InsurTech Magazine November 2020 | Page 47

had the ingredients to be innovationready and it ’ s been this level of caution that ’ s stunted the attitude to innovate . However , we ’ re starting to see signs of change ; we ’ re at the beginning of a new age for the insurance industry .
Chris Huff : Automation is extremely applicable to the insurance industry , yet the industry involves a lot of data flowing in and out of various , rarely connected systems . People sit in the middle catching data , only to turn around and input it into another system . Very inefficient ! Give a citizen developer the right integrated automation platform and they could design an RPA robot with Capture and Workflow in less than a day . Most industries innovate and invest when necessary , but , otherwise , they sit on legacy estate tools and processes as long as practically possible . However , this is without realising the opportunities for better products and services lost through lack of innovation . This generally comes down to a company ’ s culture : if we look at the heads of many of these long-standing institutions , they often lack the vibrancy and energy needed to innovate with advanced technologies .
Cathal McGloin : A recent Information Services Group ( ISG ) survey [ read BizClik Media ’ s profile of ISG here ] found that large insurers have focused on cost reduction rather than winning more customers . The ability to scale to serve more customers more cost-effectively is a critical factor for sustaining profitability in the sector , and this is where automation comes into its own . This is set to change , with 61.5 % of insurance firms telling ISG that they plan to invest in digital customer experience and 46.2 % planning to increase investment in data , machine learning and AI .
47 insurtechdigital . com