opportunities to improve the digital workplace experience and forge a brighter

HUMANA

and healthier future for every Humana stakeholder,” Baumann says. “The next horizon for the organisation is to really tightly and concretely understand the interplay between these digital workplace experiences, and how that connects to empower the customer experience,” she says. “Very soon, we will be at a place where we understand how the work that this team does powers a

different relationship with the customers, from how we show up in sales interactions on Medicare, to how we show up on the phone when our members have questions, or in clinical settings when we're coordinating care.

That’s a very exciting future.”

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Four reasons analytics platforms are driving insurtech With more automated processes to contend with than ever before, it's no wonder insurtechs are increasingly reliant on analytics technologies WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND

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O

perating a successful insurtech takes a lot of work. Companies have to keep a number of proverbial plates spinning, from engaging with customers to building innovative products and handling claims processing with lightning speed.

Then there are risk assessments and technology updates to keep up with, as well as keeping the cybersecurity locked tight – and maintaining creativity when it comes to incentives and services. Selecting the right data analytics platform can be the difference between surviving and thriving, because it hones the information that can drive a business in the right direction.

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“ Analytics platforms are a key tool to helping understand customer needs” NEIL MARTIN QBASE

Neil Martin, commercial director at Qbase, describes the role of data analytics as critical.

“Analytics platforms are a key tool to helping understand customer needs. For insurtechs, this plays a huge part in driving customer acquisition, retention, and upgrades.

“Take customer retention for example – if your analytics platform can pull together data from customer services, review platforms, and CRM, you can monitor complaints, negative reviews, and any other behaviours that suggest you are about to lose that customer. The signs

are all there, but the analytics platform will give you clarity and help you to do something about it.”

Martin explains that to deliver a strong experience, insurance companies need consistency, accuracy, and completeness of data to inform a deeper understanding of the customer. “With the plethora of data available, manual processing is costly, time-consuming, and inaccurate. A reliable analytics platform will overcome this and help the business to make highly effective data-driven decisions.”

Data analytics platform selection According to Krista Griggs, Head of Financial Services and Insurance at Fujitsu UK, understanding the long-term strategy is key to evaluating the potential value and business case for analytics platforms, saying: “This long-term vision needs to incorporate an understanding of the existing data and process landscape, and the ecosystems you intend to integrate with.

IoT in Insurtech

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“ Once an insurer has examined the process landscape they’re better positioned to determine how easy it is to access and share data and insights” KRISTA GRIGGS FUJITSU

“Once an insurer has examined these aspects, they’re much better positioned to determine how easy it is to access and share data and insights – now and in the future.”

Griggs goes on to say that regulation is another highly important aspect for insurtechs to consider. “The market and the regulator will be closely monitoring trust in how data is captured, stored, processed, secured, used to drive actionable insights and to create new customer services.

Appropriately implemented governance and security that doesn’t stifle innovation is also essential to maintaining the trust and accountability needed to leverage the power in these platforms.”

FOUR ESSENTIAL FEATURES IN A DATA ANALYTICS PLATFORM 1. Real-time data processing capabilities We live in an age when speed is of the essence – not only when delivering good customer services, but when monitoring the performance of a product or when 108

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analysing the market response. Real-time data is also essential in making sure your platform is constantly on top of the very real threat of cyber-attacks. Old data can result in a mishap occurring without a company realising it. Insurtechs also need a solution that provides access to real-time data processing from multiple sources, including their own datasets. Modern data analytics platforms should allow companies to update features and gather information from different sources to suit any applicable use case.

2. Agility and automated updates Insurtechs require platforms that connect to their business workflows as well as risk exposure data. An analytics platform that is compatible with APIs enables insurtechs to connect seamlessly with their solutions, utilising both external and internal data sources. This streamlines the downstream service apps and modelling systems, enabling businesses to respond to changes efficiently.

TECHNOLOGY

3. Risk management Risk management and risk assessment is a transformed space in insurtech.

Technologies from wearables to satellites are responsible for providing data that can be correctly analysed and then used to create new products and lower premiums – while also preventing claims from happening in the first place.

Data analytics platforms need to be flexible enough to plug into the latest technologies and process that information.

Risk is also an element that needs to be considered when a company is scaling its operations. Insurtechs require a workflow solution that doesn’t reduce their control, yet also supports their growth strategy.

4. Monitoring data quality According to Martin, an analytics platform is only as good as the data it can process.

He warns insurtechs to remain mindful of the quality of the data being collected and how it is going to be integrated into the platform.

His advice? “Look for platforms with established connectors and open APIs. You may need to consider a data integration tool, such as Talend, to ensure the data coming into your platform is of good quality and in the right format to be processed.” He adds that a key factor is considering the technology already in place and how the platform will fit in or coexist with these other technologies.

“ With the plethora of data available, manual processing is costly, time consuming, and inaccurate” NEIL MARTIN QBASE

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INSURTECH INSURTECH

STARTUPS TO WATCH WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND

As insurtech companies encroach on the wider insurance industry, a number of impressive startups are disrupting the space and attracting fresh talent to the marketplace. They position themselves as shining examples of value-for-money, swift-service competitors in sectors that have previously proven to be slow and stodgy. From state-of-the-art pet insurance to telematics, UBI and P&C, scaling insurtechs are re-writing the rule book on customer centricity, affordable cover and more. We’ve put together our top 10 insurtech startups to watch in 2022

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Marshmallow Marshmallow was first conceived in 2015 after its three co-founders realised they were sick of the car insurance market. The UK-based company, which became a unicorn in August 2021 following a US$100mn fundraising round, provides insurance cover to previously uninsurable drivers, resulting in Marshmallow becoming one of the most successful UK insurtechs in the marketplace. Their mission statement is: “A person without a credit history needs to drive to work. An unemployed person still needs to buy groceries.

