TLDR Insurance is not complicated, say compared to sending a man to land on the moon, but it’s big, and its current challenges are like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. Innovation, digitization, virtual sales and service, and so on. Not unlike the elephant in the fable, insurance is perceived differently by each beholder- is it tail, ear, leg, trunk, sales, or underwriting, claims, accounting, actuarial, or customers? What is to be innovated?
The drum beat of innovation is in some part fashion, but a large part reality- insurers need to evolve with their customers. But there’s the rub- what evolution is meaningful, useful, profitable, doable, and able to be integrated into a carrier’s strategy, tactics, and admin superstructure?
This week’s discussion- who is useful to consult when you want to do it, or how to tackle it, innovation idea-wise.
I had a very useful conversation this week with an insurance veteran, Joël Bassani, founder and consultant at jinnbee who is now looking to share his knowledge gained over years with the insurance industry. Our discussion reminded me that there are many aspects to insurance, many lines, covers, regulations, regions, etc. that one must deal with in the globally interconnected insurance world. And how does one determine what path to take from that which one is on to one that leverages innovation or change?
What Joël told me as a foundational message resonates well- it’s not necessarily knowing the tech to apply, but it’s knowing what problem you have and working from that to what innovation has to help you. In his opus of an InsurTech study, Joël notes early on, “An InsurTech is a solution, you need to focus on your Problem!”
And how do you know your problem? Simple- you ask your customers, both external and internal and you strive to #innovatefromthecustomerbackwards .
What jinnbee has compiled for the industry is a compendium of InsurTech purposes:
You have an insurance problem, jinnbee’s analysis can help find an InsurTech solution from organizations that exist, are experts in their fields, and are available. So you don’t have to create the wheel, you simply need to know the makeup of the wheel and jinnbee will help find a fit. Do you make the innovation in house, or connect with an InsurTech? Jinnbee will help lead your decision matrix.
And as comprehensive a study as jinnbee has produced, there are other organizations who have blazed a trail in terms of aggregating InsurTech organizational data, firms’ purposes, an ability to play ‘matchmaker’, and in providing accessible data. The two most prominent examples are Coverager, and Insurance Thought Leadership .
Coverager
I asked Coverage founder Shefi Ben-Hutta what synopsizes Coverager’s business model, what is the ‘elevator pitch’ that would best describe her firm’s approach:
- Focus on tech, strategy, and alternative insurance distribution
- Create and curate coverage (news, not lines of insurance)
- Address the needs of insurance professionals, those who need access to information regarding how to address their unique problems (sound familiar?)
If the reader has yet to access the Coverage website (or better yet, subscribe to Coverager’s daily email), rest assured you will not be disappointed by a simple blast of information. Coverager approaches information sharing with a wry tongue in cheek, occasional snark, but always best in class, topical information. The firm’s web splash page gives an indication of the depth of coverage and information:
Everything from an encyclopedic source of insurance company information, a searchable database of InsurTechs, hosting of industry events, and to the latest marketing scheme or the scoop on a company that has gone off path. As Shefi recounted, their purpose is:
- Learn from the past
- Understand the present
- Better bet on the future.
Insurance Though Leadership
Take Coverager’s avant-garde approach to InsurTech assistance and look to a somewhat organizational opposite, and one finds Insurance Thought Leadership (ITL). ITL approaches InsurTech advisory services with more of a formal suit, but with no less breadth of information as Coverager. ITL has developed through the efforts of its founder, Dave Dias into a premier source of innovation source/need connections, and a premier host of innovation education. And the firm is the home of the man with a knowledgeable grasp on the innovation world, Guy Fraker, AKA the man with a thousand sneakers (runners, athletic shoes). Insurance company C-Suites are encouraged to subscribe to the matchmaking service, and the organization’s excellent editorial staff keeps the industry appraised of the latest concepts. A look at the Innovator’s Edge page of ITL website provides the searcher an idea of what the firm can offer:
Three very good sources to search and consider, and there are other InsurTech informational resources, e.g., GR Capital’s recent summary article, Why Next Year Can Be a Turning Point for Global Insurance Innovation, and industry influencers who can make connections from personal experience, including those in this list, or this one, or even this one (companies).
But it still requires the asker to know what innovation problem needs to be solved, what the customers are expecting (maybe it’s no change?), and how efforts are to be focused. Innovation is not fashion, it’s strategic application of resources and there are good resources at hand. And in most cases it’s not part of the elephant, but consideration of the whole beast.
Patrick Kelahan is a CX, engineering & insurance professional, working with Insurers, Attorneys & Owners. He also serves the insurance and Fintech world as the ‘Insurance Elephant’.
I have no positions or commercial relationships with the companies or people mentioned. I am not receiving compensation for this post.
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