Meet the Pros: Toby Fennemore Solution Architect, Digital Services

Toby joined Pro in August 2023 as a Solutions Architect – a role that would not have existed in most insurance firms just a few years ago, demonstrating the pace of innovation in the sector.  The crux of his role is to see where technology can augment a client’s process or business goal, whenever it is through Artificial Intelligence (AI) , automation, process optimisation and data.  

The communication aspect of his role involves listening and understanding clients as well as keeping abreast of new tech and innovation.  

Of late there has been a rise in tech-led jobs such as data engineers, automation, architects and solution designers, which he puts down to a “rise in the importance of speed and cost within the insurance cycle.  

He explained: “Especially the Lloyd’s Market has started to force the acknowledgement that technology and data need to be at the forefront of business strategy. The rise of technology companies that have conquered other industries, now targeting the insurance market, have also put pressure on companies to ready themselves for this digital driven future.” 

We are all tech companies 

But isn’t every company now also a technology company? 

For Toby, “the reality is that ‘every company is a data company” would be a more accurate thing to say.  

He said that once you examine the insights in your own data, it is only then you know how to best position technology.  

 “Insurance has been historically not a technology warm environment, long time to start on projects, lax data conformity and standards, and more importantly not high buy-in from companies has not powered this. However, within the last year it seems there has been a light bulb moment and Insurance companies are rushing to embrace technology and data,” Toby added.  

The perception in insurance, however, is that it is slow to innovate, but he believes that things are changing for the better and things are becoming “multi-faceted”.  

Toby said: “There is a desire now to standardise data and use it to power underwriting, as well as reducing operational costs and expensive outsourcing. Technologies are also becoming cheaper and more accessible, with Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) opening many avenues to streamlining and enhancing data transformation and standards, which historically have the barrier within Insurance to technology.” 

Future of technology in insurance  

Currently the most popular talking point on technology is Gen AI and it has many potential applications in insurance.  

Toby said: “It can help solve the data standardisation issues with automated transformation and extraction,and will also change the customer experience in buying insurance. I think in more niche aspects, local and self-created small language models will soon start appearing throughout technology as well as more traditional machine learning will grow due to an increase in cleaner data.” 

Likewise, when asked what advice he would give to someone who is tech-minded but unsure if there is a place for them in the insurance sector, he spoke positively of the innovation in the market.  

 “I would say that while adoption to technology is still slow, the appetite and want for technology is rapidly growing. Insurance is the place to be if you want to grow and be a part of a landscape that is rapidly changing with the adoption of technology, than other industries where it’s perhaps more established and less exciting,” he concluded.  

Find out more about Toby here: https://pro-global.com/specialists/toby-fennemore/