An expat without a UK driving licence needs to pick their kids up from school. We use technology to make it possible.”

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09

Policygenius

The New York-based online insurance marketplace, Policygenius, was launched in 2014 by co-founders Jennifer Fitzgerald and Francois De Lame.

It is now considered America's leading online digital insurance portal. The insurtech’s mission is to help people get the right insurance by making it easy for them to understand their insurance options, compare quotes, and buy a policy – all in one place. In 2021, the company raised US$100mn in capital from investors and is firmly on its way to unicorn status.

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08 Riskwolf

Launched in 2019, the Swissheadquartered insurtech Riskwolf is located in Zurich, partnering with insurance companies that require parametric payout services. Riskwolf’s solution means that insurance companies can prevent income loss resulting from internet disruptions due to bad weather, natural disasters, or accidental cable cuts. Riskwolf also facilitates internet, telecommunication, e-commerce, and other digital platform providers to manage real-time insurance claims by detecting connectivity problems and automating payments.

07

CJ Cube Founded in 2019, CJ Cube is a Dublin-based insurtech that provides insurance data management to companies requiring insurance underwriting.

The centralised software solution integrates with the insurance company’s existing storage systems and data between the company and the intermediaries.

CJ Cube enables real-time information sharing across systems throughout the policy cycle. Its in-built authentication and authorisation solutions ensure that only the concerned parties have access to the documents, thus establishing security. Furthermore, to ensure transparency, CJ Cube provides immutable historical snapshots and audit logs. insurtechdigital.com

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06 FitSense

Transforming the health insurance space with its downloadable app and selection of wearables Australian insurtech FitSense was launched in 2015 and uses customer data to assist insurance companies in creating personalised packages for their users. Co-founders Alvaro Gauterin, Jan-Philipp Kruip, Pham Khanh saw a gap in the market for risk assessment technology in the health insurance sector and created the online platform in response.

The insurtech company has been phenomenally successful, seeing 293k downloads of its app, 120k active user bookings and five million check-ins logged.

05 Cuvva

The UK-based insurtech Cuvva was founded in 2015, providing flexible usage-based insurance cover for drivers and is designed to be mobile first. To date, Cuvva has provided policies for more than 500,000 drivers and has issued over 2.5 million policies. The company is known for its simple sign-up procedure, which takes three clicks, and its average support response time, which also stands at less than 60 seconds. Customers can buy a monthly subscription, but they also must purchase a premium ‘top up’ insurance via the Cuvva app and pay an hourly rate during the time the car is being driven.

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04

Shift Technology Founded in 2014, Shift Technology provides state-of-the-art technology solutions that solve the challenges facing the global insurance industry. They are best known for their accurate potential fraud detection system in insurance claims. Their AI-native SaaS solutions assist insurers to defeat fraud and automate claims. Shift Technologies’ team comprises hundreds of insurancefocused data scientists, customer success advisors and project managers. The insurtech claims to have a 75% hit rate and says that fewer false positives lead to more productive investigations and improved loss ratio.

03

Lemonade Lemonade has been rated the top insurtech company in the US by numerous leading review sites.

According to independent reports, 94% of policyholders indicated they are likely to renew their policy, 96% would recommend their services to a friend and 97% have rated their claims experience positively. Co-founders Shai Wininger and Daniel Schreiber launched the company in 2015, and in its first funding round in December 2015, the company raised US$13mn through investors Sequoia Capital and Israeli VC Aleph. In 2022, its valuation is hotly debated depending on which report you read, but it is commonly believed to be at around US$8bn.

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Bought By Many

02 02

Anyone who has ever battled with their pet insurance company can heave a sigh of relief now that Bought By Many has entered the marketplace. Launched in 2012 by Steven Mendel and Guy Farley, the insurtech started out as a service helping consumers find better deals on niche insurance. The company switched to pet insurance in 2017, launching their own branded policies underwritten by Great Lakes Insurance, a part of Munich Re. Now entering its second decade, Bought By Many is taking the pet health market by storm with its fast, practical and easy-to-claim products that help pet owners by making pet care more affordable. Bought by Many offers lifetime and accidentonly cat and dog insurance. It was also voted MoneyWise’s Most Trusted Pet Insurance Provider of 2019.

They attribute their success to their customer-led model, which uses anonymised search data to identify shared customer needs unmet by competitors, and then personalises products and experiences according to their preferences. In 2021, Bought By Many received a valuation of US$2bn.

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Wefox Wefox provides household, car, and private liability insurance and more, has offices in eight countries and over 1000 employees. The company has now been labelled the number one digital insurance provider in Europe. Led by its dynamic CEO Julian Tiecke, whose mission statement is to ensure insurance cover products from wefox are 10x better than any other market provider. When the company went through its IPO, Tiecke also made every employee a shareholder – possibly making him the most popular CEO in insurtech history, too.

Launched in 2015, the Berlinbased insurtech has now entered the Italian marketplace, and recently signed a sponsorship deal

with AC Milan that will see the wefox logo positioned on players’ shirts and in key positions around the stadium during matches. Wefox has also had the Schaffhausen Sport Arena in Switzerland named after them and, in 2021, broke the global record for the biggest funding round ever achieved by an insurtech company – US$600mn.

Basically, the sky’s the limit.

“ The company has now been labelled the number one digital insurance provider in Europe” insurtechdigital.com

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