We are Insurtech Women: Never Standing Still with Technology

Kristy joined Pro Global (Pro) back in December 2020 to spearhead a transition programme that aimed to leverage its applications and infrastructure, as well as transforming the way the firm worked with technology, during a large growth period.

Coming from a background, which predominantly focused on digital transformation and transition programmes across the financial services and major technology houses, Kristy’s experience complemented Pro’s approach to listening to market needs and developing solutions that directly address them.

Kristy said: “It’s interesting because I had always worked technology-first, whereas Pro is very much SME-led. It’s just a great place to be with technology, to be able to leverage both. It’s been really exciting to understand where you can make a difference.”

Kristy’s first stint in the insurance world prior to Pro saw her working on a claims system from a technology standpoint.

Of late AI has taken off in the insurance industry.

AI and Machine Learning Opportunities

Kristy highlighted the opportunities around AI and machine learning for the insurance industry.

“It’s about improving and increasing data quality [and] processing efficiencies, more prediction around missing data points, more accuracy in your risk assessment and pricing. The insurance market is still extremely document heavy and AI is allowing us to ingest more of that data and [make] quicker decisions. In a lot of organisations we have lots of data, we just don’t have the structure to get through that and AI is helping us generate those responses,” she added.

One example where AI has been beneficial, Kristy noted, is claims, where summarising large document sets is necessary, the data here includes First Notification of Loss, dates and details of the claim.

“It’s really helpful for claims handlers to be able to get that data more efficiently and quickly. From a reporting and analytics perspective as an organisation like Pro, being able to see trends, predictions,and the cost of the claim, is all really interesting. The biggest point people are learning is that you have to go into proof of concepts, and you have to understand what you are trying to achieve with AI and streamlining,” Kristy explained.

Therefore, sufficient planning is vital to benefit from the cost efficiencies of AI.

In terms of primary differences in adopting automation and subsequently tailoring solutions for reinsurers and insurers, Kristy noted that no firm does anything in the same manner.

Kristy continued: “A lot of what we look at is process optimisation – insurers are typically focusing on streamlining customer facing processes like claims handling, policy administration, customer experience and operational efficiency. We see more interaction on the idea of chatbots, mobile apps and automated underwriting

“Reinsurers, on the other hand, tend to concentrate on optimisation around risk assessment management processes like automation, data analytics and modelling reporting capabilities to better evaluate and manage large scale risk.”

But technology is not everything.

Never standing still

Kristy stressed the importance of continuously reviewing and evaluating processes to optimise workflows when it comes to technology. This includes working out the pain points of the team actually using the technology.

Ultimately, as technology is always evolving, keeping pace, being open to learning and asking questions continuously is key.